A nice wedding for $500?

Question

My Fiance is in the Marines and he deployes in January. He will be home for a few weeks in December. We are thinking about maybe getting married then. Would it be possible to plan a nice wedding for $500.00 ? We will ask bothour parents to do the recpetion. But we will pay for the wedding.

What do you think?

Answer 1

Anything's possible~~It depends on how nice you really want this wedding to be. The cake and flowers alone can run very high very quickly. If you keep it super simple, you can come close. I think my flowers cost $400 and my dress was nearly $200 and the cake was about $150. Then if your family helps with the reception that's always good. What I would honestly suggest is going to a judge for now and when he returns home, do the wedding the way you want. Then you can spend more on it if you choose to and have more of the wedding that the both of you want.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Think fewer guests, but more elegance with flowers, etc. to make the few guests feel very special.  Good luck!

Answer 3

All you really need to pay for is the marriage license, your dress, his tux rental, wedding bands, and your flowers. You could do your hair and makeup yourself. Wedding dresses can be expensive, but prom dresses now days are so similar to wedding dresses, just buy a prom dress in white (check out the link). Just have it in one of your parents yards, with close friends and family, have a flower arch just to make the yard a little more fancy. I would just have one person stand up for you and your husband, so you could have a maid of honor and a best man, and the best man could rent his own tux, and the maid of honor could just buy her own dress. You could just have your friends and family and you and your husband go to a restaurant after the little ceremony, and request the special event room and everyone just order a meal that they pay for themselves.

Answer 4

hmm... lets see you could get a really good price on a wedding dress for under 250 at lilywedding.com, and you could probly get your fiance a tux for about 99 online, lets see thats 350, i didn't have to pay for a church fee or a minister fee, so i have no idea how much that costs. Decorations for the church aisles could probly be pew bows, you could buy them at any dollar general store, or make them yourself with tulle. A guest book would probly cost about 20-30 bucks, a unity candle runs at about 30 dollars, to save money you could probly buy martha stewart invitations and just print them out at home ($14 at walmart). You could probly be able to pull it off buy seeking good deals wherever you go. Maybe your local church could allow you to use the church for free?

Answer 5

Hi and congratulations!

What are you including in the $500?

Does that include:

~ Rings?

~ Dress?

~ Tux?

~ Marriage license?

~ Flowers?

~ Officiant?

~ Brides accessories (jewelry, shoes, veil, etc.)?

If so....well, that may be a big squeeze.  If you are simply meaning the cost of the marriage license and a minister or judge...then you will have money left over!  

The ceremony is not the biggest cost of a wedding....it is the reception.

Good luck!

Answer 6

So are you talking about the ceremony? Cuz then you have to pay the minister, a fee for the church, doing a bit of decorating, (pew bows, flower arrangement etc.) printing programs, a guest book, all stuff like that. And what are you gonna do for a dress, tuxes, etc? Is that included in the $500? Honestly, I'm gonna say no. You could do a VERY plain one for $500, but it will be very bare-bones. Congratulations on the engagement though! Good luck!  

Answer 7

if u ever seen the wal mart commercial about the person that bought every thing at walmart for ther wedding and martha stewert was in it?!? well try  goin to walmart for you wedding supplies it mite work with only $500

Answer 8

It really depends on your version of nice.  If you are a "I get anything I want for my wedding day" type of bride, probably not.  But from reading your situation, you really seem flexible with things.

If you are just planning the ceremony for $500 I think it's definitely do-able.  Most officiant fees are only $100-$150 and some public locations (like parks, museums) are very inexpensive, and if you tell them your budget, they will work with you.  You could also do a backyard ceremony at one of your parents homes if you live in a warmer place.

Checkout discount craft stores online for inexpensive decor and flowers with what's left of your budget after the officiant, site fee, rings, etc.

inexpensive decor: save-on-crafts.com/

inexpensive rings: overstock.com/

You can make your own invites with kits at Wal-mart and Michael's craft store for like $40.

Your dress might be hard to find, if you would include that in your $500 budget.  But check out $99 sales and vintage clothing stores.  Or if you sew, you could definitely make your own for under $100.

If you want to throw your reception in the $500 budget, I don't really think that is doable.  Maybe a cake and punch thing at someone's house, but not much other food will fit into that low a budget.

Good Luck and Congrats!

Answer 9

Thats only for the rings.have both parents pay for the wedding also.

Answer 10

It's fine.  A wedding can be whatever you make of it.  To bad it will be in Dec. because you could have gotten married on the beach. Do you belong to a church if so that would work.  You can skip the decor.  Also the two of you can get married alone, and have a reception with friends and faimly.