I would not get a loan! Why would I want to start the marriage in that much debt! It just gives you something to fight about!

I just plan on saving what I can now. We plan on being engaged about a year and a half. So I will have time to find the best venue/food/decor/dress/…etc for the least amount of money. Whatever financial help we get, which won’t be a lot, will be what we have to work with. If you can’t afford it, don’t have it. I wouldnt plan a 20k wedding if I didn’t have the money.

We paid for our wedding and stayed within our budget $5300. I’ve heard that some people save for years and others have financial help from their families.

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. Weddings are pretty expensive, but you can have an amazing wedding fo 5k-10k. I **** when people do into debt on a 1day event. That is so stupid! That money could be going towards a house!

I’ve been working full-time since I graduated college, and almost all of my earnings went into savings. I got married 3 years after graduation, so I had a lot of money at my disposal.

My parents are paying for mine as much as they can, but I don’t want to stretch them to the limit. Here are some things that I am doing to cut down expenses:

1) We decided to have our wedding at the houston museum of natural science. The rental for the whole first floor is $3500. They do not charge you extra for Saturday evenings, so now I can have my Saturday night ceremony/reception without paying double.

2) Instead of a videographer, we are hiring a photographer for just the ceremony. I am getting disposable cameras (you can get them to fit in with your theme) and placing them at each table. That way I can have pictures of the reception, but my friends and family have taken them. You can get some great pictures out of it.

3) Having a buffet instead of sit down dinner tends to cut costs by at least $15/person.

4)I am making my own centerpieces. Go to Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. You can make really awesome centerpieces for 10% the price of fresh flowers.

5) By having my wedding at the museum, I do not need to have any decorations other than centerpieces. That SERIOUSLY cuts down on the budget.

6) Forgo an open bar and offer a cash bar. That way the guests who do want to drink can, but the expense is not put upon you.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER ( and others have echoed this), do not put yourself into debt at the beginning of your marriage. It will put way too much stress into your relationship.

By having a long engagement (over a year) you can buy things as you have the money.

EX: Buy the invitations/save the date cards one month, and put down payment for the food the next. Most places will let you put stuff on layaway so you can make payments before the wedding (like your dress)

There are tons of ways to cut costs on weddings. By having a DIY wedding, you can put your spin on it and it makes it that much more special

If you have to take out a loan then you can’t afford it. Save up. Sit down and figure how much you and your fiance will be able to save between now and the time of the wedding then work your budget from there. Only spend what you can afford.

first figure out your budget. start saving immediately. and by the way my fiance and i paid for our whole entire wedding. and no we didn’t put anything on credit cards and we didn’t get a loan. we saved and we both work full time.

your very lucky you have a father that is willing to give you $5,000 for your wedding. My father didn’t contribute but $150.00 for child support until the month I turned 18. Then his “promises” of education, support, and other stuff stopped. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of that ****** in 19 years!

A wedding is “suppose” to be the joining of two people, to celebrate their life together. I could care less how much other people spend on their weddings, it’s their dime not mine. Personally,I wouldn’t have spent more then $5,000 for my wedding. I had a $1,000 budget, and 10 weeks. Yep hubby didn’t give me much time. But it turned out how it turned out… absolutely terrible because of other people. But hey that’s water under the bridge. We’re planning a very intimate renewal of vows for our 10th wedding anniversary.

Good luck with planning your wedding. I hope it’s a wonderful day for you both.

Where do you live???!!!!
My ENTIRE wedding will cost $5000. Food, flowers, location, linens, photographer.
Our ceremony and reception with enough food for 300 people plus centerpieces (5 hours time) is $3000. Our photograper is $1000, cake is $170, bridal flowers $325.
And ya, we are going to an actual venue. Getting married in the garden and having the reception inside, but people can go out to the gardens if they want.
My friends parents are 12 grand in debt because of her wedding. Her fiances 9now husband) parents refused to pay for anything, they had no money, so her parents got a lot of credit cards to pay for it. I wouldn’t ever do that to my family.
My fiances parents offered $2500 and my parents offered $3000. It’s what they could afford. Whatever extra we can use for the honeymoon.

here is the speech i give my brides to be:
no one needs a $25,000.00 wedding and if you don’t have the money for it then i suggest you scale down your ideas. you don’t need most of the ‘stuff’ the wedding industry is pushing.
for example:
wedding favours are a huge waste of money, generally speaking the majority of them go in the garbage.
save the date cards are another industry money-grabbing ploy. they aren’t needed at all. send your invitations out in a timely fashion and you are fine.
wedding dresses can be as simple as a pretty little tea-length dress to very formal – but remember this is something you’ll only wear once. it doesn’t need to cost thousands of dollars.
tuxes – while every wedding party seems to be in tuxes they really are supposed to be for formal affairs only. if your man has a business suit that will work very well for a semi-formal wedding and a casual wedding can be anything from sports coats and dress pants to blue jeans and white shirts.
there are a ton of ways to save money and if you just sit down and think about it all you’ll find you can have a lovely wedding on the five thousand dollars your dad is giving you.
please don’t go into debt for anything – its an awful way to start your new life. keep in mind all you really need is the bride, the groom, a couple of rings and a preacher – everything else is just ‘stuff’.
good luck to you and congrats on your engagement! happy wedding!