Calling all budget minded brides!

For sure!

Great shopping I have neglected ebay in my searches- I'll have to look

I like the seed hearts- they are sweet and pretty

I have purchased a lot of items off ebay. Bouquets, ring boy pillow, veil. The best buy was the veil by far - what would have cost close to $1000 in store I paid $25.00 for. It's super long with lace trim.

The bouquets are dried flowers. I got 10 of them for $90. And the ring boy pillow is ivory with lace for $5.00.

I'm also considering order these recycled paper hearts with flower seeds in them.

I'm very happy with what my FH and i have booked - but I do wish we had considered the brunch option more....it's different and has so many variations. So much creative juice gets flowing!
A good deal and breakfast? Wins all around

I think you are the first bride I've meet here doing a brunch - I would be interested to hear details as you plan and see pictures. Maybe do a post sometime?

We got our venue for about the quarter of the price because we are getting married on a Sunday morning. I can definitely see how many people would not want that, but for us it was no compromise because it's exactly what we want (we love breakfast) and super budget-friendly too.

LOL- I'm gonna try! If I fail you will see the meltdown post in May!

Check out Bride/ wedding buy and sell groups on facebook- my new favourite thing! You are lucky to have a "hopefully" helpful connection! and sharing costs with friends is great...my friends and I should have planned our weddings closer together.

That's amazing that you are growing your own flowers!!!

For me, I will try and DIY as much as I can, use e-invites instead of paper, ETSY, and pinterest I'm also going to incorporate more greenery (leaves such as ferns, palm) or baby's breath to my bouquet and centrepieces (I'm not a HUGE fan of flowers anyways). I'm also asking past brides for any decor they may have left over or sharing the cost of some items with my friends who will get married after me.

So far I am on budget..but I would say I'm only 40% along the way. I haven't looked into flowers/greenery as much yet.. but my parents have a friend who is an event planner that also owns a flowershop so I'm hoping she will help me get grennery wholesale and budget decorate my wedding

I am super frugal ... being a single mom for so many years it just comes naturally to me, so I have shopped around alot and got quotes from a variety of places before I settled on my vendors, I also am doing some of my own diy projects instead of renting these items from my florist/decor vendor ... it has made that bill half of what it should be and I can turn around and resell my handmade items to other brides later! I also have found Etsy to be a great friend to me also when it came to purchasing items like my flower girls dress and my ring bearers attire !! I also have used my firends that have connections like my friend who is my hairdresser is doing my wedding hair and all my trials for less than half of what i would normally pay at a regular salon! my frugal side has definatly come out !!

Yikes! It's so exhausting!!! And I'm an accountant and love numbers! Lol Eventhough Pinterest can be evil they have some great budget saving tips. We have a group of about 225 so I've had to cost save in other areas because we are heavily focusing on entertainment and food.One great tip I found was to save on video and photography. Go to local colleges and post on their community boards that you are looking for someone to photograph or video your wedding. Film and photo students today are modern, techy and can bring some fresh interesting ideas and will do it for much less. Also I've found some great , DIY invites, menu cards etc. I've created a free wedding website, and emailing all my save the dates and invites. I'm so traditional and surprised myself that I went this digital route but I'm loving it! Hope this helps

It does feel like a balancing act, doesn't it?

I have done tons and tons of research on every aspect of the wedding planning trying to find the best option for our budget, and our dream. We have made some sacrafices in what our wants were in order to be able to splurge on our needs. There has been alot of negotiating and compromising.

We are having an intimate wedding approx 50-60 people.

That makes lots of sense! I think it will leave you with a lot of nice memories and warm fuzzy feelings because people you know helped put it together!

You are right about the last point- everything is second to the main purpose of the day It is important not to lsoe sight of that and get wrapped up in all of the wedding craziness

Hi Melissa
No I have trust in my team we met and discussed everything and then I let go of the control. All the stuff being put together/ set up is on our wedding day is with my coordinator. And I hired a professional photographer because the photos are super important more so than how the treats are layer out and seating. If you know what I mean Have fun planning- nothing is more important except you and your fiancé saying I do

I'm of course taking the day before the wedding off to dot hsoe extra perparations- but I'm quite strong with baking, and I know I would never be happy with someone else's work....I've never been impressed by a bakery cake. and I want to make sure I LOVE my cake, because I like sweets!

I'm not really getting a lot of help, my mom is helping with flowers and my MIL will be helping negotiate hotel rates for the guests for the night, as she has some connections and influence there. I am sure if we asked for more help out families would, but I much prefer to handle the planning myself.

Has booking with friends and family caused any tension? That would be my biggest concern hiring someone I care about to do wedding work for me.

It does sound like you have a strong team on your side~!

Hi Leah

I think that's a wonderful idea to have everyone help you out! It's definitely a great way to have everyone involved and be a part of your wedding in more than one way.

How many people will attend your wedding?

Hey Melissa

I love that you started this discussion! It's such a great way to share tips and advice while also helping each other stay within budget!! I really like your tips! It's truly impressive that you'll make both of your cake and flowers yourself!

I also really like Leah's idea of getting help from everyone around you! These are definitely very precious resources!

Besides your mom helping with your flowers, is your family also helping you in your wedding preparations?

Booking vendors that provide more than one service. For instance our florist is also doing our linens and our decor, she gave us a discount and didn't charge a set up fee. The person we used for our cake and cupcakes is delivering and setting up for free and she gave us a discount of 15. For the bridal party, fathers and grandfathers they are going to buy suits instead of renting because in the long run it will be cheaper. Our photographer and videographer is from the same company and we are getting 4cds and 4wedding albums for our grandparents at no extra charge.

My saving tip is gather all your family and friends and make a list of their talents, ask for their help if they say Yes you pay for the supplies and they offer their labour as your wedding gift whch eqauls a super awesome wedding memory and gifts from all your talented friends and family.

I have a baker friend making our wedding cake, a chocolatier making our wedding favours, a party planner sourcing out boxes for wedding favours, a friend lent me crystal vases and sourced out 20 more glass ones for me to borrow, a crafty friend to help assemble flowers and favours, my aunt making by bouquet, another aunt baking treats for our sweets table and a seamstress friend who came ot my dress fitting.

All of this talented love and help is keeping our cost down and our memory love bank account up!

I hired a coordinator who is keeping track of all my "vendors" and will keep us all on time and hired a professional photographer. Doing this will allow our family and friends to relax and be guests on the day of our wedding. A bonus they'll enjoy seeing all their contributions being enjoyed and or devoured by everyone.

That would be beautiful to be able to plant your wedding flowers in your own garden!

And I totally agree... add the word "wedding" to something and they get to chage double the price. Just crazy!

Whoa! I'll have to hit some shows to find a hair stylist!

My mom has a green thumb, and we are trying really hard not to hurt ourselves with debt for the wedding. I have a lot of very strong feeling about the wedding industry- love weddings, hate the senseless spending!

I'm going to start the flowers indoors, and then transfer them to my mom's garden in the spring. If it doens't work that I'm actually quite happy arranging some wholesale flowers or visiting a field to gather some. It is my hope that when we buy a home I will be able to take roots from my wedding flowers for my own garden

Wow, growing your own flowers?! That's some serious commitment!

My tip is hold out for bridal/wedding shows to book what you can. Most vendors offer a great discounts if you book them at the show or because you saw them there! (I got my hair/makeup trial half price, plus tons of other discounts like 20% off my cake and free grooms tux rental (with 4 groomsmen rentals), etc)