Simple ,informal, cheap wedding ideas?

Question

I need so cheap ,simple wedding ideas. Informal,, It's outside, at very nice park. i just need some help, my parents aren't going to help, so it's just me and my boyfriend paying for it. thank you.

Answer 1

For centerpieces, float single flowers in water. :)

Answer 2

floating candle center pieces would be nice.You can get them at Walmart or Target for a good price.Buy appetizers at Walmart or Sams or Target,wedding favors,table cloths,unity candle,invitations at Walmart or Target for really cheap.

Answer 3

had my dream wedding and we spent around 2500. Here are some ideas to help cut corners. We had about a 100 guest show up, maybe 125, don't know the exact count. We anticipated around 200.

We cut lots of corners but it was beautiful.

Family member took our pictures.

Family friend baked both cakes for the cost of the ingredients. (Only the bottom tier of a 3 tier cake was eaten, and all but 1/4 of the grooms cake was left)

A lady at our church did our center pieces and decorations, she already had the stuff from a previous wedding and they happened to be in our colors.

We didn't serve a sit down meal, instead, we served cake, punch, grapes, cheese, dinner mints, peanuts, chocolate covered strawberries, and ice water for guests who didn't like punch. Ask around and borrow serving dishes/punch bowls.

The church let us borrow the table clothes for the tables.

We used the church greenery as a back drop.

I made the boutineers for the groom, my dad, his dad, best man, and my ring bearer.

I got mine and the maid of honor bouquets at micheals for 12.99 each, they were hand tied flowers.

I got all the party supplies from sam's and oriental trading.

Flower girl basket and pillow, I found them on clearance for 1/.2 price at the craft stores.

We printer our own invitations on my printer, I picked the invites up for 1/2 price at the craft store.

I used the craft store coupons (40%) off the purchase a kit that included the guest book, pen, cake server, and flutes for toasting.

We had the guest blow the bubbles at us and that doubled as our favors, i personalized them and hand tied ribbon in our wedding colors.

I splurged on my dress and veil, but nothing over the top. Just ask about the cost of alterations before you purchase the dress, this is one thing I wish I did. My dress was detailed and the alterations were more expensive than I thought they were going to be.

Get your friends to play the ceremony music for you, or use Cd or Ipod.

Flowers for the centerpieces and the courages if you don't have time to make them, use the grocery store florist. They are cheaper and the flowers are just as pretty as the high priced florists.

Answer 4

Keep it simple.

Chairs. Flowers if you can afford it.

Buy a nice bridesmaids dress instead of a gown.

Potluck Reception or Buffet Reception.

Do the music through a computer instead of hiring a D.J

Answer 5

Love the ideas so far!  I rented my wedding dress when I got married the first time.  It was $100 and included the alterations and the puffy slip thingy that went under it.

wedding favors can be dumb.  Love the bubble idea.  Looks great in the pics, too.  You can get them at craft stores and if you look them up online I think you can get them in packs like for kids b-day parties and they r cheapier.

Ask friends and family that have cool ferns/plants and wrought iron in their yards if you can use it to decorate the areas in the park that need it.

Mid afternoon weddings mean no food.  Do that.  I like the cake, nuts, punch, tea, lemonade, water thing.  Less to mess with, less stuff to buy.

Get your flatware, cups, plates on line or at craft stores.  Gardenridge Pottery has a huge section of that stuff and it goes on sale often.  Don't know if you have on of those near you.  Use clear stuff because you cn use it again if you don't use it all at the wedding.  If you don't do real food, then u only need small plates, punch cups, forks, and napkins.  Honestly, those napkins at the grocery store that are luncheon size work great and there are brands that are pretty.

Decorate yourself.  Cut stuff out of yards.  Ivy, magnolia...very pretty greenery.  Shop sales.  Shop around.  When you do have to buy things, try to get stuff you can use again.  Rent whatever you can.  shop around on that too.  Enlist the help of family and friends.

Oh...for the cakes.  I used 3 pedastals that were plaster of paris and had a wooden base glued to the top to hold the cakes.  They were 3 varying heights.  Very cheap.   (We painted them white to seal them.)  I had 3 round cakes made.  They were white layer cakes with lemon filling.  $20 a cake.  We used ivy to decorate the table and had a few roses on the top of each one.  Beautiful and delicious.  There was NONE left!  Local bakery charges way less for a round cake that a big old wedding cake.  The Grooms cake was a chocolate cream cheese cake that was a round layer cake, too.  It was covered with chocolate covered strawberries that I made.  I made extra to serve on the side!  YUMMY!!

I took my bride's maids to Dillards and said ya'll just find a dress in green that you both like.  I don't care.  They both wore those dresses over and over.  $40 on clearance.  Lucky them.

Also as far as wedding dresses go,try looking at prom dresses in white.  I saw a bunch of them today and since prom season is over, there were alot on sale!

Just holla if ya want some more tips.  I have done a bunch of weddings for friends and family on virtually no budget, so I have a clue!

Oh yeah...do you have a home church?  Does he?  Or your parents?  Alot of times you can use the punch bowls/pitchers from the church!  Just ask!

Answer 6

Go to Vegas! They plan everything for you.  That's what I'm doing. =)

Answer 7

First of all I know that it an be really hard to try and pay for your own wedding. Congrats on your pending nuptiuals. Go simple.

You can do a bunch with fabric, and it is very inexpensive. If it is outdoors, try draping a pretty gauze-y fabric, all around. In-between the trees, around the alter, and around the chairs.

Another cheap idea would be to instead of having to rent all those expensive chairs, Try some oversized floor pillow. (Which you can easily make) It is less expensive, and has a cool ethnic vibe.

Same for the reception. Go ethnic. Make a huge batch of couscous , and have a friend barbeque several dozen chicken b*****s, and some veggies.

If your future husband or one of his friends or even you is handy with a mider-saw then I would recommend making a few long low to the ground tables, (the pillows can be used as chairs there as well). Lacquer the wood in a nice glossy black, or teak. Longer tables like twelve seaters means less fabric. You just need one really pretty table runner.

You could even serve the food on leaves, to really cut down on the costs of plates. Or in family style "troughs". I would put pretty cheap little tea lights into floating bowls to work as center pieces. The are about five bucks per table. Way cheaper than flowers

Flowers are beautiful, but cost way to much money. Go with candles, and maybe just a few flowers.

Good luck on the marriage, I hope this helps.

Answer 8

Here is what we did:

I had our dresses made. Me and two bridesmaids. Depending on how intricate you want the dresses may or may not be less expensive. Otherwise...

http://www.target.com/b/ref=sc_fe_l_1_16...

these are some lovely dresses == really silk -- that are inexpensive and get good reviews.

Target has bridesmaid dresses also for under $50.

I had a 1:30 p.m. wedding in the summer in an outdoor park/private garden. Loved it and it was lovely. If I had it to do over I would have had a backup location but I was blessed to have a lovely day. I had the reception there too. I had a group of brass players from the local college as the brass quintet for the ceremony.

You could do that or for $89.99 have all the CDs from http://pianobrothers.com/  for weddings and have good music for wedding and reception.  Great music in fact.

I went to the one-stop rental place for tables; chairs; plates and silver; punch fountain; and stand for our readers (the pastor wouldn`t use it).  I got plastic tablecovers in our wedding color and clear plastic glasses from the supermarket.

For food I did one-stop as well at the supermarket that also catered. You can get most anything they make in their deli I imagine. I had an afternoon snack reception of meat and cheese trays with bakery buns and they made me a topping of mayo/fancy mustard/cream cheese that was yummy. If I had it to do over I might go more imaginative with the food but my guests loved it.

We also had punch in the fountain plus iced tea and lemonade which was Country Time we mixed up in huge glass pitchers and had slices of orange lime and lemon floating in them -- no one was the wiser. We had corrugated buckets of ice cubes.

Also from the supermarket we had a beautiful but simple three tiered cake plus nuts and mints.

It was beautiful and in the outside beautiful surroundings we needed little for decoration which helps. We had a talented pianist we knew for music and rented a high end keyboard from the music store which we could plug into an outlet in the picnic gazebo (which we only used for a gift table.

It was fine with people eating and talking in the beautiful garden.  

Invitations: if I was doing it over I would get a nice calligraphy pen and do them myself with a kit from Oriental Trading Company

http://www.orientaltrading.com/products/...

Answer 9

Some ideas:

Parks, local gardens or even a friends home!

Find a dress on sale or at a bridal outlet store or make one.

See if friends/family members will assist in food preparation.

Have a small, intimate wedding.

Consider going with less or no flowers for centerpieces.

I would not scrimp on the photography though!

I bought the bridesmaid's equivalent of a dress instead of a traditional wedding dress.  The dress is way less poofy and looked better on my 4'10" frame.  It was also 1/3 of the price.  We are also eliminating the bridal party, only having my daughter as a junior bridesmaid.

We are having our wedding in Las Vegas more or less because it is all inclusive (photos, ceremony, flowers, etc.).  Also, we aren't located far from Vegas so traveling there will not be very expensive.  We are also having a family friend who is a professional photographer do photos for us around the city at no charge.

My fiance and I plan on having our reception a few weeks after the wedding in our home eliminating the need to rent a hall for the event.  We are also preparing our own dinner for our guests as well as our wedding cake.  We are planning a casual reception because it fits in so much better with our lifestyle and budget.

Answer 10

Reception ~ Pot luck reception or a Picnic reception ~ line a picnic table with baskets containing a gingham cloth, plates, cups, etc, and a delicious casual meal of fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, a small bottle of wine and bottled water. Invite your guests to pick a basket (they are all the same, so it does not matter) and let them choose their picnic spot, either by a shady tree or out in the sun. One basket would serve two people. There would be no centerpieces to fuss over (just leave it to Mother Nature) and best of all, no seating arrangements or table cards to worry about.

Flowers ~ Do your own flowers, and/or use silk flowers.

http://iloveweddings.wordpress.com/2008/...

Wedding Cake ~ Bake your own wedding cake, or just make a bunch of cupcakes and include them in the picnic baskets.

http://iloveweddings.wordpress.com/2008/...

Decorations ~ leave it to mother nature.

Best of luck.

Answer 11

If it is during a time when a lot of flowers will be in bloom, you won't have to worry about too many decorations, but if you do want to buy flowers, get them wholesale and make the bouquets yourself: http://www.americanfloraldistributors.co...

Don't worry about wedding favors, a lot of people don't even take them and they are not an essential part of the wedding.  People probably won't even notice that you don't have them.

Do a pot-luck reception and have your guests bring in a dish instead of a gift.  

Get your dress from a thrift store, have a friend make your dress, or buy a white dress (or any other color you want) that isn't intended for a wedding (anything wedding related is automatically much more expensive than the exact same thing that isn't meant for a wedding).

Have your bridesmaids wear dresses they already have...for instance you could ask each of them to wear a black dress since most people have one, or to each wear a different color of the same shade (i.e. bright colors or pastels).

Answer 12

I did everything myself. No wedding planner is your first big money saver. Also, for the food, I just had finger foods, chips, make your own subs with different types like ham/turkey/roast beef with a couple of cheeses. Quarter cut pimento cheese and tuna sandwiches. fruit and vegetable trays.  I got somone from the neighborhood my husband grew up in to do my flowers (silk flowers on lace fans) and my wedding cake. gave me a discount because i got them both from her and she saw my hubby grow up (that helped). being outside in the park then you can go with short silk dresses with flats so that the cost to your bridesmaids won't be so much either. I got them off the rack which was cheaper.  My wedding dress was like $150 since i got it at an outlet store and it was one that someone had ordered and paid most of then cancelled. i got it for the difference she did not pay.

Answer 13

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Answer 14

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Subtotal $478.52

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