How can I do a wedding on a 1,500 dollar budget?
By swan from Nashville, TN
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You can make your own boutonierres and corsages as well as table decor and ceremony flowers using silk flowers. Use floral tape and pins for the boutonierres and corsages. Buy assorted vases at garage sales and partly fill with shredded glossy paper or some marbles then insert silk flowers into vases for table decor and ceremony. Wrap stems of silk flowers in ribbon for bridesmaids and your bouquet. Hire a college student or ask a family member to photograph and put a few disposable cameras around at the reception for candid photos. See if a family member can make or contribute a cake and another be a dj for the night. Have the wedding in the morning and you wouldn't be expected to have as much food. Maybe have the reception in a park.
1. Keep your guest list to a minimum
2. Instead of a traditional wedding cake try a giant cookie or a variety of desserts. If you really want to do the "cake cutting" part have a small cake.
3. Food wise if you have the ceremony in the morning have a "brunch themed" reception. Mid afternoon you could request your guests bring a dish to share in lieu of a present. Early evening you could just do a mini reception with drinks and hor d'oevres. You could also also have a bbq reception where you and the groom and family supply the meat while guests bring a dish to share.
4. Depending on the time of year you are getting married farmer's markets are a great place to find fresh flowers cheap. If you can be flexible on the colors you will have more options. You might want to also consider decorating w/ seasonal items i.e. pumpkins, apples, etc.
Hi Swan. It can be done, here are a few suggestions:
Sheets from Walmart for tablecloths (covered with sheers give a dramatic look), or glue some flowers on them. Wild flowers are free. Bake small cakes. $1.00 for a box cake and a $1.00 for the frosting, add some cream cheese and a little lemon, tastes just like homemade. Use boxes and cover with a sheet for different levels.
Keep your food basic; pulled chicken, pork, or beef. Broiled potatoes cut into 8 pieces, add some butter and parsley, bake uncovered. Add a veggie and voila, you have food for everyone. Pasta goes a long way, use some of the chicken for pasta salad.
After Christmas, look for beaded garland at 50% off. Glass squares from Menard's for the table centerpieces, add some glitter (Walmart), some beaded garland. Use PVC or some kind of tubing at about 2 feet high with the flower of your choice, or use tree branches painted your colors. Hang colored plastic stones from the branches, glue fish line and hang.
Sam's club sells chafing dishes (disposable but still nice looking). Ask a few friends to take pictures then choose from them (you can always have a portrait picture made later).
Balloons are fun. Go with white and you color, let them fly around or tie them to string and hang them everywhere.
VFW posts are cheap and you can bring in your own foods or park pavilions. We catered a wedding and bought all the liquor, but still charged for cocktails just to cover the cost, a dollar a drink. I know I would be happy to pay that. Nowadays people understand what it costs to have a wedding, so do what you can and enjoy your day.
Find someone that just got married or is getting married before you get married and see if they will sell any of the decorations, dresses, etc. OR
Actually, I did JUST get married, 6 weeks ago this Sunday. What I did was I registered for things I want/need for the wedding. I did an online registry called Myregistry.com. You'll get a "button" on your toolbar and then when ever you come across anything anywhere online that you want/need, you click on that button on your toolbar and it will add it to your registry. Then when you have a shower (I had 2, one for the "adults" like my mom and mother in law and elder family members from both sides, and the 2nd was my girlfriends.) people can buy you things for your wedding off this registry. And what I did for center pieces on the tables at the reception, was a candle on a square piece of mirror. I ended up with more than enough silk flower petals from the flower girls, that I used the extra silk flowers and "sprinkled" them around the candle and on the mirror. By the way, you can get artificial flowers and candles and mirrors at Dollar Tree (every thing is $1), which also has a website that you can buy in bulk.
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