Wedding Budget

Planning on budget

Doing a lot of DIY can really help you save money!
Good luck!!

I agree with Sabrina. You can DIY on a lot of projects. Another way of saving money is to have your wedding on a Friday or Sunday. If you need to do the wedding on a Saturday, you can rent out a hall and find a caterer who will work with your budget.

-Invitations/Centerpieces (check out Walmart, Target, Michael's, Hobby Lobby) If you go to Michael's be sure to use their 50% off coupon from the newspaper.

-STD (Vistaprint - I believe you can get free extra ones
if you order a certain amount. I know a few brides here have used them)

I really do think you can do all this within your budget :)

Hey girlie.  Our wedding budget is the same as yours, FI is paying for it all by himself and...we are planning to close on our house soon after the honeymoon (fingers crossed).  Post  is kinda long....sorry.  Read at your leisure (LOL).

1. FRIDAY JULY 22, 2011 -  instead of traditional Saturday.  Not only did we save more than 1000 on the venue, but we were able to secure a lot of add ons and freebies as well.  We've also had room to negotiate with other vendors (photographer, DJ, etc).  
2. SMALL GUEST LIST - Our guest list was originally for 50 people only.  We only increased it to 75 ONLY because we got such a good deal in other areas.  I never wanted more than 75 though no matter what.
3. NO ATTENDANTS.  This is more of a personal reason than a budget one, but either way, it's saving on bridal party gifts and head table decor and all of that.  And no need for rehersal dinner.
4. NO LIMO.  I thought, why would I need a limo if I'm not even in my dress yet?  The venue has a bridal suite.  I would show up in my cutesy relaxing sundress or shorts and bride tshirt.  Renting a hot convertible for my summer night wedding is more affordable and much more AWESOME.
5.  DESSERT BUFFET - instead of wedding cake.  We will have a small 2 tier cake to cut, but we'll have cheesecakes, brownies, and assorted flavored cakes bought off the shelf from the bakery that we love.  Only about $75 instead of crazzzzy hundreds for traditional cake.
6. SAVE THE DATES VIA OUR WEBSITE -, email, phone, etc.  Going green as in the eco-system as well as FI's pocketbook!  We will send beautiful, formal invitations by mail of course.
7.  OUTSIDE ALCOHOL!! - ***BIG*** one.  Our venue allows it.  We were looking at an average of $30 pp, or $1500!!  We hired a TABC approved bartender who will be serving MY signature drink (Her's) and FI's signature drink (HIS).  Add our fave wine, champagne for the toast, beer, and margarita mix and voila!  Oh yeah...we are DIY'ing a little drink menu to have on the bar!  Pretty garnishes and swizzle sticks help with making the drinks appealing too!  
8.  VERY FEW FLOWERS - we are going for a upscale, swanky, lounge type feel for our evening wedding so candles and lighting will add more to the ambience we are going for than flowers.

WHEW!!  I know that was alot but I hope this helps!!!!

Wow, all these are very good ideas. I actually got a great deal for my venue so that gives me a little extra cash for other things. I plan on making the bouquets but I have no idea of where to start.

Check out local floral wholesale shops to see what they can offer you. Also, check out Sam's Club, Costco, fiftyflowers.com, and growersbox.com.

Definately DIY where ever possible. It really does save alot and you'll have fun in the process. Your guests also appreciate the fact that you put such personal touches to your wedding. Our budget was higher than yours ($17,000) but we had 110 people plus our wedding party (including us) was 14 people. I agree with katieebee that having no attendants or even just a couple will save alot. You could maybe just have 2 very close friends and that's it.
We also didn't go with a cake, we had cupcakes instead. The cost was definately less. We decided not to have a late night sweet table which for some reason drove my mother in law nuts. She insisted that "you HAVE to have one". Anyway, for 110 people we had 75 cupcakes in 4 different flavors. I found that it worked out alot cheaper than a traditional cake and MUCH cheaper than a late night sweet table. The cost for our 75 cupcakes was somewhere around $325. There was about 15 or so left over and they weren't wasted the way a traditional cake would be.
There are sooooo many cost cutting ideas without cutting the elegance of your special day. The brides here will definately help you out.