Wedding Ideas on a Budget

I know that weddings can be expensive and if you are paying for it yourself there are many ways to save money and have a beautiful wedding.

I am going to list some ideas for you, I hope this helps someone.

Wedding Dresses : I was looking for a wedding dress when I got married a year and a half ago. Like most women, I paged through the hundreds of wedding dresses in the bridal magazines wishing that I could afford one of my "dream" dresses. There was one dress in particular by Cristos that I fell in love with. However, I knew that the $1500.00 to $2000.00 price tag was WAY out of my reach. I decided to just go try out some dresses at a local bridal shop. I had gone through about 10 dresses when I started describing the "dream dress" to the sales associate. She brought in a dress that she thought might be similar, but it wasn't really what I was looking for. Then she asked me a few more questions about it and said that she thought she might have something even more like it. Lo and behold- she came back in with THE dress. I couldn't believe it! I was almost afraid to ask the price, $325.00!!!. I said is this a Cristos? And she told me no that it was an Amy Lee. Amy Lee does a line of dresses that are knockoffs of more famous (and expensive) designers called Versions. So my suggestion to those of you out there with a "dream dress" is to take your pictures along with you and/or visit www.amyleebridal.com . Hope that helps at least some of you out with your hunt for the perfect gown! Also, check ebay for gorgeous dresses at a fraction of the price. I regularly see $1000+ dresses go for around $100. Well one other great way to save money is to rent your wedding dress. Really do you think your kids will ever wear it later? I rented a dress for $200.00,if I had bought it it would have been almost $1,000.00, and they did all the alterations to the dress. They would have made it a short sleeve dress, added bows, ect.. I even had my Brides Maids rent their dresses from there too. It saved everyone alot of money and time. Looks around there are a lot of them out there

budget wedding favors! Don't be pressured into buying expensive wedding favors. Even at about $5 each, it adds up. Go to your local Michaels or AC Moore (with coupons in hand of course) and even if you are not artistically inclined, you can make (or get your friends/family to help you make) cute favors. Two ideas: buy small votive candles for about .17 each and wrap them in a bit of pretty fabric with a ribbon around it. Buy (in bulk) potpourri and do the same to make small sachets. Both are really inexpensive, cute and easy to make. MorefavorsWe went to a wedding a few years ago and they had made roses out of Hershey kisses, Hugs and pennies. They attached a note that said "A kiss from the bride, a hug from the groom and a penny from Heaven". They laid these around on the tables and everyone was to take 1 when they went home. My sister ended up with a dozen and they looked pretty in a vase. Party Favors, If you have a Party City near you check there for wedding bubbles, etc. They are often on sale along with those aluminum pans for serving and balloons are cheap, too. we ordered a burgundy dress from JCPenny catalog that was dressy enough for our wedding, but could also double as a "Sunday best" outfit. If they are spending the money, they should be able to wear the dress again!

Wedding Photo's: We wanted a really good photographer, but the local photographers around here are brutally expensive. We went to the local police academy and asked the crime scene photographer to do it. Sure enough, he was just starting his own photography business and he took BEAUTIFUL photos for us. He also included videotape of our wedding and reception for free. We were absolutely thrilled and he charged about 1/3 of the price we would have paid for the local professional studio photographers. Check your local police academy for photographers!

Music:. I wanted to let everyone know that if there is a local college in your area, be sure to call up the music department and see if there are any students who would be willing to play a wedding. This is a great way to get the instrumentation you want at a cheaper rate. I was music major, and we lived for these types of gigs! We were given performance opportunities and the bride and groom were given beautiful and affordable music! Hope this helpswe

Budget Wedding Reception this was simple but elegant. , this was a second marriage, but anyone could do it. The bride requested that instead of gifts, the quests bring a "dish to pass" for a potluck dinner. She asked that along with the dish, bring the recipe for the bride to make a keepsake recipe book. It was held in the church hall right after the wedding and a lot of fun. The only thing I would add is to say the dish should be made to serve some number of people, say 10-12. Some of the (generous) ladies made IMMENSE Mac & cheese and other casseroles that went uneaten because there was so much interesting food.

Wedding Flowers done cheaply. Here are some ideas we used for a friend on a tight budget - Bouquets - Bunched flowers of one type in specific colors in tight bunches secured with rubberbands and then wrapped with silk ribbons and a simple bow with long streamers to hide rubberbands - used for bridesmaids and bride (bride's were all white). Got vases for center pieces (ivy bowls i think they're called) at a hobby store on sale for 50 cents each and put in colored water and a floating candle (note take long fireplace matches to light them and make sure you put candles in carefully so no water get on top - we had a heck of a time lighting our candles) and we sprinkled rose petals around the bottom of the vases