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A fabulous wedding for under $5,000

Posted Apr 09 2008, 08:13 PM by Karen Datko
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When we read about Amy's plans for her wedding at My Daily Dollars, we wanted to be invited. This excellent post explains how you can celebrate in an incredible setting with fabulous food for less than $5,000.

First of all, decide what your wedding means to you. "When I imagined my wedding day, what always got me the most excited was the fact that it will be one of the few times in my life that many of the people I love will be in one place at the same time," Amy writes. "Once I had that in mind, other things started to fall into place."

Base the theme on the location, not the other way around. It takes a lot of money to transform a boring social hall into a special place. Her wedding and a "scrumptious picnic reception" will be at a lodge in the state park where she and her fiance had one of their first dates. She adds, "I'm planning for a hike down to the river in my wedding dress."

Tip No. 3 is: "Ditch the 'it only happens once' thinking." If you can't afford the party you want, you can have that party another day. "When the realities of budgeting came into my planning, I had to give up the very elegant cocktail reception at our local art gallery, complete with a jazz trio and designer shoes," she says. "But you know what's great? I can have that reception for our 10-year anniversary or my stepdaughter's college graduation or any old reason I want."

She also explains how she is splurging on things that matter and cutting costs on stuff that doesn't. Plus, she's involving family and friends. The food at her reception will be incredible because they're helping her make it. To read her entire post, click here.

Comments

 

My goodness this was not a good use of my time.  This told me nothing!!

The wedding is not only for the bride.  It's a party for the guests.  Make it comfortable for all and it will end up being a lot less expensive.  No one eats the cake anyway.

My sister did her daughters wedding for 1500.00 and it was gorgeous. Her family and friends helped out. A friend did the flowers, An Aunt did the wedding cake and grooms cake as well as an Uncle doing the photography. Another friend did the catering with all the trimmings. A beautiful candlelite wedding for around one hundred people. They had tableclothes with mirrors and oil lamps on each table at the reception and the church was decorated as well. Who knew a wedding could be done for that amount. This was January 07. It was all about family and friends. One of the best wedding I have been to.

I DID MY WEDDING WITH THE WORKS  IN 1999 FOR $3000. IT CAN BE DONE- BUT YOU HAVE TO WORK AT IT!

PS   I AGREE- NO IDEAS HERE.....

Everyone thinks bigger is better, that is not the case. I believe that simple and elegant is much nicer. You can do so many things yourself and with the help of family members. Some think that you need 7 or 8 bridesmaids, that is overkill. It is much more intimate with 2 or 3 closest family members or friends. Remember when chosing your bridal party, family will always be there, friends change though the years. Everyone knows that when it comes down to it, the flower girl and ringbearer are the center of attentention next to the bride. Make your wedding meaningful. Have a small yet pretty wedding  cake as a center piece and serve with sheet cakes. Make your own center pieces for the other tables. In the fall use pumkins, spring use silk flowers or any season just sprinkle flower petals and little prewrapped candies on the tables. It doesn't need much, the guests will appreciate the candy to munch on. If you are gracious host that will mean much more than the decorations.

I am getting married in May/June of 2009. We would love to spend 5k on a wedding but it has been challenging keeping it under 12K to 15K.  What is a good idea is to have a plan and a budget and stick to it. I am amazed how quickly the cost can increase.

The one part of the article I like is to base the theme on the location.  

Would like to see more articles with real examples.

Although you make a great point and I wholeheartedly agree with you, you really

didn't provide any tips. An article entitled 'A Fabulous Wedding for under $5000' should have a step by step guideline or at the very least a few monetary specifics.

Doing the wedding yourself to save money may sound great in theory, but what about the cost of your time to do it all?  I recently got married and had hoped to cut corners by doing more myself, but quickly found out that with me working 40-50 hours a week, my fiance working 80-90 hours a week and our families hundreds of miles away, that spending a little more money was more than worth the time and extra stress.  Doing things yourself takes at least twice as long as you originially thought and that extra time can easily jump your stress level up a few notches.  Some of my friends are teachers and were able to do nothing but focus on their weddings during their off summer months, but to full time working professionals, that's just not an option.  Save money where you can, but realize that everything has a cost.

My thoughts exactly.  It did not go into any details.

I AGREE IT CAN BE DONE. MINE WAS DONE FOR $5,500. BUT COME BACK AND EXPLAIN HOW IS IT THAT YOU WOULD OR DID DO IT!

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