Broke Mom Planning a Wedding.

Hi L.. I think maybe I can help. E-mail me or call me personally. I can help with the wedding supplies, flowers and ideas.

I know how hard it is to plan a wedding or any event. I am a planner however I can also get you all the supplies at way cheaper price.

____@____.com
G. S.
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Please tell me how many guest are you expecting to have. Cause my sisters wedding was the most expensive looking cheap wedding I have ever been to email me back please ____@____.com. I have some great ideas for you that are so cute

For my wedding my husband and I didn't have a lot of money to spend so I went to Sam's Club with a friend who had a card and got food and I made the cake myself it wasn't fancy but my husband loved it and that is all that mattered to me. I kept my decorations simple and barrowed stuff from a friend. Depends on how fancy she wants it or how simple. You are more than welcome to contact me and I will help you as much as I can. Good Luck!!

Hi L.,

I would suggest going to Sams or Costco. They have wonderful finger foods for hors d'oeuvres. They are frozen and inexpensive. You can go to the website to check selections.

Also, you can make them beautiful by going to a Party store and buying the silver trays. Very inexpensive, but not gaudy. Maybe think of Veggy platters, a few meets, finger sandwiches in different shapes, etc.

hope this helps!

L....thought these might help! If you're looking to have a reception in a public establishment, Friday nights and Sundays are usually less expensive--although your best bet might be someone's house/garden. With regard to decorations...I would raid the dollar stores. You can usually find cute little bud vases for small flower arrangments (flowers are sold at a pretty decent price at Costco or Sam's club). If you don't want to go the flower route, try small votives with unscented candles--you should be able to find those at the $1 store too. If you're thinking about serving alcohol, I would limit it to a bottle of white and a bottle of red per table...that might even work for your centerpieces.

I had to plan my wedding on a tight budget also. I would search the food networks website for appitizers. There are a lot of roll-ups (tortilla, meat, cheese) things you can do. Veggies & Dip, Fruit & Dip(cream cheese & marshmellow cream) Sausage balls, Cheese Plate, you could also get rolls and do a meat and cheese plate to make sandwiches. Good luck. Im sure you daughter will appreciate anything you do.

get family members to help and bring things and go to the dollar tree they sell wedding decorations.

My brother and his wife recently married and had only a small reception w/cake and fresh fruit. Also, if you are looking for cheap and easy wedding favors.. at my wedding, we took Hershey's Hugs and Kisses and put them on a plastic spoon, wrapped them in toile, and tied them w/ribbon(same color as bridesmaids dresses) along w/ a note that said, 'Some hugs and kisses from the Mr. and Mrs.' or if you just do the kisses - 'A spoonful of kisses from the Mr. and Mrs.' Was very easy to do. We spent a few hours w/friends and family making these just a few days before the wedding. Good luck and congrats.

We helped my son and daughter-in-law have a lovely wedding on the cheap last June, and had about 2 months to plan. The first tip I can pass along came to me from another mother who found herself in the same situation...twice. Get your flowers from Sam's! I don't know if all of the Sam's have this, but the one in Murfreesboro has a flower stand in the produce area. They have beautiful, fresh flowers that you can order to come in exactly when you need them, and all at Sam's low prices!

The other tip is (with apologies to the professional photographers out there) to ask a few family friends to bring their cameras--everyone has one now--and their gift to the bride and groom can be a CD filled with photos of the day. Choose one who has exhibited some prowess with a camera, and give that person a list of shots you definitely want, such as a full-length shot of the bride in her dress, a shot of "the kiss," a shot of the couple with the groom's family, you get the idea.

May your daughter's day be as special as she is...and may you maintain your sanity AND your checkbook while watching your little girl shine.

Oh, Jonathon and Ashley are so happy and they're looking forward to celebrating their first anniversary. We'll be watching our beautiful grandbaby Isabella! Life's good.

Sincerely,
C. Phiffer

I have attended several very nice weddings lately where the church decorations have consisted mainly of greenery instead of flowers. They were gorgeous weddings for girls from very good families. Some greenery was fresh and some was artificial, but the total effect was lovely! Flowers are very expensive, so maybe this might help some. S. B.

I think if you can get some dill pickles,cream cheese, and some shaved ham, round crackers you can fix some wonderful tasting finger foods and they are not cheap looking. Take your ham, spread some cream cheese on it lay a dill spear on it and then roll them up, put a tiny dollop of cream cheese and lay it on a round cracker. It is wonderful. There are others. Cut out shapes with ham, different luncheon meats, put different cheeses on them cut into shapes and put on the different crackers that you can pick up at the dollar stores in town. IT is not that expensive and everyone will be impressed. The same can be done with toasted breads of different kinds and meats. The quantities you will have to buy for the finger foods will keep the costs down and you will impress yourself at your craftiness. Good luck. It is also great to decorate this way. It is a huge savings to run out to the dollar stores and pick up many different stemmed glasses and all the wonderful streamers they have for a buck and fix them at each table. It is quite fanciful. It can be sedate or glitzy and glittery. It is up to you.
S.

I am also looking to plan a wedding, but mine is in March. Do you care to share any info with me that you might find? I am looking for something very small and very casual. I will pass any info I find to you as well.

Hi L.! I have a few recipes of easy cheap stuff. Are you looking for a morning, daytime, or evening? How many people?
Where is the reception? These do play some part in what you ae serving. Morning and daytime are the least expensive. If you have a 3 o'clock wedding yu could have a "tea." This would not need any alcohol, no large meat, and no one would be expecting a large meal.

My favorite punch and always a hit is Lime Sherbert with gingerale poured over the top in a punch bowl and served. Harris teeter makes a wonderful sugar cookie, $3.99 for 24. That is very nice when served w/strawberries and lime curd. very pretty and always a hit. I love to entertain, and I have done several bridal showers, baby showers, rehersal dinners, and even a reception. I would be glad to furnish you w/ideas-recipes. Let me know what timea and how many and I will send some more info your way.

Sincerely, D. S.

I assume you are not talking a huge, expensive wedding. I did a very nice wedding reception for a friend's daughter and it was nice. Some stuff we bought pre-made, but I did most of it myself with some help from my daughter. Pretty vegetable trays with home made dip. Fruit trays with seasonal fruit. Watermelon is great for this. Canned nuts in bowls. I also made things like appetizer quiche (those small things) and meatballs in barbecue sauce mixed with red currant jelly. I went to Sams and got a couple of those big bags of dinner rolls and had honey and butter on the table. I baked a ham and sliced it up and put it next to the ham. I also got a few big blocks of cheese and cut them up in cubes myself. I made the punch myself, with Seven Up and punch mix. I made iced tea. Other than the cake, the whole thing cost about $300. We did it in a church fellowship hall so they had cloth tablecloths. Decorations were ribbons with some flowers and candles and some Hershey kisses among the ribbons laid around the candles and flowers. The whole decorating scheme cost about $60. My advice is to get a friend or two to help you out. Planning is the main thing, and stay focused on simplicity and elegance. Get a couple of her friends to handle the cake table and the beverage. Have another to oversee the food table and to keep the serving plates reasonably full.The bride and her mother were thrilled that it all went so well. And it did not look cheap even though it was, relatively speaking. R.

Do you have friends and family in the area? See if any of them would be willing to provide food (in leiu of a gift perhaps) and help with the decorations. When I got married, my aunt and cousins made the decorations for all the tables and wedding favors. Friends and family members cooked up a bunch of chickens. Whole chickens are very inexpensive - just require a lot of work, so if you have people that will help you, you could cook up (even crock pot to make it simple) a bunch of chickens and then use the meat for sandwiches.
Congratulations, and I hope it all goes well for you!

Hi L.,

I spent $500 on my 2nd wedding, that included my dress! I am the queen of penny pinching ~ in style.

What is your Budget? How many are you serving & what time of day is the wedding & what facilities will you have access to? (Oven/stove/Freezer/fridge etc...)

I cooked professionally for 5 years, so we can get you a menu that you can manage, perhaps some can be done ahead etc. Sam's club or Costco is also a great idea as another person had suggested.

Feel free to send me a reply if you want to give me some details. I'll get some solid suggestions for you.

I am a stay at home mom of 2 beautifully wild children 2 & 5. I like having little projects, I like planning things, I like helping people - that's my motive in case you wondered.

P. :)

for the decorations... go to abcdistributing.com they have a 23 1/2" by 12" diameter lighted party fountain for 28.00 get 2 and keep them full brilliant?

They also have sets of 10 rose topped white frosted plastic favor boxes for candy, nuts, or other small tokens of the union, 2-1/4" sq. x 1-1/2" $6.95

they've got sets of 100 Token cards with wedding bell for "ring for kisses"; pre-assembled!!! $6.95

sets of 48 wedding cake bubbles bottles $4.95

and... sets of 450 rose petals 1-1/2" diameter(polyester) 112 sheer, 113 plain, and 225 printed with the words "Love," "Cherish," "Forever," and "Celebrate" use these in the flower girl's basket or sprinkled on the reception tables!!! $6.95

Hope this was able to cut "some" of your graduation, wedding, college costs!!! WOW.

A. Brown
www.LaButterflyGifts.com

go to micheals or another craft warehouse. they have a do it yourself wedding section...silk flowers, ribbons, tule, etc...its much cheaper to do it all your self, instead ofa dj, just rent a sound system and have a friend play some burned cd's, we got our wedding cake from the walmart bakery for $125 for a beautiful 3 tier cake, you can find beautiful used wedding dresses at consignment stores or on e-bay and alterations are relatively cheap, your can go to sams club or costco or gfs market for hor devours(just heat em up in the oven), you don't have to serve a meal or alcohol, opt for an out door wedding or at your own church...it would probably be free or pretty cheap, and don't be afraid to ask your daughter and her hubby to be to chip in on some of the expenses....it's not like the old days when the girls parents were expected to pay for everything, the most expensive thing would be the photographer, jsut call around for quotes, but the closer you get to the date before actually booking the price usually goes up, but if you don't need a professional jsut buy a bunch of disposables cameras and ask the guests to snap away during the ceremony and the reception(more view points).

I would love to offer my free consultation and makeup services for you and your daughter for her wedding. You can contact me at ###-###-####

One of my favorite nibbles at a party is hard salami, sliced thin, spread with cream cheese, and rolled up into individual cigarette shapes. Those are awesome! They take awhile to do, but they're really good, and not too expensive.

Tell your daughter Conga Rats and Good Luck!

xo,

AJ

Don't have much to offer regarding the food. But there's a book Called "I Do Veils" which helped me tremedously making veils for my kids when they were getting married. I was surprised how little it costs, and how easy it was to make a veil! I didn't even have to buy the book, just requested it from my library and they bought it! I checked it out, took some notes and returned it, each time I have a veil to make! It is also pretty to use wildflowers instead of using a florist, your daughters wedding will be just the right time of yr to do that! Good luck!

Hi L.! I am a Professional Wedding Planner. I will be more than happy to give you some direction to help you. PLease email me and let me know some of the details!!

Okay, cheap appetizers - how big a wedding? How many people?

quiches are good and quick - get packs of those premade phyllo cups, mix up some eggs and cream, and drop like bits of ham or mushroom, stuff like that in. Pour in enough egg mix to cover, then bake 'em. Looks like it was hard work, takes maybe ten minutes to put together, relatively cheap, and taste fabulous. Ping me for my recipe if you want it.

As for decorations and such - I made everything for my wedding, flowers (artificial), bouquets, trim and all. Go to a hobby store like Michael's or Hobby Lobby, and tell them what you're up to, I guarantee they'll have suggestions. You can get a lot of things for making the favors and such at Dollar Tree much cheaper than elsewhere.

Best of luck to you and your daughter!

Hi L.,
my daughter just got married in September & we lucked out, his sister had a pivillion in her back yard that they hold barbques in & it was perfect, we decorated it with tulle & bows, some artifical plants that she had & borrowed some ferns, we sat up tables & had pictuers of the bride & groom growing up, candles & I had some strings of beads that we placed around, I also decorated some plain baskets with beads & small bows one had hershey kisses & hugs in it so I made a heart that said hugs & kisses from the bride & groom & the date, one I made the bird seed bundles & put in and the other I wrapped up clear forks & knives in white & blue napkins with ribbon for the cake. We also got some plastic tumblers with wedding bells on them & used for punch but also bought some play sand & filled them half way & put in tea lights they were really pretty. I had made some kleenex flowers I dont know if you know what they look like to put on the ends of the isle on the chairs, we set up the guest book on the table with the photos & bought a pretty pen set, we didnt have alot of food because my friend was going to do it but her husband got put in the hospital last minitue so I made a chicken salad & craker plate a fruit bowl, nuts, chips & dip & the grooms cake & wedding cake, you can also get the confetti at walmart & sprickle around on the tables to add more color. I borrowed alot of things from friends & family & bought alot of the things at the dollar stores or walmart, I hope this gives you some ideas. Best wishes T.

I planned and paid for my wedding. Even a cheap wedding is still expensive! I bought fake flowers, greenery, and some floral foam and made my own flowers to decorate the church. I also made the pew bows. You can get supplies for that at Hobby Lobby. I made sure the flowers I carried and my bridesmaids carried were real and pretty much matched the fake flowers, so it wasn't entirely apparent the church flowers were fake. You actually can't tell in the pictures that the flowers in the church were fake. I did decorate the reception hall myself. I used little glass bowls in the middle of the tables and floated rose candles in the middle. I also made the name cards(internet site-oriental trading)and little candy goody bags I placed on each setting. Another idea....if you can, look for pieces of china at yard sales and peddlers markets. I think that would look more chic then using paper or plastic ware. The pieces don't have to match-finding some with the same color scheme would work-try and find some cheap silver ware too. You can always turn around and ebay/yard sale them when you're done with them. Hope this helps. Good luck. PS. Be careful about "saving" on the photographer-You really do get what you pay for. My sister got a friend of a friend and she still doesn't have all of her pictures(she's been married for 5 years). Don't go cheap here-pictures last a lifetime!

L.,
Are you in Memphis?

Sound like you got alot of good advice already.....I pd for my wedding and cut lots of corners. Costco/Sams is great place to start. You can buy invitations at a party store and print them yourself on the computer....along with programs if you want.
I bought cute little glass jars at a local pottery place and potted flowers at a garden center and made cute center pieces for the reception. A little ribbon and it looked great! We had our moms make a collage of pictures of my husband and I growing up and put those at the reception on the gift table.
My friends help decorate the reception hall the night before and bridesmaids can help replenish the food during the reception. I used a good friend to coordinate wedding day and take care of the flowers, caterer and hand out programs. Friends are always willing help when it comes to a wedding!! Dont' be afraid to ask!!

Best of Luck!!

This sounds silly and you may have tried this already, but google wedding on a budget, or cheap wedding ideas you get thousands of stuff you can do? Remember nothing is cheap if its from the heart and you are doing this because you love her.

Hi there. Instead of a few bridal showers have your friends and /or family help you with decorations and food. If you plan out a meal or finger foods complete with recipes and instructions everyone can take on one item and in just a few hours your work is done. A couple of people can take care of the shopping a few days ahead. Make up a shcedule and email it out to all involved and let them volunteer for when/where and what they can do. This gives you free time to tie up all loose ends. Don't forget to slot out time, space and person(s) for heating foods prior to wedding. Costco/Sam's club also have tons of finger food offerings that require little prep time. Also, take donations if people offer them instead of their time. Send out a well thouht out letter/email to everyone and you will be amazed at how many people will help you out. No begging or pleading, though... it makes people uncomfortable. Food suggestions: Fruit and Veggie trays with dip. Cheese and cracker tray. Mini rolls and meat trays with mayo, mustard and horsey sauce. Swedish meatballs. Deviled eggs made with smoked salmon and dill. Bite size cheesecake pieces. The list goes on and on. And most of this stuff is already prepared for you you'll just need to heat it or tray it up. As for decorations: Outdoor weddings require little dressing up. Wildflowers and lots of greenery tied with oversize ribbon make great bouquets... something the bridesmaids can help with. Flowers are also less expensive at the Sam's/Costco clubs. Ask around and find out who plays an accoustic guitar. This makes for great background music while guest are being seated. No singing required and sometimes free just for the exposure. Listen, don't stress and have fun. Let your daughter tell you what she'd like most from her wedding and do the best that you can.

You can do it without looking cheap. My husband and I will have been married for 2 years in June and we did it very reasonably. We bought food from GFS (Gordon Food Services). You buy in bulk like Sam's club but you do not need a membership. We did little sandwiches of ham and turkey. You can buy the whole Turkey or Ham and they will slice it free for you there. They also sell the little buns to make the sandwiches but I think I got mine from Walmart. A great place to buy Veggies is a store called Aldi. You can buy baby carrots ready to serve, and other stuff that is easy to cut up like Broccoli, Celery, and Cauliflour as well as peppers but they cost a bit more. You can cut them all up ahead of time and serve them with dip. You can make your own or buy the containers of it. Sour Cream can make a great dip and there are lots of recipes online for mixing the spices to add in. (Type in Ranch Dressing Mix Recipe) You can do the same thing with Fruit and Aldi is also a great place to buy that as well as GFS. Someone mentioned Meatballs and they are a great idea. You can buy the premade bags of them. Watch for them to be on sale and stock up early. I know Meijer had them buy one bag get one free last week and probably will again soon. Figure out what you are having and buy early. We got our plates and napkins and such from a party store when they were having a buy one get one free sale. Plastic Silverware is a great buy at Dollar Tree where you get 40 something in a bag for a dollar. They have the clear which looks nice at a wedding. I think we ended up using Meijer white napkins which are nice ones. I bought them on sale and they were a great price. These are the quality ones not the regular ones I am talking about. I would say make sale ads your friend in the next few months and stock up on things you can early to save money.

For table decorations we did a collage of baby pictures of the two of us. You can print these on a home computer and make it look really nice and people have fun looking at them. You can buy reasonably priced decorations at places like Garden Ridge and Michaels. Michaels you can figure out what you want and use the 40% off coupons every week to get what you need. Garden Ridge also has great sales. I did my own flowers with silk ones from Michaels and they looked beautiful. Best of all I still have the bouquet and use it for a decoration in my house. Instead of doing big bouquets for each of my bridesmaids I gave them each a single flower with a pretty butterfly attached and they looked really nice and saved me a ton of money.

Invitations can be done on the computer as well and you can buy packages of premade ones that are really pretty and all you do is print on them. I also made my own programs but I did have them printed on the self-serve machines at Kinkos which saved on ink prices. (They were really nice to help me figure out how to make them print correctly.) I did buy some premade programs ready for printing cheap on ebay but you can do it all yourself if you want and still look great. I also made ebay my friend when it came to my wedding dress, veil, tiara, and other bridal stuff. I picked my dress at a store and then searched ebay and found the same dress from $200 versus the $600 they wanted in the store.

I am happy to give you any other advice and even help you find great prices once you decide what you want to do. My email address is ____@____.com.

Sausage balls are a great make ahead. They can easily put in the freezer for several weeks! 3 cups Bisquick, 1 pound hot sausage, 12 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese, dash of worchestorshire sauce. Mix all ingredients, roll in small balls, and bake for 15 minutes at 375.

Spinach Dip - serve w/ triscuits or other snack crackers. Place in a bread bowl line with lettuce for a great presentation. Make the day before.
1 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach
1 pkg Knorr Vegetable soup mix
3/4 cup chopeed green onions
8 oz. water chesnuts
Keep refridgerated before serving.

Good luck!!!

First, figure out how much you can spend, tell your daughter and stick with it. I had a lovely wedding in the state park and my friends and family helped with everything so the cost was down. Some friends have had potluck dinners as well. But you have to know what your budget is before you make any decisions and your daughter and future husband need to know. After they have an idea of what you can do, then they can price things. My own wedding was beautiful, spiritual, lovely, and it did not coost a fortune.

Congrats on daughter graduating,getting married and off to college..wow..

A wedding doesnt need to cost anyone alot even in this day and age.My first wedding cost no more then appr $5000.00 with my dress costing the most.We,my ex and I,paid for most if not all ourselves.

What we did was an old fashion family pot luck supper/meals.We had family bring bulk food items.Had a family friend that enjoyed being in the kitchen prepare the food plus some of my aunts and cousins helped prepare food.

Have the wedding outside in a backyard or park unless she 'has' to be married in a church.Less cost that way.

For a dress have her buy a graduation dress instead of a traditional wedding dress or wear/borrow someone elses.

Flowers go artificial.They look good,not cost alot and she can have them forever.

Have the wedding party buy/rent their own clothes.What I did was tell my wedding party what color they were wearing and to buy something in that color and what they were comfortable in since I had one girl 5'2 and pregnant and the other 5'10.Nothing the same would have fit both.

There are little things you can do to have the perfect wedding.

Check out craigslist.com for wedding supplies.Google 'recycle wedding supplies' and see what you come up with.Ask around you never know who has ideas.

Food wise see what it cost your local grocery store,restaurants or even maybe someone in the area that loves to do that sort of thing to cater the food.

Good luck and congrats again..
S. B

wow..this is totally my area! have u sat down w/her to discuss a menu at all? and w/ the decoration thing..I can help there too. I have worked MANY wedding parties and have so many ideas! If you would like you could contact me back and maybe we can go from there!?
R.

If the wedding is going to be in the evening, then candles are a great way to decorate. They totally transform a room and lots of candles are cheaper than lots of flowers. Put 3-5 votive candles on each table and sprinkle the table with rose petals. And if the wedding is during the day, then you can just use the petals and not the candles.

If you want to do the flowers yourself, we were able to order great flowers through our local Whole Foods store. Just arrange to talk with the florist there about what you want and what's easily available for the time of year.

Before cupcakes were a big thing, my husband and I wanted them instead of wedding cake. We thought of making them for ourselves, but in the end we simply placed an order with a local grocery store. However, if you go that route, make sure you specify that you don't want sprinkles on the cupcakes. I had told them I wanted 100 vanilla and 100 chocolate all with white icing, but apparently they put sprinkles on ALL their cupcakes, and I got what I asked for--but with sprinkles! They redid them, and all was well, but just thought I'd point that out.

We also ordered invitations but made our own reply cards and programs at a print shop. Hope those ideas help. Good luck and have fun with planning!

For my wedding last May, we purchased all the red roses (my color was red) from Sam's Club the day before the wedding. They sell 2 dozen long stem roses for $12.99 - $14.99 (depending on time). We have several Sam's Clubs within a 30 mile radius, so I was confident we would be able to get enough. I only had to make one stop at the one closest to my home though - they had all I needed. We arranged them ourselves which was very easy (just find an arrangement you like & look at it carefully as an example). We saved a fortune on flowers & centerpieces. A florist was going to charge $50.00 a centerpiece. Hope this helps!

Well it sounds like she is young so i would look into maybe the shelby park at the little bridge. it is very pretty and you could let nature be the decore. i have heard of peoplt marry there. and if they are just out of high school i would have the reception right there at the park like a cook out. if they are going of to college and dont need to much you could ask the people that are coming to bring a dish instead of a gift. Good Luck!!!

Orientaltrading.com and you trusty dollar store for decorations. If you are using flowers Michael's or any craft store near you would be great and buying by the bunch is cheaper than by the stem. Always look for sales. You have some time, so you can wait for them to come along.
Since you will be buying food by the bulk, any Sam's, Costco, or BJ's will do. You have to make sure your foods are cocktail dress friendly. Some Swedish meatballs and sauce, Shrimp cocktails & sauce (you can get the frozen bag of already cooked shrimp on sale, and place it in warm water to thaw. Then arrange and serve). You can make the cheese platters yourself, with crackers grapes three different cheeses and another fruit that is not too juicy (juicy fruits wet the crackers). Get a food processor and make your own spread for finger sandwiches. You can have chicken (chicken boiled tender, spicy mustard, mayo, and roasted peppers), Salmon (canned salmon, mayo, jalapeño [not too much] peppers, cheese), Avocado (avocado, lime, garlic salt, onions). You can make the spreads ahead of time and place them in the refrigerator. There are also the tiny pastries with different fillings that you can find in the freezer sections. If you want more ideas, contact me. Try to avoid greasy red sauces, cocktail sauce is all right, but hot sauce or buffalo sauce is asking for trouble.

Good luck and God bless,

Have an outdoor wedding where the reception can also be held. For guest gifts buy cheap 2 inch tall vases off the web and fill them with inexpesive flowers. Take your friends up on their offers for help. Your local Sam's Club, Cosco, or BJ's will have lots of nice things for finger foods. Cosco's shrimp platter is always a big hint. Borrow silver platters to put the food on.

I have some ideas for cheap finger foods!

BJs, Sam's Club, or Costco to get good deals:
Borrow Crock Pots from everyone you know!

Chicken Wings. You can buy big bags of them already pre-seasoned (or you can dump sauce on the while cooking in the crockpot).

Meatballs in Spaghetti Sauce. Again, you can buy big bags of them, also, large jars of Prego and cook them in the crockpot.

Little Sausages, too, but they are kind of expensive.

Veggie Tray - celery sticks, carrot sticks, etc. With Dip.

Rolls. Usually I pre-order and buy big bags of little croissants.

Hope that helps!

T.

im getting kfc to cater my wedding and its about 7 bucks a head

For decorations artificial flowers and ribbon can make a lovely setting without the expense of real flowers. Perhaps friends can even help with making the ribbons and flower bouquets. The local Dollar Store may have some nice ribbon and flowers if you have one in your area. Shop at various bridal stores looking for the dress of her dream at a bargain price. A good time to shop is end of the season sales. You maybe shocked to find how inexpensive that very expensive dress can be found during such sales. Chicken winglets, meatballs, mini chicken salad sandwiches (quartered diagonally), Pig-n-the-blankets (use canned biscuits quartered to wrap each little sausage instead of the crescent rolls),veggie sticks (carrots, celery, broccoli, etc.), Sam's has mini cheesecakes that only require thawing and they are ready to serve. Small vases that hold a single cut flower each from a friends garden could be used to decorate the food table or keep with the artificial ones. Besides all the expense we go through is really for show. The important thing is the couple have love for one another that will help them stay together when the going gets tough. My perspective as a Christian is to keep God as part of the marriage and not leave Him at the church. I hope something in my message will be of assistance to you.

Hi L.,

This one I can help you with. I am not sure where you live but if you have a dollar tree or a hobby lobby that is a good place to get cheap wedding things. I got married for the second time last year and we had a nice wedding on a very cheap budget. We wanted a nice honeymoon so we saved on the wedding.
Food. first of all ask close friends to help out with something. You can buy chicken fingers that you only have to heat up in places like sams. Also one thing that folks love are those little smokies put out by bryans. you can put those in the crock pot with bbq or make your own honey mustard sauce. finger sandwiches are always cute with cucumber or just a slice of turkey, cheese, ham, egg salad or something like that. Punch, buy the gourmet punch by pet and add a 3 liter of lemon lime soda (from dollar tree or the cheapest you can buy anywhere because the punch mix makes it wonderful anyway. add a rainbow sherbert and wha la! wedding punch.

Hope this helps

I am actually getting remarried in two weeks and I have tons of ideas for you that were very cheap and didn't look like it. I would love to send you some pictures of what I have done for my wedding and give you some information. I am also a pretty good photographer (not a professional) but let me know and maybe I can arrange something. Email me at ____@____.com.

Dear L., I think you could make finger sandwiches with meat,cheese etc.. cut the crust off:) and vegetables & dip, fruit, with fruit dip and just put up some streamers and balloons etc.

L.

I have used this dip for weddings before you can use it for pretzels, fruit or whatever.

1 block of cream cheese
1 cup packed brown surger
1 tsp. vanilla

When cream cheese gets soft enough to mix add the brown sugar
and vanilla. So far everyone that I know and has tried this has loved it.

We used it at a wedding reception in North Carolina and everyone wanted the recipe.

B.

A little about me:

I'm a single mother of two awesome children give me and want more. I work full time as a paralegal

Hi L.. First, I'd like to say congratulations on the marriage of your daughter! All the best to her.
My husband and I got married with $500. But we could not have done it without the help of family and friends and...well...we did a lot of it ourselves. But here are a few of our ideas and ideas of others who have been on shoestring budgets.

Have a friend of your daughters or you pick local wildflowers (bouquet and decoration flowers) the morning of the wedding. June is a great time for flowers. We have friends with farms and huge fields of flowers. Ten people spent the morning of the wedding picking flowers and people brought all of their vases to decorate tables and the tent, etc. ALL THE FLOWERS WERE FREE!!

Use tiny candles (I found mine at the Dollar store) and little glass vases. I think I spent $25. I wrapped the candles with a piece of ribbon and my husband and I wrote out thank you tags that we attached to the candles with ribbons. The tags had little drawings that my husband drew and a quote about love inside. Each one was hand written by us. People LOVED them because everyone got to take one home.

If you can't afford that, maybe figure out how to fold origami cranes. Ask your daughter to save her wedding shower wrapping paper, or buy two or three rolls of colorful different kinds of wrapping paper and make the cranes. My friend saved all her birthday and shower gift wrapping paper and she, her husband and I folded a thousand cranes for her wedding and we put them EVERYWHERE (on the tables, on strings from the ceiling, etc) The thousand cranes comes from the story of Sadako Susaki, a little girl who pledged to fold a thousand cranes so she would live forever. We wrote a version of the story with a golden pen on foam board as people entered the reception. People took cranes home as souvenirs. People still talk about those decorations. *NOTE-you would have to start folding now if you wanted a thousand, but you really wouldn't have to make that many. It's very time consuming, but you could have a crane folding party, too.

Food- I know this sounds odd, but I have been to three potluck weddings in the past two years. Each one was WONDERFUL. People go ALL OUT for a wedding potluck. One friend's wedding was complete with people who home brewed beer, made wine and home made champaign! I have eaten the most amazing food there! If that is just not ok with you or your daughter, see if you have some friends who, as their gift, will make the food for your daughter's wedding. My sister was suppose to make my wedding cake, she ended up buying it for us, but we had a bunch of friends offer to make our food. One friend organized people at her church take up donations to buy her friend's wedding cake. Our friends told us that they wanted to make the food as a gift.

Lastly, my husband and I made a mixed CD of our favorite love songs and gave them to all the people in our wedding with special thank yous to each of the people who helped out. People still talk about our CD!

The thing that cost the most for me...my HAIR! But a friend could do it!

Good luck! Blessing to your family!

Cheap foods Turkey ham is cheap and very easy to prepare. Potato Salad also cheap. Jello Salad. Go to your local fruit market, and get the fruits that are in season. cheese trays. Tortilla wraps using cream cheese with a variety of additions can be a good appetizer. Colorful. Go to 1000 recipes on line, and there should be some good ones there too. See if friend would be willing to help by making a dish for the wedding. Tell them you will return the favor for an event they will be hosting graduation. Decorations Go to thrift stores, look for mirrors and small candle holders. Get the cheap confetti at a party store using the colors of the wedding. Get cheap bows, and flowers at walmart. Wrap a bow with a flower around candle holder and place on a mirror. Put the confetti around the candle on a mirror. Very romantic and very attractive. Use wedding them colors.
Good Luck.

i planned my whole wedding in 6 weeks and for 5,ooo dollars. it was beautiful and i could not have done it any better for more money. consider having the wedding around 10 am, and serving brunch type foods. they are less expensive and people tend to eat less this time of day since they will eat breakfast before they come, and not be ready for lunch yet. you can rent real plates glasses and flatware from a rental company for less than you can buy plastic. also for your centerpieces you can rent mirrors and candle holders, than put candles on top of the mirrors on the table with small, low to the table flower arangements that will look twice as big in the mirrors. im full of ideas, just send me a message if you have more questions.

I have done a lot of wedding coordinating and directing. The first thing i would do is plan a dessert reception. Serve brownies and truffles and cookies, etc. They freeze well (so you can cook way in advance) and because it is so much sugar people tend to eat less. Have coffee and water to drink (much cheaper than punch or champagne). THe other suggestion is to ask the ladies in your church (if you attend, if not ask your friends or co-workers that want to help) to do to the cooking and setting up as a wedding gift. I planned a wedding for a friend who had a 250 person guests list and only $800 budget. You have now eliminated silverware and having to serve things warm. THe dessert reception was a huge hit.

Hi L. H. I'm L. F. I just got married myself last May, and I was determined to do it without getting into debt. Here are a few ideas, which I hope will help.

1) Have you considered having the wedding in a park? My darling hubby and I rented a beautiful pavilion with stone fireplace and attached deck under the trees for less than $100.

2) An afternoon wedding that serves cake, a couple of finger foods, and champagne, can be a very elegant affair. If you do this, make sure you've got protein-y snacks to help balance all the sugar.

3) Or, if you're at the park, serve a picnic lunch. Folks love themes, and what could be better than lite finger food on warm day?

4) Can you get your flowers from a farmer's market? Candles from a craft store?

5) At our reception, we put on a talent show and invited our guests to participate. My hubby and I did a funny little skit or two, and our guests sang, played accordian, played guitar, read passages from romantic stories, told stories, gave toasts. It was fun, cheap, touching, and incredibly memorable.

6) For favors we wrapped good quality chocolates in brightly colored tissue paper tied with brightly colored ribbon. They matched the colors for the wedding and served as place holders/table decorations.

Hope these help! Good luck!

If you have any budget at all, I would suggest Publix. For my wedding, we did the reception "catered" by Publix. A couple of friends took charge of it for me, and they took all the food off of the plastic trays Publix give you and borrowed crystal and silver platters from friends. They dressed the food up with lettuce and parsley, etc, for garnishes and it looked very fancy on nice platters, bowls, etc. We catered finger foods for 500 people on about $1000. If you are doing a smaller wedding, you don't need to spend nearly so much. Also, if you plan to have the wedding and reception at a time between meals, then you don't have to plan to serve so much food (ie, wedding at 1 pm with reception to follow OR wedding at 7 pm with recep after - and I would put on the invitations something about "hot hors d'oeuvres" at the reception" - sounds fancy but people will know that they should eat lunch or dinner before. I suggest Publix because as the mother of the bride, you do NOT want to be cooking the day of (or day before) the wedding - too much stress for you and totally unneccessary. My suggestion, honestly, if you don't have the budget even to buy something like that, is to have a heart to heart with your daughter and just serve cake and punch, maybe trail mix/peanuts. I have been to several weddings like that and it is FINE. Better to enjoy the day then run around like crazy so that other people have something to put in their mouth. Are they there to eat or to show their love and support of the newly married couple?

Good luck! Also, I ordered my gorgeous white roses through a grocery store at a substantial discount than a florist, and made simple nosegay bouquets - no special florist skills required. I bought silver and white ribbons and decorations on clearance after Christmas (I had a Feb wedding) and friends used them to decorate the church and reception. You would never know at my wedding that we did not spend as much -- it was elegant and lovely and, like I said, very large with lots of attendees. Really, in the end, what makes a wedding wonderful is the love that surrounds the bride and groom. When I remember my wedding fondly, all of my "good feelings" come from the friends that were there, the special moments with my new husband, the thrill of walking down the aisle and the general mood inside the church. Seven years later, I don't think back to how beautiful the flowers were, the food or the cake. I think it is a TRAVESTY that some young couples today go into massive debt for a one-day event, then start their married life together with a unneccessary financial burden. (Boy, I sound old there, but I was only married 7 years ago!! LOL!) Good luck and congratulations!

Hi. I've pretty much been there done that..except..I was the one doing it to my parents. My husband now, Fiance then, decided he couldn't wait to get married so we moved up our wedding from December to September. (That & we had just gotten engaged in May and he would be gone for a month 1/2 for marine training) Any how..enough about me..its possible to have a beautiful, intimate wedding with spending so little money. First, I would like to ask if they have decided on where they would like to have the ceremony and reception. Knowing that will make all the difference. If its at a church or @ home...how about a city garden? One that wont charge and all you need to do is ask the city. Decorations could easily be made from making things. You could purchase clear vases at the dollar store. My mother and I made my decorations for my bridal shower and my aunt made my ceremony & hall decorations for my wedding. I know my mother and I spent less then a $100 dollars to do the decorations but YOU MUST start NOW!!!! Oh, food is easy..everyone or just about everyone loves fundu- oh my is that how you spell it? =) you could have a dessert table with fruit that you prepared in a day or two in advance (so that the natural juices will give it the sweet fresh flavor)..to use with chocolate fundue*. The main dish could be something like brisket..when put together with the right side dishes you will have the right dinner. Gosh, I could possibly be great help to you..but I need to know a little bit more info. My mind is going all over the place. If your interested in knowing more please contact me here or at ____@____.com... I would be more then happy to help you. I'm a stay a home mom so I've got time I just have to come to the library for internet..so if you would rather talk on the phone let me know. This is a perfect & exciting time for you and your daughter to bond. Dont let the stress take over you. Good Luck, Take care and God Bless.

P.S. My sister in-law makes awesome ice cream cakes..similar to baskin robbins..you could get all flavors or make them yourselves..your choice of ice cream, cake, bake-bake the cake add ice cream and ta da!!

I am planning a wedding right now myself. I have found that you can get great finger foods at Sam's or Costco for not a lot of money. There is some prepare work involved, but overall it is pretty good. I hope this helps.

First,ck out foodnetwork.com this site helps me alot...also google or search... partyfingerfoods ...this may help you a great deal. I do not know the number of folks that will be attending the reception, but here are a couple of ideas... long sandwich loaves of bread..crusts trimmed off..chicken salad or pimento cheese..put on one side..top with another slice..quarter the sandwich topped with well drained olive on a toothpick...deviled eggs with a small piece of pimento on top..dusted lightly with paprika and a toothpick inserted to keep fingers off the rest of them..quiche can be baked ahead and frozen..defrosted and warmed...cut into 12ths or 16ths, served on a cake plate or any pretty plate that you might have..cantalope, pineapple, strawberries, stacked on a "frilly" toothpick..or any fruit combo that you like...punch can be made with ginger ale or lemon/lime soda and lime sherbet.. make an ice ring with fruit in it...lil bit of soda...with fruit in it..freeze...after frozen add more soda and freeze...go to you local "Dollar Store" and check out what is available there for your little things, and also, silk flowers can be used for any flowers that you are wanting to use..a stem can sometimes produce more than one arragement..a small inexpensive bud vase..one or two flowers in it..tied with a bow of the wedding's color..just a couple of suggestions...here is wishing you good luck !!!

L.,
I have been there and done that!! Try to get family, friends and future family involved if you can. You would be surprised how much people would love to help, Many hands make light work!! Delegate the duties, so you are not too stressed! Offer to babysit for someones help, or wash their car, run errands for someone, people don't always want money, they want TIME! Have a friend take pictures, maybe someone you know has gotten married recently and maybe you can borrow some of their decorations. If the wedding is in a church, sometimes there are plants or flowers you can move from one area of the church for the wedding, then just put back when you are done. Good luck, V.

There are many different things you can do to make this wedding a hit for a cheap price. I would suggest that you can make finger foods like mini hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, you could make bologna and cream cheese wraps, you can buy a couple different types of lunch meat and cheeses and roll them with a tooth pick in the middle.

Also, I am starting to get into event photography, and if you were interested, I could photograph the wedding for you, and make a portfolio of the wedding for the couple, with a cd of the pictures for the event for $100.00.Also if you would like , I am not a professional hair stylist but I am very good at doing hair and if you would like, I could help you out with that as well. If you are interested you can email me : ____@____.com Luck with the wedding planning!

I know that a Costco membership could really pay off if you are entertaining on a budget. They can provide catered meals or you can buy in bulk and make yourself. They also provide tableware and linens if need be. Garden Ridge is another great resource for decorating on a budget or Hobby Lobby. If you sign up with Hobby Lobby online they will email you coupons weekly. Photography? www.lnrphoto.com
She is a budding artist with a lot of talent in Charlotte! I would consider asking her if some pictures could be considered a trade for using for her own advertising that kind of thing. Hope this helps and good luck!

Hello, my name is S.. I got ____@____.com wedding consultant/planner cost me $500. My family itemized each dish that was to be prepared. There was meat, vegetables, pasta salad/salad, finger foods, the wedding cake which costed $80 which was incl. In my planning fees. This can be a beautiful, and rememerable wedding just foucus on your daughter's wishes. My best wishes and prayers. Good luck.

L., for my wedding we watched the local ads for ham when they were on sale. we also fixed the ham as well as all the other food. All you have to do then is slice it to serve with buns or some type of bread and cheese. Sam's club has really great bagged frozen fruit that is really awesome. Vegie and cheese trays go over real nice. If you even wanted to, make potato salad and really, the worst thing you will have, is the time it takes to prepare but you can have all of that prepared and ready to go the day before.

And as far as flowers, if you have a Crafts 2000 you can really save there. We got my flowers for the entire wedding party as well as for the parent and grandparents. I did the arrangements myself and we only had $100 in them which we were really impressed. And the good thing about this store is they offer 40% off all white tagged items everyday.

Ask for it to be potluck style. Not from everyone, but I bet there would be people willing to cook a dish or buy a tray of veggies. At my wedding, my parents had gone to Cosco (or Sam's) and purchased the bouquets of mixed flowers and they used that to decorate the hall. Also check out the remnant section of a fabric store. Also a cute thing to do is get the disposable cameras on all of the tables at the reception. They actually gave me better pictures than the actual photographer did. Have some at the wedding also. My parents did my wedding just under $2000. Also do not forget to have the $ dance at the reception. We did it a little differently. We have a outlaw that came and stole the bride away and the everyone had to help gather the "ransom Money". Just make sure that the outlaw catches everyones attention first. (I.e. cap gun or yelling into the mic.) our outlaw did not and people were confused of what was going on. Or have a money tree with a place where they can write a personal note and a clip to attach their "gift" Another cute idea was a photo album that was for a poloriod camera and each guest(s) took a picture on the spot and then wrote into the book their well wishing for the new couple (idea of guest book)

I hope this helps!

~H.

Check on Craigs List for decorations. They often have decorations people have used and don't need anymore. Let someone else do the work and you get then cheap! :) This is the address for the one in Raleigh but there are links on the right hand side for different states and cities.
raleigh.craigslist.org
Good luck!
S.

L.,

Here are some of the things that were cheap and easy for my wedding. First of all, we made the invitations ourselves by buying the supplies at either Michaels or A.C. Moore. We got so many compliments on how beautiful they were, and with the coupon, cost about $10 for a box of maybe 50. For centerpieces, we used candles (you could get these at the dollar store), and we went back to A.C. Moore and found tiny vases on sale for $.50 a piece. We put ribbon around the top (that matched the color scheme) for maybe $5 for all of them, threw a few decorative rocks in (again matching the color scheme) for all of $10 for the lot, and then on the morning of, a family member threw in those cheap goldfish from PetSmart. Everyone loved the little fish, and then along with a little bit of candy, we let them take them home as favors. They were a cute center piece, and extremely reasonable in price! (Each one only cost about $.80 to make.) As far as drinks go, instead of champagne for a toast (and it sounds like they aren't old enough anyways), ask them if there is a drink that they particularly love that they could toast to instead. My husband's family comes from dairy farms, and I grew up in Hershey, so we had a chocolate milk toast (using Hershey's syrup of course) because it had more meaning to the both of us. The DJ was aware of this, and announced it so it seemed sweet versus cheap. Also, if you are going to hire someone to take pictures (and my bet is you could find someone to do it for you), only have them stay until you have cut the cake (and cut it early). Put disposable cameras on the tables (again you can buy in bulk for $2-3 a piece), and have your guests take their favorite pictures of the reception. Some of my favorite pictures came from those cameras! As far as food goes, you can do beautiful appetizers (spinach and artichoke dip, chicken lettuce wraps, crab salad) for little more than pigs in a blanket, so I would look on the food networks site and see what you can find that looks simple and easy. (Giada, Rachel Ray, and Robin Miller are some of my favs.) I hope that this helped some and good luck!

I understand when I got married I had to cut corners, too. go to www.theknot.com
it helped me out alot...well giving me ideas. I also fruit and vegtables with differnt dips. Those went a long way.

L. i have been there i had my wedding and we was all broke my mom went to the dollar store and got like the glasses and went to sams to get the food and plates and etc... and the best thing to do is the food ur self ask a few of ur friends to help past out food and make the invitions ur self and just get plain napkins or get a addresses labeler and stamp them i did and they turned out great... just let me know how it turns out and if u need more ideas

We did my wedding on a budget, and I have worked at two different florist and helped plan weddings. so here are some things we did. I asked close family to each make a specific dish. Like my mom my finances mom , sister or whoever is close. We then bought everything instead of like getting fruit trays and vegi tray already made, we just made them ourselves. A few other good items are:meatballs in Crockpot with bbq sauce and tbs of grape jelly;hard salami wrapped with a baby pickle and cream cheese; relish tray of olives, assorted cheeses, pickles and crackers; chicken salad with little rolls, sliced meat tray (again make your own); Also don't get the biggest plates, people tend to take more. As far as decorations go, you can make your own if crafty. I you have a Sam's club you can get really inexpensive flowers that are nice. Only problem is you kinda get what they have. If not call around and ask how much flowers are in bunches instead of steams. Get flowers that are in season.
you can use little potted plants as center places, or we used champagne glasses with Hershey kisses and hugs candy in them and printed out a little card that said: hugs and kisses from the new bride and groom. we then layed rose petals around them. Again you can sometimes asked for blown roses and get them for cheap, cheap because florist can't use them in arrangements. There not bad just already opened. If you do get flowers keep then in refridge until ready to use.
For cakes we aren't traditional, so we used different size cheese cakes and put then at different heights and decorated them with chocolate dipped strawberries and flowers. Cupcake towers are real popular right know.
Well good luck and if you make a budget in advance and stick to it, it really helps We made almost everything for my wedding (even invitations) and our guest never knew!!

L.

When I got married I paid for a lot of it myself. We served ham and turkey buns that we prepared ourselves. We had fresh veggie trays, which can be done a little ahead of time, little smokies in crockpots which can be purchased in bulk, and my mother made my wedding cake. For the flowers, we went to a dime store and bought silk flowers and made the bouquets, bouteniers, headbands for the flower girls, and pew decorations. It was much cheaper than going to a florist, and the arrangements were really pretty. We only rented a few tall green plants for the front of the church. We went to Horner Novelty and bought some decorations for the reception hall. An inexpensive and fun way to get pictures from the reception, is to pick up disposable cameras and place them on the tables with a note asking the guests to take pictures for you. These can be purchased at dollar stores for a buck. Hope this helps.

When I got married I got married in the park. It didnt cost any thing to use
the park. For the reception you could go to a Dollar Tree and get decorations.
You can design your own invitations on the computer and print them out. My niece
did her invitations on the computer and they looked great.

Food suggestions:
Using small glass bowls filled with mints on each table.Chips and dip, veggies and
dip.Meatballs in bbq sauce (I made small ones for both my niece and nephews weddings),
ham/chicken salad sandwiches, cut into 4 pieces. If you bake or have a friend who
bakes, you make the cake from a cake mix and decorate it yourself or ask a friend to
make it if you supply the ingredients. Off brand soda and coolaid for the drinks with
coffee. By the bread at a bakery that sells day old bread, cakes etc its cheaper.

We bought a small basket at a thrift store and bought ribbons in the wedding colors and
twined around the handle for the flower girls basket. Bought a couple roses and put petals in
the basket. The brides bouquet was silk flowers with ribbons added.

The bride and grooms table you can buy a piece of lace to cover the table, candles in a small
class candle holder floating in colored water, on each end of the table. This can also be done
for the guest tables but have only one in the center of the table. For music, a cd player
with a cd you burn yourself of her and the grooms favorite songs.

Places to have the wedding, local city park, community building, any place that rents a room for
activites. Your own yard or the yard of a friend.

Good luck.

My mother helped me plan my wedding in a month, all things are possible. To decorate if you have a A.C. Moore they have really nice stuff for decorations and check with Michaels. If you could please email me so we can talk I am an Event Planner and I would love to help you with your daughters wedding. I will talk to you soon. ____@____.com or ____@____.com

Nita

Go to Sam's and get the deli spirals and mini quiches...they're always a hit. Also, you might want to check around with different caterers, I know some people who have done it for as little as $6 a person.