RP: My official 'how to save money on a wedding' thread.

Long winded and soapbox version of cheapest bride ever can be found: HERE

yay!!!!! someone finally said what I've been secretly grumbling all this time about the cry packs!!!!

you go
A lot of what you did I am doing.....going to post my info that I have been gathering soon after my day too

thanks so much

Great Advice Melissa!!!!!



I would like to add one more thing, when looking at RH Do Not be afraid to ask if the RH has an all Inclusive Package Deal. This also helps to save Money. Getting a package Deal save FH & I ALOT of Money!!!!!!

That Post RULES!

You are the Simon Cowell of wedding planning- and that is a HUGE compliment! Someone has to put things into perspective and be REAL and HONEST about it!!

Personally I Simon...no, not in that way. but he's the only one of the three I listen to!!

Thank you for that!!

You rock !! I agree on all of the above BUT I do think some things I prefered to splurge on even though, like you, it is coming out of my pocket. No loans no debt.
It also depends on the type of person you are. My favors are a bit much, my invites are going to be quite pretty, and I did the I DO letters lol. I wanted it to be as personal as I could get it.
But I will tell you I made my own card box, I will be making my own menus, placecards, programs and yes my own petal bags. I paid a buck something in walmart for clear bags, found a cheap vendor on ebay for labels and will be putting the petals in there. BUT I did shop around for the cheapest in freeze dried rose petals. Same effect and cheaper.
I also had three mandatory choices for a BM dress. CHEAP CHEAP AND CHEAP and found it. Even the tuxes are CHEAP. I feel if you wear something once (IE the slip and veil) for one day, it should be as cheap as possible.
Also I found a vendor on ebay that is making a piece of jewelry for me for $25.00 instead of $105.00 as the advertised jewelry website would charge...
I say splurge on photo and video and where it counts to you personally.
I also can't agree w you more to pick a place that you think is beautiful too. You will def save ton of money there not making it more beautiful tan it needs to be. Thanks for the great advice.

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Posted by GettinHutched

That Post RULES!

You are the Simon Cowell of wedding planning- and that is a HUGE compliment! Someone has to put things into perspective and be REAL and HONEST about it!!

Personally I Simon...no, not in that way. but he's the only one of the three I listen to!!

Thank you for that!!

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Wish I had the open shirt/chest hair combo like he had last night! Purrr...

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Posted by kokopelia

You rock !! I agree on all of the above BUT I do think some things I prefered to splurge on even though, like you, it is coming out of my pocket. No loans no debt.
It also depends on the type of person you are. My favors are a bit much, my invites are going to be quite pretty, and I did the I DO letters lol. I wanted it to be as personal as I could get it.
But I will tell you I made my own card box, I will be making my own menus, placecards, programs and yes my own petal bags. I paid a buck something in walmart for clear bags, found a cheap vendor on ebay for labels and will be putting the petals in there. BUT I did shop around for the cheapest in freeze dried rose petals. Same effect and cheaper.
I also had three mandatory choices for a BM dress. CHEAP CHEAP AND CHEAP and found it. Even the tuxes are CHEAP. I feel if you wear something once (IE the slip and veil) for one day, it should be as cheap as possible.
Also I found a vendor on ebay that is making a piece of jewelry for me for $25.00 instead of $105.00 as the advertised jewelry website would charge...
I say splurge on photo and video and where it counts to you personally.
I also can't agree w you more to pick a place that you think is beautiful too. You will def save ton of money there not making it more beautiful tan it needs to be. Thanks for the great advice.

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I have to ask though, in terms of money, how long have you guys been saving for your weddings?

We really haven't b/c we are on such tight budgets as it is. And our families aren't in a position to help us, so we are almost forced to go the loan route. I mean, obviously, we are trying to keep it as cheap as possible, but it gets very hard to pull all of this off without a good chunk of savings already in the bank.

Some of your points are really good...

But... I like my cry packets! hehehehhe and I know my family, and I know they cry at weddings. hhehhehe

And Petal cones cost you nothing if you DIY...

Also, I don't feel like if you get an idea on here that you like and you do it, its becuase you are keeping up with the Jones', If you like and Idea then you like it... I don't think everyone is comparing everyone to what they are doing... are they?

But you have some good points, some I disagree with, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but def some cost saving advice!

that was awesome girl! Where were u when i started spending $ a year ago?!

This is awesome! I totally agree with everything you said.

People were making fun of me because I was negotiating everything shamelessly, but I was able to talk down my RH by at least $10/pp and got discounts on my vendors by doing this.

Love it!

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Posted by Cpt2007

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Posted by kokopelia

You rock !! I agree on all of the above BUT I do think some things I prefered to splurge on even though, like you, it is coming out of my pocket. No loans no debt.
It also depends on the type of person you are. My favors are a bit much, my invites are going to be quite pretty, and I did the I DO letters lol. I wanted it to be as personal as I could get it.
But I will tell you I made my own card box, I will be making my own menus, placecards, programs and yes my own petal bags. I paid a buck something in walmart for clear bags, found a cheap vendor on ebay for labels and will be putting the petals in there. BUT I did shop around for the cheapest in freeze dried rose petals. Same effect and cheaper.
I also had three mandatory choices for a BM dress. CHEAP CHEAP AND CHEAP and found it. Even the tuxes are CHEAP. I feel if you wear something once (IE the slip and veil) for one day, it should be as cheap as possible.
Also I found a vendor on ebay that is making a piece of jewelry for me for $25.00 instead of $105.00 as the advertised jewelry website would charge...
I say splurge on photo and video and where it counts to you personally.
I also can't agree w you more to pick a place that you think is beautiful too. You will def save ton of money there not making it more beautiful tan it needs to be. Thanks for the great advice.

---

I have to ask though, in terms of money, how long have you guys been saving for your weddings?

We really haven't b/c we are on such tight budgets as it is. And our families aren't in a position to help us, so we are almost forced to go the loan route. I mean, obviously, we are trying to keep it as cheap as possible, but it gets very hard to pull all of this off without a good chunk of savings already in the bank.

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Hey there, I know for myself I had started saving a year before we got engaged. And we have been engaged for two years. We had our money for our wedding a year after we were engaged.. Really about a year and a half of savings for the wedding. That was my savings alone. What we have now, which includes more of my savings and my fh is for our downpayment on a home. We knew that our families financially couldnt do it, so we knew we would have to just save. And it's been a pain in the butt, but so worth it inthe end. You do what you can when you can.

This is so awesome! Thanks so much! And you were beautiful bride!!!

I agree with you 100% when you said that 'You do not need DOC'
To me it's a waste of money if you don't have the money to spend..