Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

Original post by BAL5-9-05

Jul 04, 2007 04:52 PM

I'm looking for creative suggestions & great finds across the board!!

Thank you!

kitty1224 Posted: Jul 04, 2007 11:18 PM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

DIY invites
no videographer
DIY Menus
no programs

MrsD71208 Posted: Jul 04, 2007 11:29 PM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

Make own STD's, Invites and programs.....book an all-inclusive honeymoon....don't choose exotic flowers.....look around for your dress and accessories....places DO beat other prices.

Mich0621 Posted: Jul 04, 2007 11:36 PM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

No cry packs, flower petal cones, etc...there are tissues in the bathroom and people can throw kisses!
No cake topper...a lot of florists can be talked into putting some fresh flowers on the cake at no charge...doing that
Negotiate everything...what is the worst someone could say...no?
We are also skipping favors...I never save them, and I have been to tons of events where a lot of people don't take the favor home.

vintagegirl Posted: Jul 04, 2007 11:52 PM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

ebay for veil
marshalls for laterns
off the rack dress
lower priced reception hall thats classy.. there are alot on long island
- freelance photographers on craigslist
- no videographer ( friends and family do this)
- makeup artist from macys who do free trials
- a local hair stylist go to them
- do lots fo diy
such as invitations, ceremony programs, arches lol
- go to your friends for their talents and trade talents..

Spelldizzy Posted: Jul 05, 2007 06:05 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

we are doing our own invites, save the dates, aisle runner, programs, ribbon wands, addressing the invites myself, no floral centerpieces at the reception, dresses from online vendors...

july06bride Posted: Jul 05, 2007 08:24 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

Invites- for 150- they were only $200.00 or so- they were beautiful but I refused to spend $$$$

instead of a hand calligrapher-we used computer calligraphy and it was just as nice,

we made our own programs...

no chair covers... didn't really need them anyway, but I liked how they looked- but not for the cost

cake- we did not upgrade our cake-and it was very pretty and tasty

kabo0831 Posted: Jul 05, 2007 08:26 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

to save money i thing on going to do alot of DIY thinks

Anthonysgirl Posted: Jul 05, 2007 10:21 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

This is so helpful! Thanks for all the information girls!

Mici n KC Posted: Jul 05, 2007 10:31 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

Make sure you set a budget and stick with it. Get married on a Friday or Sunday, knocks off $$$. Don't do STDs. Use only one limo. Shop around for other vendors. You'll be able to stay within your budget.

Nina_m74 Posted: Jul 05, 2007 10:44 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

I bought an off the rack gown, which saved $400

DIY invites, I had planned on making handmade paper (this is a hobby of mine) and printing the invite wording on vellum and then attaching it to the paper with a twig and copper wire - I found a kit @ JoAnn's with handmade paper and vellum - so I ended up saving a ton of time!!! (it would have taken me days to make the paper myself) and I only spent $17 on invites!

I bought a guest book on ebay for $.99 - I loooved the inside of the book, rather than just a line to sign the name, it has name, address and message. I didn't like the cover, so I bought home dec fabric to cover it with. Total cost incl. shipping $6.50

Some of our really big savings are becuase we asked friends/family for favors - my cousin is a professional photographer and she offered to do our weddinga s a gift. My SIL will play the violin during our ceremony - these 2 things saved us Thousands!

We are doing a beer/wine open bar, our wedding is morning/early afternoon and I don't feel it is necessary to serve hard liquor at noon, again saved thousands.

My centerpieces are going to be baskets of apples on quilted table runners - I am making the runners and doing the baskets myself.

We are not doing OOT bags, slipper baskets, cry packs, cocktail napkins or matchbooks. I am splurging on the family recipe cookbooks as favors a bit, because they are meaningful to me and I think our guest will use and enjoy them.

My day of jewelry will be costume jewelry.

We are skipping limos.

Basically FH and I are paying for the wedding ourselves, we just bought a house and do not want to go into debt over our wedding day. We are paying cash out of pocket for the wedding and honeymoon. The wedding will be beautiful and wonderful, but it will not be ostentatious or extravagant, that wouldn't match who we are anyway.

You can have a gorgeous wedding without spending $10,000

GinaZ Posted: Jul 05, 2007 10:50 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

Im making my own centerpeices to save money and cus I prefer candles. We won a videographer and that saved us $1500! Im going to have my makeup trials with people from the makeup counters at Bloomies and Nordstrom so i dont have to pay for trials and lose money if I dont like it. We are making our favors. Im not going to use very expensive invitations- I think the ones Im using are reasonable. Im wearing my grandmas dress- but this isn't to save money- its cus I love it!! We are having our wedding on a Friday instead of the following day- saving us like $20 a head I think. Im using Burtons for my flowers- who supposedly does beautiful work anyway. We are not having any DJ extras at all whatsoever- this is too save money and because I don't feel it is appropriate for our wedding (personal preference). We are not having Limos- we are staying next door and getting married at the hall.

woobie113007 Posted: Jul 05, 2007 10:53 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

Hmmmmm, lets see, where do I start?
Invites.....God Bless ACMoore and their 50% off coupons.....150 invites cost me about $30.00.
I am having someone print them for me.
We are not having flowers at the church (we're not having a full mass so I thought it would be pointless anyway).
We are not having floral CP.....we are going with Candle DIY CP's (pics in my album)
Card Box....another DIY
Bridal party gifts....I have to have patients and wait for sales and stuff.
We didnt send out save the dates
Thats all I can think of so far...........

Queensbebe Posted: Jul 05, 2007 10:55 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

I think the biggest thing I did was having my wedding in November instead of October...which saved me about $15,000...other than that I have been spending WAY too much!

Mizzdimple Posted: Jul 05, 2007 11:19 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

SO FAR lol..

I got an awesome deal on some shoes.

MnM52607 Posted: Jul 05, 2007 11:33 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

We did our own STD's and Programs.
We used labels for our invitation envelopes (people just throw them out anyway)
Had a makeup trial on a day I had another wedding to go to

Our wedding still cost us a lot of money but we got everything we wanted at the best possible price. There were somethings, I just had to have

SusiBtoM Posted: Jul 05, 2007 11:55 AM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

did not send out STDs
ordered less expensive invites
bout my veil & headpiece at Barrons
no slipper basket
no cry packs
no petal cones
no runner - I have a fear of tripping on it
my dress has a corset in it - no need to buy a separate one
having ceremony at RH - no need for limos. We will use a town car to take us to hotel afterwards.
having daytime wedding.

I did not cut corners on :
my dress, although I am still under budget
photography
videography
all flowers
food
favors
calligraphy

portjeffbride Posted: Jul 05, 2007 12:07 PM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

we splurged on some items (invitations, cake) and kept to a budget with others (gown, reception)... in the e nd, we did ok.

the hall you can definitely stay within a budget by having an afternoon or fri evening reception. we did sat afternoon..... and saved $65/pp AND had a very low minimum..... The evening minimum was 85 people, and we only had about 60, so we would have paid $$$$$$ for an evening reception.

the gown I did RK bridals no frills service, and saved hundreds... just make sure you get professionally measured (maybe by a tailor you trust), and ask for a current measurment chart for that designer....

I also made my own favors (rosemary seasalt- see martha stewart weddings)... they cost about $1.20 each.... oh, I also made my own programs... but all of this is a drop in the bucket compared to the hall savings!

metmymatch Posted: Jul 05, 2007 12:40 PM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

hi. i did a write up on this a while back. in addition to items listed in that post, fi and i made all stationary related items (invites, programs, menus, place cards). that saved us TONS of $$.

crystalsky Posted: Jul 05, 2007 01:31 PM

Re: Where did you 'cut corners' to save money $$??

All of these are great ideas and I definetly have incorporated them into my planning.

One thing not mentioned that I think should be is the addition of cocktail hour music. I hesitated adding this to my package with my dj because of the additional time and cost. From what I have heard most times you don't even notice if it's there or not.. But.. I wanted it anyways so I asked my catering hall if they had a speaker system and if I made a CD, would they be able to play it for the cocktail hour. Well... They do and they will! Savings of 200 dollars!

Also, always bargain shop & try to get the best possible prices. I found my invites at a discount store (Jack's world in the city) for 5.99/box of 40. These are the same Wilton invites being sold in Staples, michaels, ac moore for upwards of 24.99/box.