Weddings on a budget

At least another year! I like to be organised!

I agree: make your own invitations because it`s cheaper and you make your own design come alive!
The bridal party can do their own hair & makeup, so long as it`s `deep` enough for photos.
If the couple and their guests don`t mind too much, have a wishing well instead of a gift registry.
I guess to summarise – get people you know to do stuff when you can`t, instead of paying others 😀

Your wedding sounds similar to mine GG! I got married in May & we had a lot of help from friends & family pitching in & really it was just a party with our nearest & dearest, which suited us really well. We got married in a gorgeous old hotel on the Mornington Peninsula & had the whole thing there- ceremony & reception & I think we ended up paying about $6000 all up for 60 ppl including honeymoon. We didn`t have a bridal party, instead we gave roles like being a witness to those we wanted to include, we didn`t have any wedding cars as we wanted to be there before the guests & greet them as they arrived. We were very lucky that we have some very gifted & generous friends & family who gave their time & skills, one of my best friends made our cake (& it was the best cake I`ve ever had!), my old school chaplain did the ceremony for us, my husband`s dad is a graphic designer & did all the invitations & place settings, my mother-in-law did the table decorations, a family friend is a wedding photographer & took all the photos as a gift. It was a great day, very laid back & stress free & it was so wonderful just being able to share it with everyone. If you do have a budget, try & stick as closely as possible to it, I don`t think it`s worth getting into huge amounts of debt for your wedding, in a years time you probably won`t even remember that you didn`t have the extra pink flowers in the bouquet, but you WILL remember if you`re still paying it off! When the big day Aisha1?

Congratulations on your wedding Aisha =)
Ebay is a great place to buy little heart choccies and things for bonbonaries (not sure how you spell it?) and you can also find some absolutely beautiful vintage wedding dresses. If you look around you can also find some reputable sellers who will actually make your wedding dress from detailed measurements you send from as little at $300. Most of these sellers are in Asian countries but if you have a thorough looks around this doesn`t necessarily mean bad quality. Also, if the fit happens to be a little off you can always get it altered.
I bought a vintage 60`s prom dress off ebay for my graduation, and the lady bidding against me was buying all this stuff for a wedding so I assume she wanted the dress for a bridesmaid of something. Definitely have a look on ebay, you can find some amazing stuff =)

My wedding cost about $5000 all up. I handmade all our invites. I bought all our flowers from a supplier – so bypass your florist and do them yourself, I had ivory roses and my bridesmaids had antique pink roses – they were simple but beautiful. We hired a hall in Sassafrass (the Dandenongs) which was about $200, our celebrant was $300, we only invited our very close friends and family (why pay for a night out for people you`ll never hear from again?) we had about 60 guests all up, we decided on an `Aussie BBQ` for food and did it buffet style – hired caterers from the Aussie Catering Co (www.aussiecatering.com.au) – we had so much food – even included massive prawns – all for about $1500 – they came, cooked, set up the buffet, tea and coffee AND cleaned it all up and took away the mess, my husband wore a Yves Saint Laurent suit which we found at Brand Smart (similar to DFO) it was about $400, my dress I bought in England for less than half price (about £400 pounds – so $900 back then?) I bought my bridesmaid dresses on sale for $80 each. My dad paid for all the grog, mum paid for the DJ and limo. We chose not to have a photographer – all our friends took photos and gave us copies – so we have some lovely `action` shots. My mum made us an album too. Oh and my friends mum bought us a cake. We had a great night and it wasn`t tacky at all – it was lovely and intimate.
And go with Music`s tip – never mention the word wedding.

honey I responded to another forum for this and the options are only restricted by your budget. As music mentoned suppliers hear the wedding and its 3fold. Although its your big day to enjoy whatever you chose remember the $$$$ can be stretched to suit your style and everyone loves to help so don`t be shy in asking some photo ideas leave an inexpensive camera on each table or better still ask invitees to bring a camera and take a pikkey send them to you to download. More importantly put your money to good use saving for a well earned holiday home or even endless beauty treats you know you deserve it!!

Whatever you decide the day is yours to enjoy!!

My brother is a freelance photographer, so my sister ask him & another photographer friend to do her wedding. Gorgeous photos and they didn`t rip her off. LOL.

Where are you, Aisha1? If you`re in Sydney I can introduce you to my brother and I might be able to persuade him to give you a good price. Hehehe…

our photographer was $500 for 3 hours… (didnt get photos of me getting ready wasnt comfortable with it) and we got a dvd/cd with all the photos on it and we got to pick and choose what we wish to print…

Good point, sharna! When asking for price quotation, make sure that the price of the negatives/original photo cards are included. Some photographers charge extras for those. For photographer & videographer, always demand to see their portfolios and speak to their previous customers to make sure it really is their work and that there are no difficult issues in dealing with them.

one word of warning, dont scrimp on some things
IE photography cos those pictures will be your memories and it is great to have them
find a photographer that will put all the photos on a dvd instead of printing them
will end up costing you $1000s less!
Garden wedding are quite good too and really cheap.