Here are some things that made this wedding just a little more affordable. Some of them will not be things that will work well for others, some of them require family members with skills and talents that may not be that common, but maybe some of them will spark an idea here or there and be useful as a springboard. Some of them you've heard before, some of them I don't think I've mentioned.
Dresses: The HG found hers for 20.00 at a thrift shop. The bridesmaid dresses are being made by one of our daughters, who is a talented seamstress and craftswoman. We are blessed. The flower girl's dress is from an Easter collection here. One of the things we have learned is that as soon as you tack 'wedding' onto the description, businesses tack on a considerable mark-up. You can often find the exact same things sold for even half the price if only you aren't looking for 'wedding' items- this includes dresses, decorations, cake toppers, and flowers. In some cases it includes venues.
Photography: We have a friend who does this for free. We are paying her something anyway- we chose 200.00. But she would do it for less, and did so for the family wedding 11 months ago. With the first family wedding another of our daughters did the engagement photographs. She couldn't do that this time because our camera broke, so our friend is doing the wedding and engagement photos, and she's moved four hours away, so we thought she deserved more money.
Sound System: Friends of the groom who have a business doing this have offered a 50% discount to the groom. At the last wedding we didn't really have a sound system because the wedding itself was at a different venue- one with a baby grand piano which a friend played for us.
Flowers: We have another dear friend who has a horticulture degree and she offered to do the flowers, which we ordered online. She wants to set up a business where she does flowers for other occasions, and so she suggested that we just pay for the flowers, and she would pay for the reusable items and keep them for her business (pins, silk greenery, ribbons, and that sort of thing). We found ordering online much cheaper than buying from a florist. We also found, again, that often instead of searching for 'wedding' items, we found the same items for less by using other search terms (Mother's Day, prom, Easter, birthday, or just 'rosebuds').
We are also, once more, growing some of our own for decorations. This time we took several terra cotta pots I already had on hand and spraypainted them for a more uniform look. I have three porcelain pillars I picked up at a thrift shop for ten dollars each- they actually went to a glass topped coffee table, but I asked the thrift shop to keep the glass top and sell me the pillars, and they did. There will be a pot of flowers on each one.
Last wedding we did African Violets because her colors were deep purple and green. One thing I would have done differently if we repeated the same color scheme- I would wait and buy African Violets in bloom a day or two before the wedding and transplant them. It was a little nerve-wracking when some of my plants had been blooming well all summer long lost all their petals the day before the wedding.=O
Other Decorations: We're doing fairly low- key with decorations this time- primarily we are using a few pots of flowers, a shepherd's crook with wind chimes outside the door, and lots of tulle, ribbon, and twinkly white Christmas lights. I bought the Christmas lights at thrift shops over the last 16 months or so, because we used quite a few of these for the first family wedding. I bought the tulle on sale at Jo-Anne's last summer. We are having a trellis, which we are pulling up out of Granny Tea's garden and transporting to the wedding location and then smothering in tulle and white lights and a rose garland I found at a thrift shop.
Cake: Granny Tea's wedding present to her grand-daughters has been to buy the cake, both this time and last time. She has a co-worker who makes wedding cakes. It is looking like we are going to have more guests than we planned on (long story), and so we are supplementing with cupcakes on a tiered glass dish we already have on hand. The cupcakes are made from boxed cake mixes which we managed to purchase for .60 a box combining coupons with a sale, and frosted with home-made frosting (frosting is very easy to make and far cheaper than the prepared sort). We are having children at the wedding and we expect they will prefer the cupcakes. We are not having other food at the reception, except for punch, coffee, mints, and nuts. We watched for sales for nuts and paper products. Last time we also had cheese balls and crackers as well as some sausage and stuffing appetizers and we and some friends made these at home ourselves.
Music and wedding favors: The HG wrote a post to the blog about some of the music we're using. Her groom is a talented musician and composer himself, and so part of the wedding favors will include a CD recording of him playing his music. He has the equipment to record this and put it on the CDs. We ordered the blank CDs and CD sleeves from Amazon and another store where we had credit. We also ordered computer paper for programs online.
You could also make your own CD cases fairly easily- there are all kinds of directions for this online. The reason we did not go this route is because, um, we did not think of it until this week.=)
Table decorations: We aren't really having a sit down meal and only a few tables will be set up. All the tablecloths are white, but they don't necessarily match each other. That's okay. It's mostly candles and Christmas lights, so white tablecloths in different patterns won't be that obvious, and I think mismatched tablecloths are charming. At the last wedding, which included a sit down reception with more food, the tablecloths were bolts of dollar a yard fabric cut to size. I've been visiting thrift shops and yard sales and rummaging through our own stuff, collecting ornaments and candles that seemed good to me and fit with the bride and her color choices since the courtship began. You can see a handful of them pictured here.
I also keep an eye open for candles and tealights on sale at thrift shops, yard sales, and the clearance aisle of other stores at any time, because we love candlelight, and so I had a tidy stash of candles purchased for sometimes as little as a nickle per candle.
The venue- we are incredibly blessed by a couple of community centers in our area that are attractive, affordable, and available. It also helps that both weddings were/are in the fall, rather than summer when those centers are generally fully booked. We are also having the rehearsal dinner and wedding pictures in a historical house that is just across the lawn from the wedding location- I have to marvel and boast a little bit and tell you that it's only 35.00 to rent that fully furnished, decorated historical house for a full day.
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