Nautical has good advice, I have done a couple of inexpensive weddings, one for my younger sister, one for my brother. They were both classy pretty weddings. There are a lot of places you can save money, some things you should not skimp on. You already have the location set? The outdoor wedding can be very inexpensive, but depending on where in the country you are it may not be possible in January.(it is here in southern California most of the time) Music is pricey, D.J. is less expensive that live music .
Food can be anything really, as long as it tastes good, no one will remember the food unless it is skimpy. Put it on a china plate which can be rented. Trays of miniature sandwiches , veggie nibbles, quiche squares, skewers of chicken or beef, anything finger food is good, just have enough of it. Keep the cost of champagne down, Serve a champagne or sparkling cider punch. Hire a couple of teenagers to serve or keep the trays looking presentable,and clean up. Or lean on family!
For my anniversary just this week I had a small wedding cake made for $65.00 at the grocery bakery, it was two layers , buttercream frosting, white roses. Same cake was over $200.00 elsewhere. Buy a sheet cake for serving, have the tiered cake for the cutting pictures. Set it on a stand to raise it up higher. You can even make or buy your own cake topper. Or use fresh flowers.
Craft stores are full of ideas and idea books.
Flowers for the wedding do not have to be very pricey, stay away from exotic flowers, use a single flower for the bridesmaids if they have flowers at all.
If you are brave, or have talented friends, look into coffee filter roses in Martha Stewart.com for centerpieces, arch, whatever decorations you may want flowers for. Gorgeous and actually easy. Need tablecloths? Walmart sheets at $4.00 a twin flat are cheaper than rental and look much better than plastic. Rent cloth napkins though.
Wow! I do sound cheap, really though, all this can look like a million bucks.
For my sisters wedding, I made her dress, handkerchief cotton hand embroidered with flowers around the neck and hem, his shirt of the same fabric . And bridemaids dresses. Same fabric in pale blue. And the cake topper, last minute, because the bakery didn't send it along. I used a plastic champagne glass filled with fresh flowers, who knew?
It was an outdoors wedding, in April. We scattered our pool with flowers, white twinkle lights in our arch of trees. He was nervous and dropped the ring. They have been married 27 years. The wedding pictures are beautiful
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