We had a small wedding in my aunt and uncles garden, it turn out to be a little more expensive then we planned but still not to bad.
It was just DH, DD and I in the ceremony, we did not want bridesmaids etc.
We got our flowers and cake made by friends of MIL, they were lovely and half the price (MIL did buy these for us though).
My wedding dress was an ex sample (never worn) and I just loved it, it was raw silk and lace and had a RRP of over $3000 but I only paid $600.
I wore silver thongs with jewels that cost $10 .
My hair cost $90 at the local hairdressers and it was amazing, I loved it!
My aunties SIL did my make up for free.
DH hired his suit as he couldn't find one he want to buy.
DD's dress cost $60 on special and her headband was under $10.
Then there was the celebrant that cost way to much and so not worth it (but thats another story).
Mum and Dad gave us a nice little white table and chair set to sign the certificates on.
Then for the reception (this is where the money went)...
We bought 2 white marquees from 'Sams Warehouse', these were meant to be a back up in case it rained but we ended up using them as they looked quiet good.
We supplied beer ans wine, purely because I wanted to.
We also provided a spit roast dinner and cheesecake shop dessert.
My uncle is an electrician so he did the lights and music
My brother made me a wishing well for the gifts (we asked for money as we already had everything)
I planned it all in 2 months... started Start of Jan, married Feb 28th... only 19 days to our 1st anniversary .
Umm, I think that is all... there are some photos is the gallery, here... Message - BellyBelly Member Photo Gallery
(I have more pics on FB but my name is hidden from searching, if you want to see I am happy to add you)
If you google there are sites that have suggestions for wording if you have a wishing well / gift registry that you can include with invites.......they are worded really nicely without sounding like you are just asking for money/gifts etc.
oh will you want/need wedding cars? Do you have a friend with a nice car you can use, we used my parents, just got some ribbon from spotlight and my bro was the chauffer
I think the wishing well thing is fairly standard these days... I went to 5 weddings in 2 years a couple of years ago and they all had wishing wells.
I don't know how much our wedding was off the top of my head, but we definitely had a 'party' rather than a reception.
- We did finger food at $15 a person rather than a proper sit down meal (my gf is getting married in Sept and is paying $90 a head )
- I did my own hair and make up. I can understand why people want the whole pamper package, but to be honest, in my mind I had better things to spend the money on
- I got family and friends to do the photos. My aunty loves photography so I asked her to do the 'professional' pictures... bought her a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates and I paid for the developing... all up it was about $150
- I bought my wedding dress off the rack from a little no name formal dress shop - $350 SOLD!!
- DH didn't wear a suit, just a nice pair of pants and a button up shirt he'd bought about 3 years but never worn
- I wore thongs to my wedding which were about $30 from Mathers or Williams I think
- I made my own invitations
- We didn't do the wedding party thing either... just had DH's daughters up there with us.
As the other girls have said hun, do it YOUR way... it's all about you and him.
our wedding was semi formal and as cheap as we could make it (totalled $7000) the reception alone (starter and main meal for 65 and 2 hour drinks package) cost us $4500!! The car was our other big expense which was $900 it was an awesome chrysler limo with hydrolics and lambourgini doors! We saved money by getting shoes at payless shoes ($70 for 4 pairs), MIL made our cake, I made our invites and place cards, a friends did the photography hes a photographer but honestly guests had just as good shots for 70% of the photos. Dresses were bought from ebay saved a heap there!
Thats all i have for now!
We did our wedding for well under $6000. We looked around to find a venue that was within our budget (they are out there, you just need to look!). We ended up spending $55 per head, and had a bar tab set at $100 (our wedding was a sunday afternoon). We also DIY'ed as much as possible, invites, wedding cake, flowers, etc. My uncle was our MC, and we had an ipod instead of a DJ. Suits we hired for $160 from David Marcs (iin Mooney Ponds), and I got my dresses from myself (shellabellabridal.com.au).
There are definately ways to have a wedding cheaply, you just need to think of ways of doing things cheaper. Think of who in your family may be able to help out with things (such as flowers, makerup hair, cars, etc)
Anyone who wants any more tips, feel free to pm me
Michelle
Our wedding was small... only had 45ish people at the reception. We never did a proper calc as to how much it all was but I think it was leaning towards the cheapie wedding side lol. We pretty much so paid for everything, IL's supplied the alcohol for the reception (otherwise we weren't going to have any) and my Aunt and Uncle put money towards our honeymoon as their present to us. Our celebrant was free but we gave him $100 to cover travel costs. We had our reception at the Norman Lindsay Gallery Cafe where DH proposed to me
One of my GF's did my make up, My grandfather did my hair (he's not that old lol, only 65... he's been a hairdresser since he left school!), another friend took our photos. My dress was bought on sale, so was about $450... alterations were about $150... veil was $80, shoes were about $60 I think. I borrowed my Nan's pearls for jewellery. We took our photo's at a local lookout, because the gallery wanted another $500-600 just to take photo's on the grounds!!! The reception was about $45 a head... we had antipasto as entree, choice of two different mains, and the wedding cake as dessert. & as much coffee/tea as we wanted. The cake was $200 - we went to a small-ish bakery after a proper cake place was going to charge us $300 for the same style cake!!!!!! I made invites & also did the table settings... ummmm.... friend of ours did the flower arrangements, my bouquet (sp?) was from a local florist.
If I could do it again - I would have put my foot down and had a Friday morning wedding and had everyone go to high tea after like I wanted. (or just elope!!!!) But it was still the best day
I originally wanted to have my reception in our fav restaurant, book out the place, ppl just order and pay for what they want, put a cap of $50 on the wishing well, few hundred on the bar tab. We ended up hiring a boat and getting it catered (parents got involved). But I still liked the idea of taking everyone to a place that was special for us, and having it more of a night out than a reception.
Or, a breakfast wedding instead of a dinner, that way if you get it catered the food is much simpler, and breakfast is the most important meal of the day, lol.
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! I got married when I was 20, how insulting that someone should suggest you need a large wedding in your 30's for it to be "proper".
Anyway some of the cost cutting exercises I used:
found a fab designer gown then got a local dressmaker to copy it for a fraction of the cost.
My mum made the bridesmaid dress.
Asked a friend to make my cake, which she did for only the cost of the ingredients
Kept the guest list small (only 17) and they all stayed for the reception which was dinner and drinks. My dad paid for the meal (thanks daddy), we paid for a glass of sparkling wine for all the guests, and there was no free bar. Nobody seemed to mind paying for their own drinks though.
Did not have a band at my reception
Kept flowers to a minimum (my bouquet, my bridesmaid's and buttonholes for the men).
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where DH proposed to me
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