My wedding is May 23, 2009. I come from a family where my mom is a single disabled mother of 3, so naturally I have very little money. I am doing all of the planning myself. I just found out that 2 of my bridesmaids will not be able to attend the wedding and my moh is moving out of state. I need ALOT of help. Any ideas would be lovely. I am starting to plan now so that hopefully will cut down on the price just a bit. Thanks for any help.

~Elysabeth~

Honestly, I would say that the first thing to do is take a realistic look at how much you think you can put toward the wedding. Then write a list of the most important things that you want for your wedding (whether it is a perfect dress, big cake, photography, whatever). Once you have decided what items you MUST have for your wedding, then begin forming a theme around it (either based on color, flower, symbol, etc.)

Also be sure to remember that while everyone wants a perfect wedding, but at the end of the day, it is just a day, so make sure that you don't jeopardize your life after the wedding (i.e. going into major debt, or fighting over silly little details).

Sorry I am getting a little preachy, just got through major vendor and budget issues.

Start thinking about the theme and stuff though, and I promise the preaching is over, got tons of ideas.

Budget weddings are hard but I was just reading an article in a bridal magazine were one of the reception ideas was to have brown paper bagged dinner or lunch. Most parks are free to reserve and if you close the bags with wax stamps or ribbons they can look really nice. Also if your mother has three then you should have two people on your side to help you siblings are the best in your worst times.

I agree with staying out of debt if at all possible. You can have a very romantic unique wedding very cheaply with a little imagnation. Think quality, not quantity...and keep it intimate and special.
You will be a beautiful bride.
Best of luck

It definitely isn't impossible to plan a cheap yet beautiful wedding! I helped my sister plan her wedding 5 months ago and though it was a lot of work to research frugal options, there are tips out there that can make planning a lot less stressful. A few tips I can give you right away is: 1. pick which part the ceremony you want as the focal point ( i.e. the wedding itself or the reception) and then devote more time and funds to that rather than choosing expensive options for everything. 2. save money on a photographer by hiring one only to do the main photos of you and your groom and the wedding cast; for the reception have one disposable camera at each table and urge everyone take part in creating your wedding album, etc. I devoted a whole blog to planning inexpensive and elegant weddings at How to Plan Your Cheap Wedding!

Good Luck!

i may be focusing on the wrong thing but oh well... the thing that bothers me the most about your situation is that your wedding is a year out and already two of your bridesmaids know that they won't be able to attend? they have a year to plan and you picked them for a REASON. i'm sorry... i'm just dealing with the same thing, my moh is basically been a no show as far as the planning and all goes so i feel the pain of other girls when they are going through the same situation, esp when the girls have time to plan ahead.

as far as the budget wedding goes, talk to your local college students. there are photography majors and music majors and (if you're lucky) culinary students all over the place just looking for things to put on a resume or in a portfolio. that's what i did. :-)

best of luck in your planning :-)

That is really horrible of your BMs to back out already on you. Can you think of two other women you would like to be your BMs (who won't back out on you)? As far as your MOH living out of state, that sucks but it is do-able, as long as your other BMs are able to help you too. One of my BMs lives out of state and my MOH lives 2 hours away.

As far as finances, you do have a year to plan (which means a year to save too). My FH and I don't have a lot of money either but we figured out the important things and what we want the most. That way we know how much we need for those vendors. Our DJ is pretty expensive, but we only had to put $100 down and we have until 10 days before the wedding to pay, so if we put aside a little bit every month, it'll be fine. I am also buying a little bit every paycheck, so it's not such a big blow. Some of the stuff you can buy a year or more ahead of time. I already have my bubbles for when we leave the ceremony, the rings I want to tie to them, and the ribbon. I have been getting a lot of my stuff from Dollar Tree stores. I know, dollar store, but they have some really nice wedding stuff and it's the same I'd get somewhere else for a lot more. I got my 12 pks of bubbles for $1 and I would pay anywhere from $3.50-$5.00 for the same thing from a catalog or website. Best of luck, we are here to help and listen

hi!

Wow, what a stressful situation!


I think what you should do is ask some old friends to get in the wedding first.

And then about the wedding preparation, it would be nice if you could just hold a private one, with the closest possible to cut on food expenses.

And then really simple, intimate decors, nothing fancy.


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A wedding lasts a day, a marriage a lifetime, and love... eternally.