With only one income in my family, no savings, and only 3 months to plan my wedding we DID IT! Yes, our budget was tight and had a limited guests of 80 people which is not too bad. But it worked out. It took a lot of research and a lot of shopping around for bargains but I saved a lot of money doing my own wedding. And i am very proud to share all the cool stuff and not so cool stuff i encountered during the planning process. My wedding came out beautiful.
I set a budget for my wedding gown at $300--- is that unrealistic? No one believed i would find a decent dress for that price. And i have to admit that after looking around at a few places i felt so discouraged. But right before I gave up, I found an elegant yet simple gown with lots of BLING on it. It is spaghetti strap that fits like a corset and its full of sequin on the top, including the straps. My dress was priced $900 but i tried it on anyway. I LOVED IT! it was exactly what i had been looking for. Then the salesperson said it was on sale and i got it for $400!! Tell me it wants meant to be!
Photographers, Deejays and Florist's are very expensive. Always network to see who knows of any good deals. Also, if you know someone who is just starting to do photography and needs to build their portfolio, do an exchange. Use them for your wedding and have them use you to build their portfolio and ask for a CD of photographs. You can get your photographs for FREE! You just saved at least $1000.00. Once you get the pictures, there are many programs you can use to edit them yourself. If you have a friend that deejays, maybe he'll be willing to deejay for your wedding in exchange of getting him more gigs. Everyone loves a great deejay and they will be calling you for their number for their special event. If you know a florist, again, set up a meeting and get a quote. Usually they will give you a friendly discount. Do keep in mind that flowers are expensive. So another alternative could be buying the flowers yourself at the flower mart in Los Angeles, or using silk flowers.
I made my own centerpieces for only $120.00! It is possible ladies! You just have to look and I know a lot of people don't have the time to do it. I found some really amazing deals in downtown l.a. And with your own creativity you can make it happen. Don't think that just because you have a tight budget your wedding has to look like it!
I even made my own head piece. It cost me $5.00! It looked amazing. Everywhere i looked, they ran about $100 and up-- and i just wasn't in love with the headpiece. Im not a veil type of girl so i decided to give it a try. Everyone loved it on me.
Instead of having fresh flowers in my wedding, I used silk flowers. I know silk flowers sound cheap & cheesy, but i found these cool silk flower bouquets for my bridesmaids for only $4.00 each. Everyone complimented the bouquets! I did the same thing for the ceremony. I saved a lot of money!
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