Getting married in two months... help, please?

Question

Long story short, my wedding for fall 09 is now happening in Oct, only two months away. Also, this is extremely unexpected, so we don't have anything saved yet. Any idea on what is totally necessary and what isn't? Also, does anyone know of cheap resources for dresses, favors, invitations, and all that? Finally, any suggestions on how in the world we can possibly pull this off?

Answer 1

First piece of advice, take a deep breath.

Second piece of advice, I don't know your situation for needing to get married ASAP, but would it be possible to do a small intimate wedding and then in a few months do a "Congratulate the Happy Couple" party (just don't call it a reception)?? That would definitely save on costs, well at least for now.

Third piece of advice, try not to hire people if you can get around. Anyone can legally become able to perform wedding ceremonies, renting equipment and having a friend play music is cheaper than a DJ, and a lot of newer photographers are willing to shoot for free and you only have to pay for prints (at a cheaper cost).

Fourth piece of advice, look at consignment shops for wedding dresses and Oriental Trading Company (orientaltradingcompany.com) for the favors. Walmart is a great resource, they just got in Martha Stewart wedding items.

Answer 2

my wedding was kind efficient. i got the wedding dress for 200 b/c it had a stain and the dry cleaning fee was 130. my favors were the bubbles from walmarts wedding section and we tied my wedding colors thru hole in top very pretty. do 25 favors of one thing and i did 25 favors of hershey kisses in silver and wrapped in purle and blue tulle also from walmart. i got tulle from micheals. the bubbles are like 5 bux for a pack 0f almost 30.put in a beautiful basket by the door with ur assortment and i gurantee they willa ll be gone. th4e bubble were used for the walk back down the aisle after ur pronounced hub and wife.!!!! congrats and good luck my location changed 1 week b4 my wedding so this is a piece of cake! lol  

Answer 3

you can make your own invitations to save money. as for the rest of it i am really not sure

Answer 4

I am planning my wedding in 11 weeks. You can make your own invites to save time and money! The dress I would check ebay, and outlet stores in your area. Really if you don't mind me saying so, you can just get married at the courthouse and have a nice reciption that weekend to follow! I hope i helped a little and godspeed!

Answer 5

Skip the big ceremony.

Have a small courthouse wedding with Friends and Family and then have a nice big reception with everyone afterward. This saves money on a lot of things and is still fun!

But if you INSIST on having the ceremony..

Buy a white bridesmaid dress instead of a wedding dress, you can get them in any length and are often MUCH MUCH cheaper. A friend of mine did this, she had a floor length bridesmaid dress in white with a shrug, it was beautiful.

Don't do "party favors" cheap ones get left at the reception hall or thrown away when the people get home. If you just **HAVE** to do something you can opt for making CD's of the songs played at the wedding, or do a Candy Buffet and supply small bags for your guest to fill.

Make your own invitations, lots of kits out there, go to Wal*Mart.

As for food, opt for a Potluck, BBQ or Catered Buffet. A lot of cultures have a tradition of Potluck, and BBQ's are more popular these days are money is tight. Anything will be just fine really. You could also time your wedding so the reception could just me Trays (like fruit, deli, cheese ect) and wine or champagne.

As for the cake, a lot of large chain stores do wedding cakes for a lot cheaper than a bakery, or you could opt for Cupcakes in your wedding colours. Or skip the cake all together and just have a "treat and candy buffet"

Answer 6

www.formalkids.com

www.annsbridalbargains.com

www.orientaltrading.com

You can do this just chill out and take a deep breath!

Answer 7

My husband and I just got married and we had a month to get everything we ended up getting married just the 2 of us at a elopement place for $250 and the 2 witnesses were included in the bill (very romantic doing it just the 2 of us and it was stress free not having to deal with family drama what so ever)

But if you wanted a wedding wedding the justice of the peace will come to you and ur place that you want to me married at

and for the dress i just got a simple white dress at http://www.windsorstore.com/

as far as decorations and party favors go to the dollar store and see what they have they have some really nice stuff and cheap on your budget too

invitations you can get at Walmart and they even have a wedding section

Answer 8

Take a deep breath...you can pull this off! I own an invitations business and can work within your budget to get you invitations and favors (and send them out if you wish) if you're still looking for these.

Also, October is a beautiful month and decorations can be made very simply. Use autumn colored candles, lots of white lights (ex: christmas lights), mason jars tied with ribbons as vases, bouquets of flowers from the grocery store (mix and match them and trim them to a shorter height so that they fit nicely in the jars), etc.

Buy your dress off the rack at David's Bridal. They are very affordable and have multiple sizes and very stylish bridesmaid dresses in a variety of colors and sizes.

Get your hair, nails, and makeup done at a beauty school. The price is right and the students are very dedicated (be sure to go for a trial run)!

Try and all-in-one venue. The people who work at these venues have done hundreds of weddings and know what they're doing! This will cut out a lot of stress. You won't have to plan the details and you can choose your meal from a menu (and your cake is probably included). Most places like this will allow you to pay for alcohol and soda/juice by the glass which will save you a fortune if you choose to offer an open bar for beer and wine only (guests can usually purchase a liquor drink at a cash bar if they wish). They provide all of the tables, dinnerware, and basic linens. You can probably be married on site and in the end this option is much cheaper than finding catering, people to set up, supplies, etc.

It sounds like a lot, but you can do it! Enlist some friends to help and take it one minute at a time!

Answer 9

I saved a bundle by getting my invitations at Target.  They look great, and you just use a home computer/printer to do them.  

Skip the favors -- people often forget to take them anyway, and it is an unnecessary expense.

Flowers -- you could order them in bulk from Costco and have a friend make the arrangements.  Costco has great prices on roses and other flowers, and their shipping/delivery is free.

Dresses -- check out consignment shops!  Since you will only be wearing it once, it may not make sense to spend a fortune on it.  Especially when someone else already has, and you can get the worn-once dress for $100.

Last thing -- consider doing an non-meal reception.  You could have plated hor'dourves and wine.  Or, you could do an "afternoon tea" sort of reception, with small snacks and tea with all the fixings.  Skipping alcohol (while not the traditional thing to do) would cut costs a LOT.

The nice thing about planning a wedding on short notice is that you don't have time to be wishy-washy about anything.  Just make your decisions and move forward.

Congratulations, and good luck!

Answer 10

Save yourself alot of aggravation by not getting married. It will save you a life time of misery which makes this situation seem like nothing.

Answer 11

So good luck, I only had three months for mine and it was a little crazy but we pulled it off.

I would say for the dress, I bought mine, but you can always rent a dress it will save you a lot of money.

I think what you need is good pictures. Because that is what you will be able to look at year after year.

for the cake i did a fake cake, just had someone make it look really beautiful, but it will save a ton of money to not make it out of cake. I then went to sams club and bought cheesecake and bought fruit people loved it.

Idea for flowers and for for pictures, get on yahoo and look up people in your area, and call all of them, I found some guy for my pics, that did everything , for $800 just call and call until you find someone who can help you.

You will do it and your day will be great! Good luck

Answer 12

Cheap dress? Shop online try all your local shops. One advantage of Bridal shops is that you many times can get discounts on the groomsmen tuxes.

Table decorations, get a book find some you like then make them yourself or have someone creative do it for you. There are plenty of books on how to make them yourselves.(Chk Michaels)

It is cheaper to have someone coordinate with other attendees of the wedding for food. For example at my wedding i had about 15 differnt people do food andi fed a lil over 200 people for 800 dollars. That was a five course meal.

Ivitations, goto staples or office max, get card stock and print them yourself can do a few hundred for like $50.

Sign in book cost 10-20 dollars at Michaels.

October should be a relatively cheap time to find a place to rent a reception hall. If you live in warm weather you could host reception in a friends yard if large enough. Then you would only have the cost of chairs to worry about.

In all honesty you can have a beautiful wedding for a few thousand dollars and everyone will be happy.

Plus you can use your money for what counts....trying to survive in this terrible economy!