Wedding on a budget

I love the boutonnieres you made Brittany! Sorry for missing out on that detail earlier. I almost forgot how much you had done already!! It's truly impressive!!

Are the sunflowers you bought made out of silk?

I created this post with an idea to use burlap, is that something you would like to make?

How To Make a Burlap Banner

What have you been up to since? What's on your planning list this week?

We have purchased all the flowers already. Lots of sunflowers, and the base of the boutinerres were included in that post. The burlap roses - one with a key and the rest without

I love the groom and groomsmen style in these pictures, Brittany!! Will you bouquet also be made of sunflowers? I thought I would share these ideas with you

5 rustic flower arrangements

6 flower accessory ideas

5 ways to add flowers to your ceremony decor

They could be great ideas of DIY with sunflowers!

Will you make the men's boutonniere and your bouquet yourself?

Almost everything is DIY. Our colours are burgandy, yellow - sunflowers -, and earthy tones like beige to encorporate the burlap and rustic vests.

Awww!! I love the idea Brittany!! What will be your wedding colours? Will a lot of your accessories and decorations be DIY?

Their catering starts at $50 a plate which is very reasonable! I'm having a hard time finding anything under $90!

Really?! I just checked them out and they look very pricey! do you have any guesses on price?

Congratulations by the way!

If your wedding date is flexible. Grey Silo in Waterloo sounds great!! And they seem affordable!!

You could always enlist family to help prepare the food beforehand, and have a buffet-style dinner. That way, you could choose vegan friendly meals you like, and prepare them in bulk.

You certainly do! Your wedding should be nice and enjoyable for guests, of course- but I see NO reason to go into debt for a wedding! The day is about a loving couple starting their life together!

Do what makes you happy- the ones who love you most only want that anyway!

Shes amazing and has done plenty of weddings so I'm very lucky.
Maybe it'll be a cash bar then... my issue is that i hate wine and beer personally so serving wine during dinner sucks for me and anyone else who doesnt like it so i would feel bad... i need to stop pleasing everyone!

It is great when families can help- and a creative genius on your side doens't hurt either!

I have commented before on the open bar/ vs. cash bar thing- I feel pretty strongly that people make too much of a fuss about open bar. Your guests are there to celebrate you as a couple, not get drunk for free!

I think it was Maly that said she is doing a few drink tickets, and wine with dinner...and cash bar after because "if you wanna get drunk, thats on you!"...and I totally agree!

Lots of DIY! thankful for his mother's creativity because I'd be lost without it. thinking either signature drinks and wine or maybe a cash bar... I'd love to offer open bar but its expensive! His mom is doing all the decor basically which is saving us big time.

I am loving your style!

That price for a DJ is amazing! ours is 900$

I sounds like you actually have this thing under control! That is a lot of DIY, so some really reasonable prices!

It will be hard to feed everyone, but maybe buffet style? Cuts down on the cost a bit! Have you considered drinks?

The white one with key is my fiancee and the other is the ggroomsman. The key is the key to my heart aan my bouquet has a lock on it. The dresses will be the blue one in burgandy.

Sit down dinner is very important to us and our families. I'm borrowing decor from my best friend who had a similar theme and his mother is making A LOT of stuff... We just purchased all of the fake flowers for bouquets which was about $50 as well as the boutineeres which were $20. She is making all our bbridesmaids dresses and possibly my dress. the venue cost and food cost are insane. I managed to find a DJ and acoustic ensemble for $500 - is that reasonable?

I like this ^^

What about a garden party style? Buffet foods, and outdoor games and music? Might that be your style Brittany?

Hi Brittany Welcome to the community!!!! And so many congratulations on your engagement!!

Wow, you started everything extremely fast! Very impressed! I'm glad you got such useful and wonderful advice on your discussion already!!

You can also have a look at our vendors, you'll see that some of them have discounts and you can also ask them for quotes to see if they fit into your budget:

Wedding Venues Kitchener

Wedding Venues near Kitchener

I love the rustic location ideas!! How about a park? Or a ranch?

You can also choose different types of reception that will cost less on food.

What type of reception do you want?

I know it can be harder to find vegan options so how about a food bar like this?

How do you like the idea?

OH! To add to all the other great ideas... you could consider having a cake and punch reception!! You can have a morning wedding and your reception in the afternoon with desserts, finger foods and light refreshments (you can serve "breakfast alcohol" like mimosas, or just not have alcohol). It would make for a lovely spring/summer outdoor reception, would be much easier to have vegan options!!

Hi Brittany!

The girls before me had great ideas- so I won't repeat them...

We also tried to keep our budget under 10,000, and we expect 75-85 guests (have since added some extra thanks to parents)..so here is what I did:

*We are not having a sit down dinner. We are having a cocktail reception, after meal hour (so assuming everyone has had dinner)....some venues, this will save you money, others it will not. This my be a no-no, depending on what matters to you. I hate the speech/dinner part of weddings, so I didn't want it!

*Condiser drink tickets, or wine/ beer only bar rather than a full out open bar. This will make a BIG difference.

*Used dress- fills people with horror when I say it...but check out thebridesproject.com It will be a bit of a drive for you, but it will save a ton, and goes to a good cause!

* borrow decor! I think eventually these boards will be a good place for Brides to share and trade, but we are still a small community. But I am using elements from my sister's wedding, and paying her half the cost, and shopping around. DIY things will help too...

Oh yes, that is going to be more of a challenge! There's a great website (https://www.yourweddingcompany.com/index.php/action/budgetCalc/) that can help you play around with your wedding costs (or the wedding wire budget tool is pretty great too!). But when I plugged in your budget and some basic information, it said you would only have JUST over $2000 for food. Which realistically means you only have enough for about 40 guests (and that's only if you can get food and alcohol for $70 a plate). Could you maybe push back your wedding date a year and have time to save more money? Unfortunately I think your current budget just may be unrealistic for 100 guests, I'm sorry

Our major obstacle with food is we are vegan, so finding in house catering that will accomodate that, or outside catering that offers it without breaking the budget. unfortunately, cutting our guest list to 100 was hard enough. i have 29 first cousins, 4 great aunts, 11 aunts and uncles and none of these numbers include spouses. that doesn't include the fact both of our families are blended either. finding an affordable venue is harder than expected!

Congrats Brittany!! It's such an exciting time . If you have a limited budget, you could consider a smaller wedding. Maybe 20 people? Very doable with your budget and very intimate and romantic Also consider a Thursday or Sunday or winter wedding (snow makes for beautiful photos!). All will really help stretch your budget!For the catering you could find a hall that allows outside catering and find a local Italian or bbq restaurant to cater (they are usually more cost effective options... and delicious!!) Jennalyn's advice also great! Try not to get too stressed, take a break for a night or so, enjoy being engaged!!!

Congratulations on your engagement. Take a breath and enjoy the feeling of being engaged. start making lists of your must haves, Wants, and don't really care abouts. I found it was most cost effective to find a vendue that is all inclusive. The easiest way to lower costs is to cut your guest list so I would start writing down everyone you want to invite and then trim from there. Its hard to start looking for venues if you don't know the number of guests your wanting to invite. Good luck, and enjoy your planning. I have learned that anytime you get stressed, or start to feel overwhelmed with the planning the best thing to do is take a step back and take a short break from planning for a day or so.