Cheap Wedding Ideas for fall!!!?

Question

So my wedding is coming oh so fast and I cant make my mind up on anything.. I think that it is more the cost vrs the mind making if you know what I mean! So my options are fall colors because the decor is soo amazing and cheap or Choc & teal. I love love love that teal, pool color but I cant seem to fit it into my fall colors! I have gave up on my dream wedding because the place had to be catered and we just dont have the money. I have 3 kids and I am planning my first wedding!! It just dosnt fit the budget!!! Can anyone tell me where a money tree is or how to do this with a water budget of about nothing!!

Answer 1

Here's what I did...

I contacted local venues and asked if they had any dates that they would be willing to discount. I told them I could do it in 3 months. They were willing to discount a Friday night sit down dinner (around here, buffets are actually more expensive!) for a date that they didn't ahve booked (but you could do a Sunday brunch or an hors d'oeurve only too!). They'd rather sell it at a lower cost than not at all and honestly, in 4 months (that's how much time we had) they probably wouldn't have gotten another wedding booked on that date because most people plan far in advance.

We lucked out in that the place we went had a on-site florist and gave certain things for free, but here are some options if you have to make your own centerpieces pretty cheap. Get a glass bowl at a craft store like AC Moore, put some colored stones in the bottom and float a few candles and/or flowers in it. This is BEAUTIFUL and adds to the romantic atmosphere (and is pretty cheap!). I ended up going with their florist, but you can order flowers online at costco.com, bjswholesale.com, etc. They're basic sets, but you could use them. Or, go to a local florist and tell them you're on a tight budgtet and see what they can do.  They're usually pretty good at coming up with something in your range.  I'd suggest focusing on getting what you really want and pictured in your bouquet and the rest of the flowers is where you cut back. Your bouquet will be in all of the pictures and what you see and remember most. Make it what you really want. I also cut way back on flowers at the ceremony site. I only had a draped fabric and a few flowers in the corners of the fabric at the site. That was it. I figured we weren't there all that long and wanted to spend the money elsewhere. It looked great and really, we weren't there long, so I'm REALLY glad I didn't spend more on it! I skipped the favors. I foudn anything I liked was kinda pricey and people don't use them anyhow. You could just have nothing, or just make a small donation to a charity and ask if they have any cards to put on the tables at the reception. I made a donation to the ASPCA (we're animal lovers, so it was really appropriate) and got the cards to put at the table free of charge. Our guests LOVED it and all commented they'd never seen that before and it was a great way to not waste the money. You can use this "last minute deal" schpeel with your DJ and photographer too. Honestly though, after we spent WAY too much on our photographer, we ended up hating our pictures! If I had it to do again, I would buy a decent digital camera (like $300-$400) and ask someone I trust to just snap as many photos as they can. Or, ask all of your guests to bring their cameras because you're not getting a photographer. Most would love to help out and I bet you'd get way better (and more!) pictures. I really wish I had done this - I can't stress it enough! Oh, I made my invites myself. It wasn't the most important thing to me, so I saved money there and they came otu awesome (I got comments of how nice they were). I got boxes of invites at WalMart and printed them on my laser printer. I dressed it up by printing a Monogram at the top and then getting a jolee's flower sticker (nicer than it sounds, check them out) from AC Moore and put them between the monogram I printed and the wording of the invite. This also allowed me to make them all a little different! I got 5 different colored flowers.

Lastly, if you have a specific place in mind that you really want to go to, I say try it. If they offer you a discount because it's last minute or whatever, you could possibly afford it (I did and was SO thrilled because I really thought we couldn't ever have it there). Most places are also willing to offer up ways you could cut the budget. Don't worry about things like chair covers (no one notices that anyhow!), Keep your linens simple if they're offered cheaper, things like that.

Oh, as if I haven't babbled enough! We did a tab bar that we set at what we could afford and had the plan that after that, the bar would charge if someone wanted alcohol. It ended up being enough, but keep in mind that 1/2 of our guests didn't drink. But it's MUCH cheaper than an open bar (which is OUTRAGEOUS!).

I know some of this is higher priced than you're looking for, but if you keep it reasonably small and try and "deal" you might be able to pull something together that you'll love!

Congrats and have fun! After all is said and done, you'll be so impressed with everything you've done!!!!!

Answer 2

What ever you do dont mention the W word (wedding) it instantly adds thousands. My daughter got married last year I made the arrangements for a family gathering, she was after a beach wedding so we had picnic baskets, gourmet each basket fed 4 with leftovers. After the ceremony i asked guests to pair off and share a basket I bought 10 baskest for $1000 and every guest was impressed with the food. There are lots of ways to cut corners the first is avoid the w word and ask for budget meal ideas.

Answer 3

My husband and I did our wedding literally on less than $1,000.00.  Here's what we did:

Location: We had the wedding at my parents' home so that we did not have to pay a location fee.  Saved us big bucks.  The reception was also held outside there (for tables, we asked the local rec center if we could rent them from them - was much cheaper than an actual rental place).

Attire:  I shopped the closeout section at the bridal shop.  I ended up getting the perfect dress at 50% off because it was a discontinued style, and the last one just happened to be my size.  My husband got a cheap tux rental from a local shop. Bridesmaids bought their own dresses (and so they got to pick them out) and groomsmen did their own rentals.

Reception: Held the wedding at 1pm so that we didn't have to do anything more than appetizers.  Did homemade decorations - all ourselves. Music was just a stereo in the corner. Food was pot luck so family members all helped out. Cake was a wedding gift from a friend - so no expense to us.

Official - We had a friend that was a notary, and so he did the wedding ceremony for us.

All in all, the wedding was very cheap (done in September) and still looked like a million bucks  :)

Answer 4

The first thing you have to do is prioritize!

- What's important to you? List them in order - For most - music and pictures are the most important followed by food and liquor - If you really want to have a good atmosphere you MUST have a good DJ (or music)  and everything else is secondary

- Food can be very simple - call different places in your area and find out the "discounted seasons" - plan it on a Sunday (cheaper) and have it early - after lunch but before dinner -

ceremony and reception can be from 2:00 - 6:00 - this way you can serve a light meal and not splurge on food

What you can not spend any money (or at least not a lot) are on the following:

- invitations (do them yourself)

- centerpieces

-flowers

-priest (get a judge - in my state they aren't allowed to charge - ppl just tip them)

- have a beer, wine, soda party (unless liquor is very importatant)

- aisle runner and other wedding accessories (no one really pays attention to them)

- wedding cake - do buttercream - who cares about fondat

- Favors - think of cheap ones - most ppl toss them anyway

Answer 5

for my school semi-formal we had teal along with a dull silver and dull gold as our theme;

that's all i could think of but it was beautiful;

good luck.

Answer 6

Material shops, or stores that sell fabrics by the yard are great places to get gorgeous, cheap prints to cover tables, and add as accent to place settings.

You can get a lot of great, colorful material (in any color/design you could imagine!) for very little cash. And don't forget to save the fabrics for home decor!

Who knows- you might be able to find the perfect print in the chocolate/teal combo or in a fall theme that helps you decide which theme you want to go for.

Congratulations and good luck!

Answer 7

It's not always what you have, it's who you know and what they have, (hookups).  Talk to friends or friends of friends and ask around for good deals. Have as many people as you can help you bring things together. Here's some more info. that might help you.

http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-plann...

Answer 8

Dont have a traditional wedding/reception. Go to the justice of peace and get married. Then use all of ur budget to have one h**l of a reception. Find a golf course that has a nice country club or something. Usually you can get them for cheap. Also, if you do most of your own decorating, make ur family help, that cuts down on costs as well. As far as the cake, dont get something big. Get something small and pretty, but have the baker make sheet cakes for ur guests to eat. It will save on money AND ur guests will be able to eat it. Wedding cakes are covered in fondant, which is edible, but tastes like c**p. Also, I think the teal and choc would be great. Theres no reason not to use them for fall colors. Use fake flowers and add a couple of the teal, pool colors in with ur browns, oranges, and whatever else you are going to use and it will be a nice pop of color. Go on theknot.com for ideas.

Answer 9

I got married on October 26.  The fall leaves were beautiful.  I would go with them.

Teal would look better for a spring or summer wedding.

Answer 10

Ok first your dream wedding is not gone.  You can make this wedding a new dream, and all that really matters are the memories and feelings of the day anyway.  I had a fall wedding in Maine.  I did the deep reds (not maroon), cream and chocolate colors.  It was beautiful and fit the season perfect.  

My favorite cheap thing I did was create this tree for people to hang marriage advice and wishes on.  All you do is find some tall branches without the leaves, wrap in twinkling white lights, and place in a pretty (large) vase.  Make cards and punch holes to wrap ribbon through so they can be hung on the branches.  I did deep red ribbon and it looked beautiful.  Lot's of candles and warm drapes.  You can do a wedding on a budget. Just look around.  Craft stores, target, even walmart.  Oh and bubbles are great for the kids.  Good Luck. Hope I helped (:

Oh one more thing if you need table cloths try buying twin sheets in the color you like.  They are cheap and if you need them smaller cut and use hem tape.  so easy. and the tree I recommended can be used as a money tree just buy clips instead.

Answer 11

A wedding is a dignified event, it is supposed to be a very special day in your life, and when you use the word CHEAP to describe it (or things associated with it) you have degraded this very special day to something that is measured in $$$, and has very little meaning to you.

One of the most beautiful weddings that I was ever associated with cost $100 (renting a gazebo in the park and the marriage license).  The Bride did not wear a white gown and the Groom did not wear a tuxedo.  There were no bridesmaids nor groomsmen.  There was no disc jockey nor photographer nor a three-tiered wedding cake.  One hundred and fifty people stood and watched a ten minute ceremony on a bright, sunny Saturday morning in the park.  After the ceremony the Bride and Groom got in their car and drove away (no reception).   This is a couple who could have had any type of wedding they wanted because they were both young professional with good jobs but they decided their love for each other was much more important than wedding favors, decorations, how many gifts they would receive, and fancy gowns.

If you have very little to spend on your wedding and reception then you should consider just having a "dessert" or "cake and punch reception."  You don't have to have a disc jockey . . you don't have to buy liquor . . you don't have to serve a three course meal to your guests . . and you don't have to buy decorations that will be thrown away the next day.

Keep it simple!

Answered by:  A Certified wedding specialist / A Professional bridal consultant / A Wedding ceremony officiant

Answer 12

OK...sorry, but more information please!  Do you already have bridesmaids dresses picked out?  Or, are you wanting the "colors" more for the decorations in the hall?  It sounds like you already have the centerpieces.....glass centerpieces with a "faux" stained glass look.  Are you floating candles in these?  

So....do you want ideas/colors for:

~ bridesmaids?

~ decorations?

~ flowers?

Or all of the above?  Edit your question, and I will get back to you.