I need help finding affordable wedding ideas?

Question

i am getting married 08/08/09 and i want to have it at the Botacnical Gardens here in Fort Worth, TX but i am having trouble finding a descent reception hall. I dont want anything fancy, but not run down. the amount of people will be 65-70. fairly small wedding, i am on a tight budget also and some family members are going to cook some food and then i will have finger foods. i will be doing my own decor.. but i need help on some cheap ideas.. please help

Answer 1

You will want to look for a reception hall that will allow you to bring in your own food - now a days a lot of places don't allow that; but there are some out there.

I would check into the city of Fort Worth website. They often have places available for rent. They often have great prices and allow outside food to be brought in:

http://www.fortworthgov.org/pacs/info/de...

You can also check places like Elk's Lodges, Women's Clubs, etc. - they usually have places available for rent.

Answer 2

www.dollartreedirect.com for vases

http://www.save-on-crafts.com/cr6.html for acrylic gems you fill the vases with

put 'floralytes' (colored LED lights) in the faux gems and buy some flowers or branches to stick in there

Answer 3

Hi and congratulations!

That is a really pretty place.  I looked at their site.  Did you see that they have a number of "meeting rooms" that you can rent?  Out of the 7 rooms that you can rent, 4 of them rent for only $125.  That might be an option for you.  I don't see a link about bringing in food or if you need to use their caterers.....sorry.  Perhaps you already know this.  Just an idea.

My only other idea would be to have something at a family member's home....but with 70 people...that is almost too many...unless someone has a very large house/yard.  What about a public park with a nice pavillion?  Almost all city parks have one of these, and with Ft. Worth being fairly large...perhaps that is an option.

Cheap ideas for decorations:  Since you are having it at a botanical garden....why not just go with that?  Flowers!!  However, you don't need to go overboard.

Let's say you have 70 people...8 per table...so you will need about 9 tables to decorate, and then one for you and your groom....let's say 10 tables.  Get some vases.  Go to a dollar store, a thrift store, or through Dollar Tree Direct......

http://www.dollartreedirect.com/Floral&D...

(Look at all the pages...there are 3.)  Obviously, everything is $1/each, but then there is shipping.  

Get a vase....put in some flowers....roses?  Or some other cheap flowers like Alstromeria.  Before you think you can't afford these....do you have a Walmart close by?  There must be one in or near Ft. Worth.  I buy flowers at my Walmart all the time....they are $10-$12 for a dozen roses.  Alstromerias are even cheaper.  You can special order certain colors too!  Depending on the size of vase you have, you can go with as little as 3-4 in a vase with some nice greens.  Beautiful!

OR.....look at these photos of carnations.   Carnations are a very, very cheap flower.  Scroll down this link to see them.....they are soooo pretty.  Of course, again, you would not need to go overboard.  Just some in a pretty vase with some greens looks amazingly beautiful!

Here is the link.  (Again, scroll down to the bottom...the link starts off with pictures of cupake trees.)

http://eventivacom.wordpress.com/

These are ONLY ideas.....obviously, you have your own.

I wish you the best of luck and hope you find a great reception venue!  Good luck to you!