I am 23 yrs. Old and he is 29 yrs. Old and we have 4 children together! We have always known that we would be together for ever but starting our family so young has kind of left us strapped for cash; all the time! But in February or March of 2009 he'll be getting his tax's and we decided to just go to the courthouse and make it official and then have some type of "reception" afterwards. He said that he has just always wanted to be able to give me a semi- traditional wedding that I have dreamed of (at least one that I can ware a semi- fancy gown to) but I'm to the point that I just want to be able to have the same last name as my children! What should I do?

Take a look around at some thrift/second hand stores in your area. Quite often people will take old wedding dresses there. Or check out consignment stores. You could even look at places like Walmart, Target, or Winners, and look for a simple white, or whatever colored dress, and buy beads, appliques, silk flowers etc. at a craft store such as Michaels. You or a friend could adorn a simple dress with inexpensive things like this, to add your special touch to it. You could use fabric glue if you don't have time to hand sew some of these things, but it really doesn't take much to hand sew them.

If you want a veil, you can make your own by buying some tulle at a fabric store, and simply bunch it up on one end, and then go through it with a needle and thread to secure it. Then a simple tiara or even just a sturdy craft wire that is shaped into a circle to fit your head, and then wrapped with satin ribbon, and then things to adorn it from a craft store. Or, just wear a silk or fresh flower in your hair.

I don't know where you live, but there are some places where you can rent a wedding gown and accessories. You might want to also try E-bay.

If you need invitations, buy some card stock at Staples or Office Depot, and print off your own. There are many sites that you can print off designs for free.

If you want flowers, don't go to a florist. I can't believe I just said that, because I was a florist for many yrs. and had my own shop. But you can make very inexpensive hand tied bouquets from flowers that you get at the supermarket. If you want to keep it simple, you can buy a dozen roses, or whatever flower they have that you like, and buy some floral tape (from the craft store) satin ribbon, pearls that you can buy from a bolt, (there's other things than pearls) a pretty bow that you can often have them make at the craft store if you buy the roll. Arrange the flowers in your hand until they look nice to you, and then use the floral tape to secure them that way. Then wrap the ribbon around to hide the floral tape, and attach the bow with wire or hot glue. For your husbands boutineer, cut the flower down leaving a bit of the stem. Insert a wire through the stem, close to the flower head, bend the wire down to form a longer 'stem', and use the floral tape. Simple you're done. (you can also add things like baby's breath etc)

I won't go into centerpieces and things like that. I don't know if you want them for your reception, but I do have some really good ideas that are super cheap.

Feel free to ask me what else you have in mind, to make this a special day for you. :)

Yes, if you go to church somewhere, they may allow you to use their church free, many do, The church I go to lets you rent it for a couple hundred if that is what you want to do. I am sure others do the same.

You can do a theme wedding, a on site wedding, I have done weddings at places where you meet. Stores, fire house, in peoples homes and more.

You could also consider, weather permitting, a nice park, beach, or somewhere with a romantic background, and have a friend take pics and video's, so you and your kids will have something to look at, and be reminded of the day. I'm sure a minister or the justice of the peace, if that is what you choose, although it really is nicer to have a clergyman, would come to a setting you've chosen. They usually don't charge too much to do this.

When I was married, I enlisted the help of my friends & family, and my husbands friends & family, and then they asked their friends and families and so on, if they knew about how to get this or that. A lot of people are really willing to help out if they know.

I ended up getting a horse and buggy for $50 bucks, because a friend of a friend of a friend, new someone that had one. We decorated it for cheap, and the people who owned the horses, brought it into town, and picked us up at the church, and took us through town to our reception. It actually made the front page of our newspaper.

I also had an Aunt that was a seamstress. She made the flowergirl dress for nothing more than the cost of the material.

If you're creative, you really can get a beautiful wedding for very little money. These people that spend 20 grand or more for one day, just really annoy me. That money can be put away for a college fund! It can be done beautifully without all of the expense.

You could also consider, weather permitting, a nice park, beach, or somewhere with a romantic background, and have a friend take pics and video's, so you and your kids will have something to look at, and be reminded of the day.

Yes, beach or park is a nice idea for the ceremony.

Yes, courthouses seem so impersonal and cold to me.

I also wanted to mention. Right after C'mas, go and buy clear indoor C'mas lights... a bunch of them. They will be on sale! Also candles. Plenty of candles. Take advantage of the after C'mas sales, and get things to decorate with.

You can still have a wedding on a budget. Keep the reception small to keep costs down. Have it at home if necessary. Make your own invitations, place cards, programs etc; keep them simple and they won't cost too much money. Ask friends and family to help make the food and you can supply the drink yourself too. If you think about it there are many ways to have a wedding on a budget.

Make Your Own Invitations With Do It Yourself Instructions (http://www.creating-invitations.com)

Another idea for a dress is wear one that a family member wore for her wedding - your mom, sister, cousin or friend would probalby love to lend you their used dress.

Hey monique! I'm going through the same thing as you, so hopefully other ppl's answers can help us both out! My fiancé is 21 & I'm 27, we are to the point where we are probably going to go to courthouse & make it official & then have a "reception" at his parents house or somewhere else. Or we thought about gettn married on the beach & having some close fam/friends of ours come there & have everyone join us at the reception, but at the beach make it real casual & have my best friends' dad, who's a preacher, marry us there. We are wanting to do as cheap as possible because lets face it w/the way the economy is & us tryn to save money for a house, we can maybe do something BIG later, but for now, we are lookn at the same thing as u & your fiancé. Goodluck to you! Maybe try the beach idea, or somewhere pretty like that, have a little gathering w/jst some close people & then have a reception somewhere else where more people can go, I'm sure your friends that wldnt be going to the actually wedding wldnt mind! Hope this helpd. And remember, you're not alone! Lol

Hi! I'm a wedding consult for the bride on a budget. For my sister's wedding I did vases with a few artificicial flowers and colored rocks. The vases had contrasting ribbon around the "neck" of the vase. I got all the supplies at the dollar store and each one cost less than $5. It looked great and matched the silk bouquets and bout's I made. Just an idea!

It would be helpful to know if you are going to have and indoor or outdoor reception, and how many people would be at the reception, and the climate in the area you live at that time of yr.

You could have a pot luck reception. When you send out invitations (which you can make yourself if you have a printer) give your guests the option of bringing a dish instead of a gift. A lot of people would be happy to bring their favourite recipe. Include your phone #, or someone that you put in charge of planning, like a family member, and if they choose to bring a dish, have them call and discuss what they would bring, so you don't have 6 salads or something. No one has to feel obligated to bring a dish, they can opt for a gift if they are busy people and don't have time to cook.

Balloons! Metallic silver or gold, and white balloons, and plenty of them, as they are inexpensive, make very pretty decorations. Again, as I believe I mentioned before, plenty of tiny lights and candles, bought on sale after C'mas go a long way in decorating.

For nice romantic centerpieces, here is an idea that is very cheap, but looks classy and expensive. Buy fishbowls at Walmart, or even dollar stores might have them. You can usually get them for $3-4 bucks. Buy floating candles. (usually under a buck) Ask in the floral dept at your local grocery store, or even call around to florists to ask them for rose petals from wilting flowers. You can get them for cheap, or even sometimes for free. Buy some silver sparkles. Fill the fishbowl halfway with water, add sparkles, petals, and the floating candle. Then sprinkle the middle of the tables with the petals and sparkles. Looks amazing in dimmed light. You can even kick it up a notch, and decorate the fishbowls with ribbon, or other bobbles, and buy glass tiles, and set the fishbowls on a tile, and add more tea lights, sparkles and rose petals on the mirror tile. The reflection of the flickering candles and the mirror will look gorgeous, and you've spent very little money.

Also, take advantage of the things your find outdoors in your area. Different types of leaves can be left natural, or spray painted a different color to match whatever color theme you have. They can be used as place cards, and you can write names on them with a metallic pen. Another idea for place cards, would be to get your friends and family to go through old magazines, and find pics of flowers, and cut them out with scalloped scissors, and paste them onto card stock with a popsickle stick as a holder. You could put some cheap long rectangular plastic or wooden planters, and fill them with dirt (even sod) and stick each flower into the planter, with the guests names written on the back, and their table #. You could also buy smaller boxes, one for each guest, and do the same, and you could plant seeds in them, or include a packet of seeds, and not only would they be a decoration, they would double as a party favour.

Again, take advantage of mother nature, and keep your eye open for all sorts of things. A drive out in the country could save you a ton in decorating. It's free! Things like pine cones, different wild flowers, pods, grasses, branches etc. Branches put in a pot and decorated with lights are very pretty, and cost next to nothing.

Also, scout out garage sales, rummage sales, thrift stores etc. There are a ton of things you can find for cheap if you use your imagination.

I've been a floral designer, and wedding consultant and decorator for over 20 yrs. If you tell me your specifics, I'm sure I can come up with something dirt cheap for you. :)