Ok, so I know this question has been asked in the past. But I need help w/ ideas on a small affordable wedding. My fiance and I are on about at $3000 budget. We're shooting for Feb of 2008 so it'll be indoors. We also want something small and just close family and friends. Does anyone have any recommendations for reasonably priced locations? We don't really need much of a reception cause we're planning on just throwing a party later in the summer or something. We'd probably just take everyone out to eat and then go bar hopping or something like that! But the actual wedding is my main concern. We're not very religious so we don't want a church. Also ~ I'm really not sure of what all goes into planning a wedding. What do I exactly need to do? How much is a wedding license and how far in advance do we need it? How do find a judge and how much would that run us? ANY help/suggestions on would help a great deal! I'm probably forgetting about little important things. I feel completely clueless! :) Thanks!!
Well my husband and I got married with maybe $200 including the price of the licence. There are alot of places, we just ended up with a small reception at our pastors home, however, TGIF has a real good buffet plan and wet bar plan that might be like $300 to rent it out, have ppl pay for their own if that is what you want. Most of those other places was more then what we pay in rent a month. Good Luck and congradulations
We did our wedding at Judge Albertsons Farm in Stillwater. It was great. He does outdoor/indoor weddings and officiates the ceremony. I remember it being cheap, it was also 4 years ago. Its worth giving him a call. The ceremony is what you want it to be and lasts as long as you want it to be. I think ours lasted a total of 11 minutes from start to finish, which we didnt plan on, we thought everything would last longer. He also will go to your location but it may cost more then. If you have questions let me know.
L.,
My husband and I got married in March '03 in one of the small rooms at the Landmark Center in Saint Paul. There are several different rooms to choose from. The one we used was a former court room that had lots of beautiful carved wood paneling. I don't remember what they charged us, but it was reasonable. We had a judge perform the ceremony and about 15 people attended. We hired a piano player suggested by the people at the Landmark Center and she was very reasonably priced, too.
Good Luck!
L.
a resource is http://www.theknot.com it is a great place for resources on your wedding and reception. If you have any more questions at all feel free to e-mail me (my fav thing to do and trying to make a career out of it is makeing favors and bouquets. for weddings) I went to school to become a wedding consultant. so don't be shy I will try to answer any questions you have. my e-mail ____@____.com
2002 was when I finished school. good luck Sam
Check this web site out. It has good information on how to get and apply for marriage licenses. There is a ten day waiting period for them and it is only good for six months. I would get the license anywhere from 3-6 months before the wedding. http://www.mnweddingminister.com/HennCoLocations.html
Having appetizers for a reception instead of a dinner also
might be a more inexpensive way to go. I would google "inexpensive weddings" or something to that effect. Check out the library as well, I am sure they would have books on planning MN weddings on a budget.
For flowers, you could check out Michael's or Joanne Fabrics and find some really nice silk flowers or something instead of spending money on real ones (way expensive!!). I also know that a lot of my friends spent alot of money on photographers that were awful. If you have a relative or friend that is really good a taking pictures, ask them to do it or give everyone disposable cameras to use.
If you need a wedding dress, look in the phone book for bridal shopes and there should be a little section on bridal consignment shops. My friend is getting married in 6 weeks and found her dress at one and it was under $500 for the dress and the alterations. The consignment shops have dresses that have been worn once and look like new and are only 3 or 4 years old so they are still in style. Also, keep on eye on David's Bridal, a few times a year they have a $99 sale (one is going on right now). If you are planning on wearing a veil, make it yourself. Check out this site as well:
http://www.wegotgame.net/jen/veils.html.
Invitations you should be able to do your self. Look up the Paper Depot in the phone book. You should be able to buy in bulk and I have heard good things about that place. Especially with the computer programs these days, you shouldn't need to spend a lot of money on them.
Go online and register for The Knot. It is a site devoted to weddings, although most things they recommend are pricey, it is good for ideas and they have a Q&A section.
I hope this helps!! Good luck!
PS Just remember - the planning is supposed to be fun and things will go wrong...as long as you remember that, you should be fine!!
Heres what we did... We went to the Chapel of Love in MOA. For $600 we had a small but beautiful wedding. They provide the minister/judge, flowers, music, chapel and if you want dress and more. I just went looking for a dress at a consignment store and got a beautiful one for about $100. It was romantic and not over our budget. Look into it. They have all sorts of packages. L.
We had a super-cheap wedding because we got married in front of a judge at the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. I can't remember how I found this information, but I actually had to call the judge myself to set up the appointment. We went to his chambers during the lunch hour and he charged us $50 for performing a civil ceremony. If you google wedding officiants and your city, you'll find there are tons of people that can officiate weddings. There is a pretty wide variety of people out there.
As far as the license, you and your fiance will have to go to one of the government service centers to apply for your marriage license. There is something like a 5-7 day waiting period, so be sure to do it ahead of time. You can find out the details, including the cost, through your county website. Ours ran about $70, but that was almost 3 years ago.
No additional suggestions for a venue, but maybe one of the websites someone else posted will get you pointed in the right direction. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding - I'm sure it'll be perfect no matter how much you spend. :)
Check out www.woodburycentralpark.com.
Best wishes!
Hi!
I can only help you with the judge information. That is what we used and it cost us $200 but I think it depends on the Judge. I think maybe $175-$275 was the range when we got married 4 years ago. Something you could think about to is going to the Judge and then it would be a lot cheaper and you would have more to spend on your "Night Out" reception. I don't remember exactly how far in advance you can/ or should get your license but I remember it being a pretty small fee and we got it a couple of months before the wedding.
I hope some of that is helpful!
~A.
Yeah, this has been asked before, but it is such a fun one to answer! I'm afraid that I wasn't married locally, so I can not help with locations. Depending on what you want, here are some ideas. I made my own bouquets from flowers at Michaels(watch flyer for coupons) I am the least artistic person in the worl, so if I can do this, you can. I also printed my own inviations, software is about 50 bucks at a store like office max. Plus, you can use it again, fo thank yous, or inviting people to your summer shindig. I may even still have it if you want me to look. As for the ceremony, I would pop over to your local courthouse or county clerks(or call) and see if anyone can give you information about a judge and license. MAke sure to check and see if you need anything medically, in MI, we needed something weird like an hour long AIDS training or something. If I can help you in any other way, contact me directly.
