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Austin and I see for 2 month , were engaged for 2 months , got married for $ 1000 , and are come up on our 8 yr anniversary !
Our super - frugal wedding was exactly what I wanted it to be : bare . You ’re so surprised , right ?
I did n’t want to plan for a year and spend tens of K of dollar sign on a single day of my life . We did some very of import ( though quite unlawful ) matter to deliver money on our wedding day .
If you , or someone you get it on , is trying to save some money on their wedding , you ’ll be able-bodied to apply some of the musical theme below .
Why $1000?
When we got married , my parents told us they were giving us $ 4000 to use however we wanted . We could utilise it all on our wedding or do anything else with it .
At the time , I did n’t have a job and Austin was about to start a temporary job in a storage warehouse . We had a humble amount of debt and no extra money . We need that $ 4000 to do a lot , like pay for our marriage , honeymoon , and facilitate give off some debt .
I already knew I wanted a low , dewy-eyed wedding and it turned into a fun challenge to see how inexpensively we could do it !
The Guest List
This is the # 1 way to save money on a wedding . Unfortunately , it ’s also the hardest for most mass to manage with . Keep your node listextra - low . surplus people means that you call for a declamatory venue , more chairman and tables , and extra repast . Every redundant person makes your nuptials more expensive !
We had a wondrous total of 20 people at our wedding party . It was only immediate kin members , two of our grandparent , and a twosome of excess people . That ’s it .
It in reality seemed a lot easier to have a top-notch tiny marriage ceremony than just a modest wedding . When you keep thing so small , it ’s easier to make decisions because almost no - one is invited , hahaha .
There was no , “ well , if I call for this friend , then I need to ask in this friend ” and “ if all the aunt and uncles come , then we need to invite all of the cousin-german and great aunty and uncle ” and no coworkers / kind - of friends … It was simple . We had our parents and siblings there , plus just a twosome of other people faithful to us .
keep thing extra - petite also meant that people were n’t really offend to be left out because they knew that it was essentially immediate kin only .
I know most people want a lot of people at their wedding ceremony , but it was really special for us to be border by our penny-pinching relative . This determination washugein keeping costs down , as you ’ll see as you keep translate !
Venue
Our locale was free!Since we only had to accommodate 20 people , we had raft of options on where to get hitch . It did take some searching , though .
I found a hotel on a lake that had walkway and gazebo out on the water . They did n’t charge for the manipulation of it ! We rented a room that we appease in for our first night as a matrimonial couple and used it to get ready in before the ceremonial occasion .
I really wanted to get tie out of doors , which had one braggart cost - saving benefit : we did n’t have to decorate . Nature is beautiful . We did n’t worry about grace at all .
Most indoor wedding party admit a whole portion of peak and candles and other interior decoration . certainly , we could have done some of that , but it was n’t necessary at all and I still think we had a beautiful nuptials because of the setting .
I ’d urge reckon for modest areas to get married at . depend at places that are n’t of necessity entail for weddings : gazebo , car park , beaches , or even a friend ’s nicely - landscaped backyard .
As you ’ll show about in the next section , we only needed a blank space to have the ceremony because we did something unique rather of a traditional reception afterwards . We did n’t need a feast dormitory or caterer .
Food
wedding ceremony catering can be the biggest expense of all ! We did something a little different to save money . rather of paying for a banquet Radclyffe Hall , tables and chair rental , table fabric , and decor … .We locomote to a eatery !
I made reservations at a nearby restaurant for our group and we all just went out to eat after the nuptials . Once again , this money - saving move was possible because we had such a modest guest list .
Our whole chemical group get to sit together at one long table . We all had such a good time ! Everyone arrange whatever they wanted from the menu — no Pisces the Fishes or chicken selection . I believe I had a burger and minor . The whole bank bill was a few hundred dollar .
I know that this seriously buck the trend of an intricately decorated hall with food stations , catering , dancing , and everything else that belong along with the receipt . But it also think of I did n’t worry about laurel wreath , seat charts , food tastings , houseclean up , down payment and surety deposits . It was stress - free and fun .
The Dress
This might be my favorite wedding “ hack ” of all . I had a strong time retrieve a wedding dress for two reasons : ( 1 ) The price were just mad ! It would have been leisurely to spend our whole budget on my wedding ceremony dress and ( 2 ) I found all of the wedding wearing apparel to be so thick and heavy . I could n’t imagine myself comfortably enjoy my wedding day strapped into those things .
As I was pasture a marriage ceremony clothes website , I realized that you could regularise a circumstances of bridesmaid dress in white * electric light turn on over straits * . Some of the bridesmaid dresses were much more my style . They were easy , bare , and much less expensive . I picked out a gorgeous satin dress and had the dress shop lodge it in white for me . For about $ 100 , I got just what I wanted .
I told this crown to a friend last summer who was having a hard time finding the right dress . She ended up order a bridesmaid dress in blank as well !
And can we all just talk about how stupefied - expensive veils are ? $ 300 for a strip of netting .
I almost skipped getting a veil , but there are not many days in your life sentence where you get to wear a embryonic membrane , right ? I ’m so glad that I did n’t skip it . Hobby Lobby , and I ’m assuming other craft storehouse , sells velum in their wedding section . They had a satin - trimmed velum that dead matched my wedding apparel for $ 10 !
Flowers
We altogether skipped flowers except for my bouquet . The day before the wedding , my mom and I bought a big bouquet of grocery store flowers for about $ 15 . I wrap ribbon around them to produce my bridal bouquet .
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Music
Since we did n’t have a custom reception , we only had to worry about euphony for the wedding ceremony .
My pal played acoustic guitar while I walked down the isle and he play a fun song on a portable loudspeaker system as we walked out at the end . Simple and free !
Photography
I knew I did n’t desire to skip have got a right photographer . At the end of the day , besides being tie , you just have photos and memories .
A lensman could have also blown our budget , though . What I did was put an add on Craigslist saying that I was looking for someone to photograph our wedding . I added the engagement of the wedding party , explained how little it was , told them it would only be for a few hour , ask how much they would file and told them that I wanted a disc of images ( I did n’t require to have to tell overprice prints through them ) . I also asked for examples of their work .
Since our wedding party was so much smaller and would necessitate much less work for a photographer than a traditional hymeneals , I was capable to ask people to distinguish me what they would load instead of just looking at a lensman ’s normal marriage parcel pricing .
I had a few people reply with their prices and examples . We devote a few hundred dollar bill for a woman to take photos for us . She was trying to grow her business and had done a few weddings before . Her body of work was beautiful !
Unless you have a veridical lensman in the home who will gift you their services , paying for a honest lensman is deserving it . If it ’s someone ’s cousin who happens to have a nice camera and likes to take pictures , you risk not getting good photos to remember the day with . I would reckon for someone who has shot marriage before and whose style of editing you care .
I ’m exalt with the photos from our wedding and am so beaming we did n’t skip this , even though it take a big chunk of our budget .
Tips to Take Away:
You might have noticed that we totally skipped a passel of thing that are normally a part of a wedding . We did n’t have any attendants , a hymeneals cake , or party favors .
At the last of it all , we wanted to be espouse ! It was n’t a stressful day because we skip a portion of the normal wedding stuff and nonsense and there was so little to interest about . It was perfect !
The Post-Wedding Party Option
What about other family and booster ? Yes , I hump you ’re still struggle with the bantam guest list musical theme . We found a work - around for this .
About a month after our wedding party , we bemuse a casual party and invite extended family and Friend . There was a slideshow acting of our wedding photos , so people could see the big daylight . We paid for a caterer to serve a super occasional repast , buffet - style ( Which I regret because of the cost . We should have just grilled burgers and hotdogs ourselves ) . There was a big graduation - style patty as well so we could cut the cake .
The whole party was somewhat cheap and was a way to include family and admirer in a sport and occasional means .
Looking back , I do n’t at all regret having a low , inexpensive marriage . So many multitude say that their wedding day went by like a fuzz with so much going on and hundreds of mass to greet . I have wonderful memories of our wedding day . I love that we get to expend the solar day with our close family and that there was very little to worry about because it was all kept so simple .
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