New to group and I really need wedding help!

[Guest]

I’m also pretty much a “lurker” & don’t post, but I figured I’d give my

two cents as well. When my husband & I got married several years ago,

we made a promise to pay cash for everything & pay for it ourselves

(instead of parents). It took some “thinking outside the box”, but we

had the wedding of our dreams for about $2500. The trick for us was to

enlist help from everyone we knew. I borrowed the wedding dress from

my stepmother & my MIL made our daughters’ dresses for the wedding (I

had 2 from previous marriage, he had 1), all the bridesmaids dresses

were cocktail-type that were less than $100 each & could be worn

again. We bought all of our flowers at Walmart & Michael’s and made

the arrangements at one of the bridal showers- which was great fun to

have that much help & advice & didn’t take as long as just 1-2 people

trying to do them. A friend of ours gave us the limo rental as a

wedding gift. Two friends from church sang at the wedding as our

gifts. My father did the photography for us. An aunt made the cake as

a gift (she took a class at Hobby Lobby & created the most beautiful 3-

tiered cake & a separate sheet cake- would’ve costed us about $700), my

best friend’s mom made my headpiece & veil as part of gift (supplies

costed about $3.50). I bought regular white dress shoes at Payless on

sale. My sister did my hair- which saved a fortune. We bought all of

the food at Sam’s Club & my mom’s friends/coworkers dressed in black

slacks & white dress shirts & served for us at the reception. We

bought most of the reception decorations at Hobby Lobby & the Dollar

stores (clear plate w/clear glass bowl, some beads laying around them

w/assortment of bubbles, birdseed baggies, Hershey’s Hugs & Kisses in

the bowl- looked really cute!)

The best part is that we incorporated some “untraditional” things into

our wedding to replace stuff. Instead of the “trinket” gifts to the

bridesmaids, I paid for their manicures leading up to the wedding-

w/bringing in the group on their slowest night later in the evening,

the salon gave me a 50% discount for the business. Instead of the unity

candle, w/having children coming into the marriage, we did a “locket

ceremony” after exchanging rings where I put a locket on his daughter &

he did on mine & we made vows to love & cherish them as our own, etc.-

which was so very special to us & everyone was crying. Instead of the

traditional music, we dubbed CDs of songs that meant something to us.

The song where family members were being ushered in was “The One” by

Gary Allen talking about the girl being hurt & the guy being patient

until she was sure he was “the one”. Next, as the bridesmaids & our

daughters were coming in, we had the song “If You Asked Me To” by

Celine Dion, where again she had been hurt & was afraid, but if he

asked her, she might “change her mind” and let him in. That led

straight up to as the song ended, they openned the doors & I was

standing there ready to walk down the aisle. Several of my friends

said that it was so fitting of how our relationship had been, as if he

& I were talking, leading up to the wedding. Things like that will

make a bigger impact on what will be looked back on than the fianancial

expense of the “traditional” stuff.

Anyways, I hope this helps! Good Luck, ‘cuz w/3 daughters of my own,

I’ll be in your shoes in a few years! 🙂

— In Budget101_@yahoogroups.com, “gourdsbykathy”

wrote:

>

> Hi all, I am new to the group and looking forward to learning and

> sharing information with everyone. I have three daughters, one just

> got engaged and the others are not far behind her. I am in a state of

> total panic.

> One wedding is a fortune but three………. WOW do I need to make a dollar

> scream for mercy! Does anyone have any information on cheap wedding

> options that don’t look cheap!! We have a really large family add a

> few friends and I am at 150 people minimum.

>

>

> Thanks,

>

> Kathy in PA

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