Lori - we had a wedding for 120 people for $6K
that includes everything bar my hair/makeup and dress. (oh an honeymoon as we didnt have one).
We booked at a reception hall 15 months before the wedding when it was undergoing renos' - we booked in at current prices lol so when our wedding came about in the new reception centre, they had to honor our contract for the previous costs $45 for a 3 sit down meal. put $1500on bar only for drinks
Cars - We hired Audi's from europcar and had dh's brother and my close gf drive us (they loved driving the brand new audi and they felt much a part of the wedding as they werent in the bridal party).
Bonboneires - we gave every couple a little succulent in tiny pots with a message about sharing our marriage grow etc etc ..
It can work out exy but i havebeen to weddings were they have 2-3 champagne glasses inthe centre filled with m&ms instead! that was a yummy wedding
Hair and makeup for 6 was $280 total.. can you believe it! through angel eye effects (not sureif tey are in syd).. but 2 artists and they did a brilliant job
Flowergirl /pageboy - they bought their own outfits, didnt matter what it was to us.
Bridesmaids - we bought their dresses on ebay $50 each. we scouted which we like in the dress store and then gave it a good 6 months stalking ebay for one to pop up and they do! you wold be surprised how many pop up straigth after they are worn once... in current seasons!
They bought their own shoes.
Groomsmen - most expensive blah.. DH is fussy and hired $250 suits for each of them,,, so that sucked.
INvites etc - we did ourselves - stationary in total for 150 invites and thankyous + post was $150.
Wedding bands - we got plain bands and scouted the cheapest price then worked a few places down in price !
Photographer - was our most expensive. If we did it again, we would have paid for photos and then made our our album on memento or something like that as the album was soooooooooo expensive!
$2500
veil - i borrowed
shoes - outlet shopping
no expensive lingerie
no honeymoon
oh flowers... had a friend do them up - for all table settings, and bridal party of 6, they were tulips and all the parents etc.. $250
It was a very gorgeous wedding and no one suspected how cheap we did some things! lol
Go to Cheesecake shop.
Order 2 cakes, one bigger than the other. ( I did mudcake)
Put one cake on top of the other.
Melt white chocolate and spread onto alfoil that has been scrunched up and smoothed out a bit.
When it hardens break into big shards and stick to side of cake with melted choc, you might like the smooth side or the textured side to show.
Tie a wide organza ribbon around the base.
Eat it for Dessert and save $$
Lulu's Flower Idea - I think this would be fun as! Run into a flower shop on your way to the ceremony, chuck $100 at the chick behind the counter and challenge her to make you a bouquet right then and there....and one for a bridesmaid too if you are feeling cheeky.
I did go to some outlet shops and stuff for 2nd hand dresses but it was a muck around and a little depressing when you see whats actually on offer. I went to Bridge Road in Richmond (are you in Vic?) and looked at some of the boutiques there. For $200 - $500 you can find a lovely 'wedding' dress or a beautiful ballgown that could be a once off by an up and coming designer. Unless you are stuck on white - I did find a lovely one, but mum dragged me off to Anthea Crawford (out the back), and was lucky enough to find the dressmaker had been mucking around with a fabric she liked so I scored a STUNNING boned top that would never be seen on anyone else....yay!
Hey I don't mind if you turn into Bridezilla, its funny!
We had a very budget wedding but it was perfect, it was exactly like we had imagined it to be.
It was in the afternoon so we did finger food and didn't have to do a sit down dinner. It helps when you're mum is a chef and does all the food too. The wine didn't have labels so we made our own and everyone wanted to keep the empty bottles. The wine was a gift from a relative that works at a winery but I know it was cheaper without labels. I made all of the invitations too.
We bought DH's sister a new flash for her camera and she took all the photos. Plus two other friends that were handy with a camera took pics too and you'd never know they weren't taken by a professional photographer.
We had the wedding and reception in a garden which was at a friends cottage so didn't cost anything to hire.
My dress was a deb dress which was on sale, you'd never know that it wasn't technically a wedding dress, except that it doesn't have a train but being in the garden I thought it was a better option anyway. It was my dream dress too, I didn't even realise it was a deb dress until after I'd fallen in love with it. It was so much cheaper than DH's suit!
We didn't have a band, we had a friend that was our "dj" for the day. He did it all through his computer and it was fab.
I think they were the main things, I hope that helps!
I'm in the process of organising my wedding, and although my parents wanted to pay top $ for us to get married (and all of the guests stay) at a Crowne Plaza, my fiance and I have stuck with what we wanted all along - a fun low cost wedding that we (and everyone else) can enjoy that is not stuffy in any way.
We have hired a local hall for $200 (luckily we live in the vineyards so it's a very picturesque old sandstone building surrounded by grapevines) it also means we don't get kicked out and the alcohol turned off at 11pm! We are having a main course buffet spit roast with silver service finger food whilst we have photos done for $27 p/h. We are buying wine and beer in bulk from local bottle shops. We are buying a slab caramel mudcake from Michel's for $100 and a friend is decorating it with white chocolate curls. Another friend is taking all of our photos and arranging them in album (he's got a pretty flash big camera) for $500. I bought my dress over the internet from the US for $750 (instead of $1100 off the rack here in Oz) and with it I also got a free bridesmaids dress (which was $400 to buy here) and free postage with insurance. My other two bridesmaids also got their dresses from the same website for $120 each (instead of $400 here). We are using 3 friends Ford Falcon XR6s for free, I have made my own centrepieces from cheap glass vases from the Reject Shop with a candle in them; then I got some beading wire and put some pearl beads on it and wound it around the vases each centrepiece cost $4.50. I have made some wine glass charms as bonboniere and we are burning CDs with songs from the wedding on them to give to guests too. To cut a long story short, our wedding is only costing between $3500 - $4000 (I have $500 left over for in case of emergency). Honestly it can be done!
$45 for a 3 sit down meal. put $1500on bar only for drinks
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These are some great ideas.
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