Frugal Weddings? Was yours frugal?

**Mamaof2rugrats** · 05-29-2008, 07:56 PM

My theme is country/redneck and the budget is of course very limited. ( Go watch My Big Redneck Wedding on CMT get an idea of exactly what I'm talking about... Haha)
Ideas so far-
*Outside wedding at park, just renting pavilian, reception at VFW hall
*Hay bails for seating and decor at both ceremony and reception
*Wagon Wheels,Lassos,Cowboy hats for Decor
*Centerpieces are mason jars with hay/sunflowers on top of a confederate flag bandada
*Really considering silk flowers for all the flowers( Sunflowers)
*Denim sundresses/cowboy boots for bridesmaids
* Mossy Oak Hunting apparel for groom and all men/boys in wedding
*Horseshoe with ribbon tied to it for ring bearer pillow
*Galvanized Bucket for flower girls
*Confederate flag Banners,flags everywhere

Haha.
*BBQ as main dish but will be having alot of folks bring sides so as to cut the food costs.
*Bandana material tied to hay bails as part of the decor.
*Mason Jars instead of wine glasses

Here's the wedding dress to give you a feel for it.
http://satnspurs.com/product_info.ph...roducts_id=410

In general I'm going for more country/southern than western.
Any ideas not specific to my theme certainly are welcome! How did you cut costs for yours???

**FrugalMomof3** · 05-29-2008, 08:04 PM

I think that sounds awesome! I would LOVE to go to your wedding

As for mine, it was frugal but by necessity really. We had the DJ, church, reception hall was at a Fire Hall, I made my own reception hall decorations including the centerpieces and chocolate candy cups for each guest. I also made my own invitations. My wedding dress was beautiful, I got it from a seamstress for $45. Funny thing is, it didnt matter how much it costs, all my guests said it was one of the best weddings and receptions they have ever been to. Total spent was like $1500.

**Mamaof2rugrats** · 05-29-2008, 08:07 PM

Oh... invitations. Yeah that's something I hadn't even thought about. They are usually pretty pricy so DIY might just be the way to go.

**FrugalMomof3** · 05-29-2008, 08:10 PM

Yeah, I got mine at Staples, lol, printed them out along with the RSVP cards so remember the stamps

**sunshine** · 05-29-2008, 08:10 PM

Mine was somewhat frugal -- a friend made the cake (for 500 guests!), we had free use of the church for the ceremony and reception, no dance - so no band or DJ fees. At the time we got married, people only had cake/punch receptions.

My son got married last year - they got married at my parents farm, had the reception in one of my dad's buildings. The preacher was a good friend, so only a small amount for him (he didn't charge them, but they gave him some money as a thank you). I made all the food for the reception. They had a small cake made to cut, and I made all the cheesecakes to serve :O DH's sister did the flowers, we got the bride's maid dresses online at a discount, and the groomsmen just wore suits.

**starsapphire** · 05-29-2008, 08:12 PM

It's a second marriage for me and we didn't care about throwing a big celebration. We planned on eloping to Reno. I told just one very close friend of mine and then omygosh the word got out! LOL so a bunch of friends ended up driving up there with us and actually, I'm glad it happened that way

Borrowed a cocktail dress from a friend who also did my hair and makeup. Another friend made me a silk bouquet and we all crammed into the marriage commissioner's office for the ceremony. It was great! Went out to eat afterwards and another friend ordered us a small cake at the restaurant for our wedding cake. Spent less than $500 for the whole deal. Went to Hawaii a few years later for our honeymoon.

I love your theme, its going to be so cute!! And frugal. When is the big day?

**acidcookie** · 05-29-2008, 08:17 PM

I hope mine will be! We are planning now, and we are paying it ourselves from our grad student salaries. It's going to be a bit off the wall anyway with our ceremony happening during the reception and things like the inclusion of board games on the tables for guests (I really wish I could have a photobooth!). There will be lots of DIY. Pay for professional invitations? Pppffft.. I'm hoping to make my own dress, not just for the possible savings but for the self-made feel that the whole wedding will have.

**Lori Biever-Launder** · 05-29-2008, 08:41 PM

We spent about $500.00 on ours. We spent a couple of hundred more on the honeymoon.

**The Muse** · 05-29-2008, 08:41 PM

Ours was VERY frugal. We eloped.

**dianne9106** · 05-29-2008, 09:03 PM

We didn't plan a big wedding due to logistics of family being all over and both of us being on military leave. We flew from Italy back to the states, got married outside of Ft. Bragg, NC with a couple of DH's friends as our witnesses at the JP's office. The guy marrying us looked just like Slim Pickings - down to the tie and mustache! We then spent the rest of our time stateside with my family on the east coast, then we flew back to Italy; then my husband deployed to Iraq 2 months after we got married! :surprise: When he came home, we went to Croatia for a week - nice honeymoon, but frugal - we stayed in room!

Some friends were nice enough to keep DS for the week!
We decided straight away we didn't want to spend a lot of money getting married. We love each other deeply and this was my second and last marriage. Heck he was a bachelor, so we need furniture!! My SIL spent near $40k on her huge wedding :surprise: But they have the money for it - to each there own!!

**HisDaisy** · 05-29-2008, 09:28 PM

My wedding was fairly frugal.
My mom made my wedding dress. When all was said and done, the dress cost about $150. My mom really enjoyed wearing it.
My wedding party bought black dresses for the wedding. One girl only spend $20 dollars.
We got table decoration at value village, dollar tree and dollar general. My wedding was in December, so we got lost of discount christmas decor items.
I had a friend do my flowers. I got roses at cost. Her gift to me was the decorations.
As for invitations, I toyed with the idea of making them myself, but there was just too much to do. I got at costco.com. They were really inexpensive and really nice (You don't need to be a member).
We had the wedding at a church and the reception in the church basement. We had our pastor do the service so we saved money. I think that we only paid $150 for the church.
I got my cake from a Mexican bakery. They were cheaper then any other bakery including costco and the grocery stories.
My parents gift to use was the food. They had it catered. If it was my dollar, I would have gotten cold cuts from costco and done it myself.
My biggest advise is to shop around and ask friends if they can help or know someone who can help.

**AmyMCGS** · 05-29-2008, 09:34 PM

Mine was frugal, but still very traditional. I'd never seen a denim bridal gown before-- how neat!

A recent wedding invitation we received was one card-- no RSVP cards (email and phone # were included on the back) and no maps or anything else. That would save on postage costs!

**lindsey02** · 05-29-2008, 09:58 PM

My wedding was frugal. We had it at a country club where the food, booze and cake were included. For the ceremony and reception it cost us about $40 a person. I had a cinderella theme wedding and the best deals I found were on e bay. I got my vail and tiera (nicer than the $100+ ones sold at davids bridal) on E Bay for $20 each. I bought my flower girl her dress on Ebay and paid $30. We had hershey kisses with stickers at the bottom with our names. We bought little coach picture frames that we used as place cards. We got those for $1 each on e bay. In the end I ended up having a 40k wedding for $11k (that includes the honeymoon) You should definatly check E Bay. We even bought our invitations on e bay.

**acidcookie** · 05-29-2008, 09:59 PM

Originally Posted by AmyMCGS

A recent wedding invitation we received was one card-- no RSVP cards (email and phone # were included on the back) and no maps or anything else. That would save on postage costs!

We intend to do something like this. I'd like to send just a postcard (maybe of our town or where we're having the wedding) with a phone number and email. My friends live here or in Oregon and my family's in Oregon and Germany so a map hardly is of any use anyway. Save paper, save money!

**Ceashels** · 05-29-2008, 10:10 PM

I gave myself a budget of $2000 and we came in at $1800 not including DH's suit. I made my dress (McCalls, I Can Sew type of pattern) and bouquet (wheat and pheasant feathers with a matching ribbon). I made the favors, we did the invitations on the computer, the church waived its fee for the chapel since we both play in the handbell choir. Our biggest expence was the music (even though he offered to waive the fee) and the reception was about $25 per person. We had about 22 people all total.

Oh, that denim dress is gorgeous!