Suggestions on how to keep wedding under $5500
Susan Gavel
My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!!!
Ron & Debbie
of ideas are at our website http://home.att.net/~rsenecal/wedpage.html
Debbie
Christa
or chapel. then go off to a romantic retreat for a few days. That shouldn't
cost you more than $ 2,000, and it could be a lot more fun than a wedding that
includes 200 guests. Just a thought, I'm planing on doing this.
Christa
Susan Gavel schrieb:
Erica Strafford
If you try a place like Michael's or MJ Design (which has recently gone out
of business in the Atlanta area, but may still be present in other parts of
the country), you'll find that you can get things TEN TIMES cheaper than any
"wedding specific" place. This includes boutiques, salons, or just those
invitation catalogs. Also, if you can find a seamstress that will alter your
wedding gown regardless of how much detail it has, and this seamstress does
not sell the gowns herself, then buy your gown off the internet. I got mine
from RK Bridal, and had a hard time finding a seamstress to alter it at
first, but I did find one, and ended up saving over $500 for the same gown
that sold in stores for $800. There are two pitfalls you have to look for
with seamstresses, though. First of all, many of those that work with bridal
gowns also sell bridal gowns, and will not alter a gown that wasn't bought
from them. The other thing is that they will try and match the internet
price for the gown, but charge you twice as much for the alterations. I had
one lady that wanted to sell me a gown for $200 because she was moving her
store from one side of town to the other. But, she also wanted to charge me
$250 for alterations, and it didn't need anything but about 2 inches off of
the bust. I wasn't about to pay more for alterations than I had for the gown
when all it needed was 2 inches taken off. The only exception to this would
have been if I got the gown for free. Luckily, the seamstress I found for my
dress only wants to charge me about $75 and the gown cost $400.
Erica
--
Masters Web Design
http://www2.crosswinds.net/atlanta/~mocha122/webdesign/
Phish Pharms
http://www2.crosswinds.net/atlanta/~mocha122/fish/
Strafford Labradors
http://www2.crosswinds.net/atlanta/~mocha122/labrador/
Susan Gavel <sga...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:7qakss$bj8$1...@birch.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
R.C.
When I was living in Kansas City, the local university offered a short
2-hour seminar on how to Keep costs down. There they sold the book, Bridal
Bargains, which I found helpful
Also, the main costs of a wedding are the gown, the food, and perhaps the
hall. If you're into simple, buy a white bridesmaids dress, as some are nice
enough to serve as the main dress, but are not going to be as ornate as a
true wedding gown. Second, you can either not invite a lot of people, and
therefore not pay for tons of food. Or, you can invite people to an early
afternoon wedding and serve only cake and punch. And finally, have a
wedding at a place that won't cost you much to rent. Some gardens (if the
weather won't worry you) owned by the city are town can be rented out at a
nominal fee.
RC
Susan Gavel wrote in message <7qakss$bj8$1...@birch.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
>Hi,
>
>My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
>Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
>expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
>would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks in advance!!!
>
>
>
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Ariane Jenkins
>Hi,
>
>My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
>Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
>expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
>would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks in advance!!!
A lot depends on what kind of wedding you want to have. If
you have a formal wedding with lots of people, keeping the budget down
will be tough, but not impossible. You'll just have to be a lot more
creative and make more compromises.
A great resource is your local bookstore. Big chains like
Borders have sections on weddings, and you should be able to find
several books on how to have a budget wedding--at least one person
mentioned _Bridal Bargains_, by Denise and Alan Fields, and I would
agree with that. Some basic ideas are:
1) Have a more informal wedding. You'll save money on a simpler
dress, especially if you can find one that isn't specifically a
wedding dress. Having it made may also be an option, if you know
someone who sews, or can get a good deal on materials, etc. You can
have a simpler reception, like maybe cake, punch and mints rather than
an entire meal. Or if you want something a little more substantial,
have a dessert reception in the evening with desserts and coffee, or
have an hors d'oeuvres reception. If you can't get help to make the
food from relatives and friends, catering companies will sometimes
have the option where they will make the food and you pick it up and
set it up at the reception hall. Planning what time of day
affects what you serve. If you plan an afternoon reception, do it
after lunch and before dinner, so guests will not be starving or
expecting a huge meal.
Also, consider the groom wearing a nice suit rather than a
tux, and the same could go for the groomsmen. If you choose a basic
color, like navy or grey, people will be likely to already own jackets
in that color, so they won't have to buy new ones. You can do the
same for bridesmaids, choosing a color scheme and allowing your BM's
to shop around on their own. I saved my friends a LOT of money by
letting them find their own bargains, and they did a much better job
than I could have done! (it also saved ME a lot of work. ;) )
2) Consider less formal decor, and consider having less decor in
general. If you are stragetic about choosing the location of the
ceremony and reception, you can cut down on the expense for
decorations. One friend of mine had her wedding in a beautiful church
in Ft. Wayne--cathedral ceilings, with huge stained glass windows. It
looked like a medieval castle. She didn't have huge altar
arrangements or ribbons all over the place, but nobody noticed because
the chapel was lovely on its own. If you want flowers, consider
choosing a simpler arrangement and use flowers that are in season.
You can see if there are any local wholesale flower growers near you,
or try ordering online. 2G Roses at http://www.freshroses.com has
listings of flowers in season each month, and their prices aren't
bad. As they pointed out, roses don't need much arranging, they look
great in a nice vase with some greens and babies' breath. As for your
reception place, you might check and see if there are any parks in
your area you could reserve a place at, botanical gardens, or
historical sites. I had my reception at a refurbished historical
house in the middle of town, and the cost was very reasonable. You
even got a discount if you were a resident of the township. It had
surrounding gardens and the house was already decorated and furnished,
so we didn't need to add anything to it.
3) Plan ahead and shop around. It's hard to get an idea of what
you'll want months and months before the wedding, but go ahead and
check out what options are available, and start calling around to
places to see what the prices are like. Card Factory outlets or party
supply stores and craft stores often gave me a lot of good ideas for
decorating and wedding accessories. I would avoid wedding boutiques
and catalogs like the plague. The stuff I saw there was almost always
overpriced for what you got. You can try looking through library
books and making your own veil or garter. Craft stores have a lot of
the materials, and even though I don't consider myself a "crafty"
person, I was able to put together a decent veil for way less than
$20.... most places charge at least twice as much, if not three or
four times as much. No way was I going to put myself into debt for an
outfit I would wear less than a day!
4) See if making your own invitations would be feasible. If you're
not having a large or formal wedding, you have more options. For a
small wedding, handwritten notes on nice stationary would work well.
Or you could hunt around for your own paper and print it up on the
computer. Kinko's will also do print jobs for you, and they sell
specialty paper and envelopes. The savings could be as much as $100.
5) Solicit help. You may already have family and friends asking if
there is anything they could do. Well, there's no such thing as too
much help, especially if you're doing a lot of the wedding planning on
your own. We needed people to help us coordinate events, food,
decorations, transportation, etc. Not to mention moral support. :)
6) Photography is pretty expensive. Again, this is someplace you
should probably shop around... Having family and friends bring their
cameras is a good idea, IMO. Even if the shots aren't professional,
you'll still enjoy seeing them in addition tot he professional
photographer's shots, and if something happens, you'll have lots of
back up shots. Not to mention that when people ask for photos, you
can provide cheaper reprints of non-professional shots along with one
or two professional ones. This is also helpful for people who
couldn't attend, but want to see pictures anyway.
Hmmm, sorry, I didn't realize this would be so long. But
I hope it is of some use. It would be great if more people didn't
buckle under to the wedding industry and listen to all the hype about
how you can't possibly have a lovely wedding unless you shell out the
big bucks for it.
Ariane
Dawn O' The Dead
On Sat, 28 Aug 1999 23:52:23 -0700, "Susan Gavel"
<sga...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
>Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
>expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
>would be appreciated.
Then I suggest shopping around yourself, avoiding "wedding" stores and
sticking to a budget. We're in Portland also, and knew from the start
that we weren't going to blow a fortune on our wedding. What we ended
up with is going to be very nice, for a fraction of what most weddings
cost.
FH and I are doin' it on Oct. 9th at Edgefield, about 20 minutes
outside Portland. Very affordable - they do on-site catering only and
then waive the room rental fee. For $2500, we get the Ballroom all
day, tables, linens, glassware, banquet staff, a bartender for 5 hours
and all the food - we're doing planked salmon, roast beef, fruit 'n
cheese, 3 kinds of hors d'oeuvres (focaccia w/bleu cheese, alnuts and
rosemary; peppered ham-stuffed eggs; and sausages w/honey-mustard ale
sauce).
They handle all sizes of groups, indoors or outdoors, and the staff
are very helpful. My only complaint is that they charge too much for
beer and wine - the MAKE the wine there, for God's sake, why is the
Chardonnay $16.75 a bottle??!! <grumble>
Above that we had to get rings, cake, clothes, invitations and favors.
Our entire wedding cost is somewhere around $3500 - 4000. Local folks
are very impressed that we're getting married at Edgefield - they have
no idea that it's a reasonable as it is. Out of town guests are
getting a kick out of staying on the property all weekend.
Our cake is from JaCiva's, on Hawthorne Blvd. We're doing a three-tier
cake with different flavors (poppyseed w/raspberry on bottom,
chocolate w/fudge middle, and white w/lemon up top), with poured white
chocolate instead of icing, decorated with a Lily of the Valley motif.
Very elegant, around $300. I'd suggest either JaCiva's or (for the
best damn cakes in town) Papa Haydn - they run $1.75/person for
theirs, and their cakes are unbelievably delicious.
Edgefield's Home Page: http://www.mcmenamins.com/Edge/mainedge.shtml
This is the space we've reserved:
http://www.mcmenamins.com/Edge/ball.html
For various bridal resources around Portland:
http://www.bravowedding.com/guide-p/index2.html
Basic suggestion on saving money: figure out what you really, really
need and get rid of what you don't. For example, we didn't feel the
need to spend a fortune on rings or a massive wedding gown, but we
knew we wanted a really good cake. We're doing good food, small,
inexpensive favors, and found a wonderful space for the reception -
we're skipping the champagne toast and spending almost nothing on
flowers (Edgefield is gorgeous - it doesn't need sprucing up). Stuff
like that. Decide now what makes a great experience for _you_ and
you're guests and ignore what the so-called experts tell you that you
HAVE to have.
Good luck -
Dawn
----------
When Brian Boitano was in the Alps fighting grizzly bears,
he used his magical firebreath and saved the maidens fair.
Puester
>
> Hi,
>
> My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
> Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
> expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
> would be appreciated.
>
My first suggestion is not to be afraid of "the wedding industry", but
certainly shop around within the industry and get multiple bids for every
service. (Why would you want to deal with vendors who had never done a
wedding before? You then take the risk of their not having the faintest
idea what's going on, and "practicing" with your wedding.)
gloria p
(who has NO connection to the industry
other than being married!)
Karen Simmons
> certainly shop around within the industry and get multiple bids for every
> service.
Amen. Very good advice. Don't look at the industry as adversarial.
Most of us are simply trying to make a living, not trying to gouge (for
the most part - there are always a few bad apples).
I also agree with several other people who have said decide now on
what's important and what isn't. Then you'll know where to apportion
your available $$$.
From a photography perspective, Portland has a wide range of photogs and
videogs to choose from. I worked there for several years for various
studios, so I know the area and the industry there. If professional
photography is not a big priority, I might suggest calling around to
some of the colleges and universities or to the PNW College of Art and
finding an advanced student who would be willing to shoot for a minimal
fee and samples for his or her portfolio. If you do go this route, be
sure that you see samples of people work and not just landscapes and
commercial work. And make sure it's someone who's familiar with
weddings.
If I can help answer any photo related questions, please feel free to
ask.
Karen
--
----------------------------
Karen Simmons, Photographer
Atlanta, Georgia
----------------------------
Puester
> (SNIP)
If you're into simple, buy a white bridesmaids dress, as some are nice
> enough to serve as the main dress, but are not going to be as ornate as a
> true wedding gown.
Rant mode on:
Now, see--here's the kind of attitude that makes weddings unnecessarily
expensive. ANY dress you wear for your wedding is a "TRUE" wedding dress,
dammit, and any flowers you carry are "wedding flowers", and any food you
serve is "wedding food".
It DOES NOT have to outdo every wedding you have ever been to. This is not
a competition, or a showcase to your taste and wealth. It is a day to make
a serious, lifetime commitment to the person you love, hopefully with
friends and relatives to witness and support that commitment and share you
rhappiness. If you are driving yourself crazy over making this the most
perfect, ornate, elegant, overdone wedding your guests have ever attended,
it's you, not the wedding industry, who's responsible for outrageous costs
and overruns. Think about this being one day in your life, with hundreds
and hundreds of days to come. There IS life after the wedding day....
Rant mode off.
gloria p
MIC 2
covers everything and then some. You may want to consider purchasing a
bridesmaid dress in white instead of a formal wedding gown. Would you
consider having the ceremony and reception at the same site? Contact
the parks department and historic society in your area. They should be
able to point you toward popular locations for weddings. We did this
and the site is only $175 on weekdays and $350 on weekends for a
facility with a full kitchen, audio/visual setup, etc.
Good luck.
Kris Hildrum
Susan Gavel <sga...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
>Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
>expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
>would be appreciated.
Sometimes doing it yourself isn't cheaper than using the wedding
industry (or maybe it's cheaper, but not enough to make the effort worth
it). For example: invitiations. My husband and I got 125 invitations with
lined inner envelopes for about $80 from a invitation catalog. We might
have been able to save money by printing our own, but the price difference
wasn't really worth the trouble. So, always check what the industry would
charge you before doing it yourself.
My husband and I had an afternoon wedding. We held it at the
church where we married. We served premade vegetable and cheese trays
from Costco along with crackers (also from Costco). (We checked out the
cost of catering, but it was higher than we wanted.)
We got our wedding cake from Larry's Market (an upscale
supermarket). The in-store florist did a wonderful job of decorating it
and providing a cake topper.
Kris
SoundsXtreme.com
price $17.50 Canadian/ $11.95 USD). Payable by postal Canadian money order
or money order payable in Canadian funds from any major Canadian financial
institution.
Quantity shipment available.
Email D...@SoundsXtreme.com if you are interested.
Terry
MIC 2 <MIC2...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:24784-37...@newsd-221.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
Nature Girl
Sounds like you've got a wonderful wedding planned!
Warm wishes,
Nature Girl
Nature Girl
>An excellent resource is Bridal Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields.
I second this helpful book. Available in lending libraries!
>You may want to consider purchasing a bridesmaid dress in white
>instead of a formal wedding gown.
You may find a great gown at a dept store OR a great "sample gown" at an
excellent price at a reg bridal shop. My gown was a "sample". It was not
damaged nor stained. Pure silk with beautiful lace for $400. Fits me
quite well, but then I gleefully paid a seamstress to remove the train so
I'd be freer to move!
>Contact the parks department and historic society in your area. They
>should be able to point you toward popular locations for weddings.
Excellent suggestions. Contact museums too.
Nature Girl
Trystan L. Bass
> My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
> Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
> expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
> would be appreciated.
Before you do anything -- PRIORITIZE!!!
Figure out what's really, truly important to both of you for your wedding.
Do you want tons of family there? Do you want a strictly formal
celebration? Are the clothes important to you? Is what everyone eats &
drinks a deciding factor? Is the entertainment really important? Is the
location or setting key to your ideal wedding?
Decide on a few things/elements (say, 3-5) you absolutely, positively can't
do without. Things that will make it truly *your* wedding, & it's where
you should concentrate your money. Then eliminate as much else as you
possibly can!
For example: if having lots of family/friends present is important, then
you'll need to figure out how to have a big wedding on a small budget. One
way to achieve this is by going more casual/low-key for the reception --
just cake & punch after the ceremony or a picnic or a BBQ or self-catered.
My own example: for us, having the wedding in a historic location & having
excellent music were of prime importance. So we put all our budget towards
the location & a really good DJ who we love. We're scrimping on everything
else -- we're making our own wedding outfits, we're not having much liquor
at the reception, we're having friends do photo & video, a friend is
performing the ceremony, other friends are performing the ceremony music,
etc. And we're eliminating stuff everything we really don't care about,
like limos, fancy stationary, flowers aside from very simple bouquets, etc.
If you don't want something at your wedding, don't let anyone pressure you
into it. The only things you absoultely need to have are you, your fiance,
an officiant, & witnesses. That's it, end of story. Anything else is
icing. Just chose the icing *you* want, and skip all the rest. Not only
can you save some cash this way, you'll have a wedding that truly fits you.
Btw, if you haven't yet, do get the book "Bridal Bargains" (amazon.com has
it, if you can't find it @ a local store) -- the authors are like the Ralph
Naders of the Wedding Industry. Great reading, sometimes funny, always
enlightening ;->
--T.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trystan L. Bass @-->--- www.toreadors.com
a.g.f.faq.chick gothic martha stewart
ebay sales at http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/toreadorbat/
Leila A.
attached train) with beautiful pearl beading on the bodice, at Bride's
International, in Campbell, California. THeir website lists only
locations in California, sorry. I would never buy a dress online, but
if you happen to be visiting down here, it's worth stopping in for a
look.
We bought the dress two years ago, but I remember that we paid less
than $200. It was marked down from about $300. I am a seamstress
myself and can tell quality on a dress, and I could not believe they
could sell those quality dresses at the prices. Much better than the
equivalent price points at Penney's or other places that sell $300
dresses.
Brides International
2165 South Bascom Drive
Campbell, CA 95008
http://www.bridesinternational.com
Good luck!
Leila
"Susan Gavel" <sga...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
>Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
>expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
>would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks in advance!!!
>
>
>
Regards,
Leila A./Tabbouli Princess
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~leilasab/
reply c/o leilasab
with a domain of yahoo d o t com
Leila A.
>In article <7qakss$bj8$1...@birch.prod.itd.earthlink.net>,
>Susan Gavel <sga...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
>>Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
>>expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
>>would be appreciated.
>
> My husband and I had an afternoon wedding. We held it at the
>church where we married. We served premade vegetable and cheese trays
>from Costco along with crackers (also from Costco). (We checked out the
>cost of catering, but it was higher than we wanted.)
>
>
Years ago my Georgia-born grandmother said to me "honey, you don't
have to spend all that money on a wedding. When your grandfather and I
got married, we walked back from the church to my father's house and
had cake and punch." For my own wedding, when my husband started to
have sticker shock on the price of feeding 150 people for dinner, I
told him in all seriousness that we could do it in the afternoon and
serve cake and punch. We didn't have to give a dinner. We chose to do
dinner anyway, because both of us had family flying in from across the
country, because our parents were willing to help us with the cost,
and because we wanted to. If we had not been so fortunate with
parental help, it would have been wine and cake at 3 pm. A wedding is
a beautiful occasion no matter how you do it.
Of course we could have limited the guest list but it was more
important to us to have family and friends (we have lots of both) than
to have a deluxe meal or costly decorations.
Just my $.02
We served a buffet, however - less than waiter table service. We got a
good value on wine, and served only one round of champagne (a
sparkler, not the real French thing, either).
I used an Excel spreadsheet and built formulas to figure out how much
the whole thing would cost with different menu plans ($13 vs. $19 vs.
$25 a head, etc.). Thus I could figure out what I needed before I met
with the caterer.
We spent $4 apiece on potted mini-roses for the centerpieces. We
didn't hire a limo or a videographer or a live band. Our wedding was
not cheap, but it came out to 33% less than the cost of the average
Bay area wedding. It was a lovely, semi-formal wedding with everything
we wanted. You simply make choices and eliminate what costs too much.
Be draconian about the little things, do a budget ahead of time, and
keep it up to date. If you spend more on X, then trim a little from Y,
Z, A and B.
Leila A.
>I bought a wonderful wedding dress, an "informal" (floor length, no
>attached train) with beautiful pearl beading on the bodice, at Bride's
>International, in Campbell, California.
>We bought the dress two years ago, but I remember that we paid less
>than $200. It was marked down from about $300. I am a seamstress
>myself and can tell quality on a dress, and I could not believe they
>could sell those quality dresses at the prices. Much better than the
>equivalent price points at Penney's or other places that sell $300
>dresses.
>
>Brides International
>2165 South Bascom Drive
>Campbell, CA 95008
>
>http://www.bridesinternational.com
>
Follow-up to my own post. In browsing the site, I find a dress similar
to the one I bought, by the same maker, here at this URL:
but it costs nearly $600 now! Still, they always have terrific sales
at this place, and I would urge N. Cal. brides (and So. Cal locations
as well) to take a look.
>Good luck!
>
>Leila
>"Susan Gavel" <sga...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
>>Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
>>expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
>>would be appreciated.
>>
>>Thanks in advance!!!
Rebecca Massey
Rebecca
Wende A. Feller
>
> My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
> Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
> expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
> would be appreciated.
Start by ignoring anyone who tells you that you *must* have something
(big pouffy dress, 12 hours of photography, a sitdown dinner,
whatever...) or you'll regret it the rest of your life. if you had
middle-class relatives who got married before WWII, they didn't have
most of these things, and they were fine.
A wedding is a civil or religious ceremony; a reception is a party. You
dress up pretty because it's an important occasion, but there's nothing
mandatory about a 12-foot train or three matching bridesmaids. I think
there's a lot to be said for (a) a garden party afternoon wedding, with
the bride in a pretty white lacy dress (from the department store racks)
and "tea" served afterwards or (b) an elegant evening wedding with the
bride in a stunning evening gown she can wear again. Elements that are
important to you will usually require a larger investment, so if, for
instance, you want gavel-to-gavel photo coverage, expect this to be a
big chunk of your budget... but go ahead and skip things you don't want
to do (bearing in mind that guests should be comfortable and not
starving).
I collect links to simpler weddings at
http://www.skypoint.com/~vyborney/wedding.html. I'm behind on updating
dead links, so expect to find a few. The weddings on the menu page are
generally interesting -- some are very simple, and some are fairly
formal but not elaborate.
Wende
Ronnette
Bargains---The Bridal Gown Guide by Denise and Alan Fields---any bookstore
in the wedding section
R.C. <rjcr...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:37c95...@news5.newsfeeds.com...
> I think most book stores have great books on keeping wedding costs down.
> When I was living in Kansas City, the local university offered a short
> 2-hour seminar on how to Keep costs down. There they sold the book, Bridal
> Bargains, which I found helpful
>
> Also, the main costs of a wedding are the gown, the food, and perhaps the
nice
> enough to serve as the main dress, but are not going to be as ornate as a
> therefore not pay for tons of food. Or, you can invite people to an early
> afternoon wedding and serve only cake and punch. And finally, have a
> wedding at a place that won't cost you much to rent. Some gardens (if the
> weather won't worry you) owned by the city are town can be rented out at a
> nominal fee.
>
> RC
> Susan Gavel wrote in message
<7qakss$bj8$1...@birch.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
> >Hi,
> >
> >Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
> >expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this
process
> >would be appreciated.
> >
Dvparks
>expenses.
This is based on what I learned from planning my own wedding.
You have the advantage of doing some pre-shopping by checking wedding vendors
on the internet. Check out sites, and get a feel for what's out there and how
much certain vendors are charging for the types of services and products you're
interested in. Therefore, if you shop at local malls and shops, you will know
if you can get it cheaper by purchasing off the internet.
Also, consider that some (but not all) weddingservices and products are more
expensive than other party events and supplies. So when inquiring about
rentals and party supplies, don't mention you're shopping for your wedding. It
won't be possible in all shops you visit (after all, it would be quite
difficult to walk into a bridal shop to try on wedding gowns and try to insist
that you're not shopping for your wedding). But consider one example in our
case, we discovered that most local videographers charged a flat fee no matter
what the event. But on the other hand, some videographers who "specialized" in
weddings charged a lot more for weddings (can't figure out why since they
didn't seem to do anything different for weddings or spend more time at wedding
receptions than they did for other types of parties). So, don't be influenced
by vendors who say, for example, for $100 more, they will arrive in a tuxedo.
Most wedding industry professionals are willing to dress appropriate for the
event they are hired to cover and already own a tuxedo or formal gowns for such
more formal events. As a consumer, you should not have to pay extra for their
services just to cover their cleaning bill or tux/gown rentals. After all, do
you get a bonus for wearing a suit or dress to work, just to cover the dry
cleaning bills? So when checking on professional services, check on their
availability and prices before mentioning that you're planning your wedding.
Also, be ready to shop around and compare prices. Avoid vendors who give their
sales pitch and then pressure you to sign a contract today in order to lock in
the price they quoted to you. You have a year head start, so begin now by
comparing prices on everything. Prices can vary from shop to shop, and you
should not give into sales pressure and lock yourself into a contract until
you've taken the time to consider at least 3 different companies.
Take advantage end-of-season sales. Summer items will begin to go on sale this
month and next month when store shelves are being cleared for the fall and
winter items. So purchase summer wedding accessories when they're on sale and
just save them for a year. The first of the year can sometimes be a good time
for sales, too. Along the same lines, resist the urge to purchase EVERY
accessory that comes in your wedding design. For example, if you are going
with a country theme, do you really need to have $50 porcelain cows to use as
centerpiece for each of the reception tables? Vendors will try to sell you
everything that matches your wedding theme, but you should resist their sales
pitches and purchase only what you want.
Also, consider mail-order firms. Some offer some great deals. But you at
least have the option as a consumer to not place an order if you don't like the
price, quality, service, etc. One example from our own personal experience, we
ordered our wedding invitations at a local stationery store (long story, but we
felt obliged due to a friendship). After the order arrived, we discovered that
the very same invitation and extras (thank you cards, etc) were available in
several mail order catalogs, and the prices varied with most of the mail order
firms, but ALL offered much cheaper prices for the invitation we selected. So
again, shop around.
Consider non-traditional shops for some things. For example, if you don't want
a traditional wedding gown, consider a local store that offers formal gowns
jen cole-steele
It included:
big puffy dress (bought off the rack--no alterations)
reception for 85 (buffet style around 1 pm--carving stations, cheese,
fruit, breads, salads
some passed hot hors d's)
rental of beach club
bridal bouquet, two bridesmaids bouquets, three corsages of roses, 4 rose
boutinners
bulk flowers that my mother arranged for the church
little white baskets full of deep purple pansies (may wedding), ivy and
dusty miller
which I planted the week before the wedding.
morning suit rental for husband.
beer, wine, soda, champagne, juices for bar (a friend of my sister's tended bar
for free)
rental of table cloths and cloth napkins (white, with green napkins)
photographer who shot 10 rolls of color and black and white film, developed
it and handed picts and negatives over to us
dj for 4 hours
invitations by mail (125 total number)
stamps
small gifts for bridesmaids and groomsmen
donation to church
cake (three tiered lemon cake with raspberry filling, covered in hand made
purple violets and pansies)
Where I saved money:
I wore shoes I already had.
I did my own hair and make up
my stepfather drove me to church, and friends drove us in their volvo from
the church to the reception.
we did not go on a honeymoon until 4 months after the wedding
we were able to return unused champagne cases and beer cases
we picked wildflowers, ivy, lilac and dogwood and decorated the
beach club with it.
The only "deal" i got because of my connections was that the flowers
and bouquets were done at cost, but not the boutinneers. My father borrowed
hanging pots of impatiens and ferns to hang at the beach club.
My father-in-law paid for the rehearsal dinner, which would probably add another
couple hundred dollars to the total if we had to pay for it. He also paid
for his own
suit.
In article <37CBDA70...@skypoint.com>, "Wende A. Feller"
<vybo...@skypoint.com> wrote:
> Susan Gavel wrote:
> >
> > My fiance and I are planning on having a wedding next summer in Portland,
> > Oregon. We want to find resources on avoiding the wedding industry
> > expenses. Any suggestions or ideas on where to get started on this process
> > would be appreciated.
>
jennypenn...@hotmail.com
tho it's none of my business... =)
my first suggestion would be to go buy yourself a couple
of "wedding on a budget" books. they'll be your best
investment. definetely pick up the "bridal bargains" book
by denise and alan fields. i also bought "how to have a
big wedding on a small budget" by diane warner, but i found
it to be kind of unrealistic (she just assumes that your
neighbors will want to give you their garden clippings for
flowers).
then start with your dress. how formal do you want it to
be? if you can find a local seamstress that is willing to
work with you (check with freinds of the family first) and
combine several different patterns to give you what you
want, you probably could get away with spending around
$250 - $300, depending on how intricate your dress is.
there's also david's, or internet bridal shops like pearl's
place or rk bridal. if you have the time and money, you
might also want to fly out to boston and brave the semi-
annual filene's basement bridal sale. $99 plus the cost of
the ticket might end up saving you money in the long run.
for the reception, if you do a late-morning wedding you
could do a brunch, tea, or hors d'ouerves reception that
won't cost you nearly as much as a full dinner would,
regardless of how many guests you have.
as far as decorations go, do everything yourself. i know
this sounds like a daunting task, but i've had more fun
making pew bows and centerpieces and table runners and
designing the bouquets than i thought i would. i'm also
getting the flowers through the supermarket chain i work
for, and the bridesmaids and i and i girl i work with are
going to put them together the day before the wedding.
everyone is really excited about doing this. never mind
the fact that i spent $450 on what would have cost me $1200
or more had i gone through a florist. i also did my
headpiece myself, and spent $40 on what would have cost
$150 in the bridal shop, and i liked mine better. =)
HTH!
jen (& jeff)
9/19/99
2 weeks and counting...
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