How hard is it to plan a wedding without a wedding planner?
September 29th, 2009
muzikjunkie00 asked:
I am getting married next year, and trying to cut costs as much as possible, so I am not hiring a wedding planner and am trying to plan it all by myself on a limited budget. I own my own consulting business and I work a full time desk job, so I don’t have a whole lot of time to sit down and spend on this wedding. Any ideas on how to make it cheap and simple for me?
See… the thing is my consulting business takes up most of my weekends and evenings. I have control of my hours, but the more hours I cut, the less money I have to use for the wedding.
Oh… and I would love to elope and just send everyone a postcard with our photo… LOL. But he’s the first born, first married of his siblings and it’s a big thing to him for his family to be there with us to watch us get married, and they can’t afford to take a trip to whatever destination we chose to watch us get married there.
Ultimate Guide To Baby Gender Selection
I am getting married next year, and trying to cut costs as much as possible, so I am not hiring a wedding planner and am trying to plan it all by myself on a limited budget. I own my own consulting business and I work a full time desk job, so I don’t have a whole lot of time to sit down and spend on this wedding. Any ideas on how to make it cheap and simple for me?
See… the thing is my consulting business takes up most of my weekends and evenings. I have control of my hours, but the more hours I cut, the less money I have to use for the wedding.
Oh… and I would love to elope and just send everyone a postcard with our photo… LOL. But he’s the first born, first married of his siblings and it’s a big thing to him for his family to be there with us to watch us get married, and they can’t afford to take a trip to whatever destination we chose to watch us get married there.
Ultimate Guide To Baby Gender Selection
September 30th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
no hard you just have to be dedicated and not make your husband go nuts because you have turned into a terror over the wedding
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 am
just some common sense save the money do it yourself write down a time planner
October 4th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
i don’t think so and u r planning far in advance not like 6 months
October 6th, 2009 at 7:20 am
Yup, elope.
Vegas, baby.
October 8th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
elope
no just kidding i planned my own wedding 5 years ago you just have to know what you want and not be afraid to tell every one else that this is the way that it goes
October 10th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
just about everybody i know doesn’t use a wedding planner, so it can’t be that hard.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
If you give yourself enough time, a year or so, it should be fairly easy. I did mine without a wedding planner and I was working full time and didn’t even live in the same state where I was getting married. You’ll need to block out a couple of weekends to look at reception halls and try on bridesmaid dresses and such, but other than that it will be breeze. Just make all your phone calls on your lunch break. Get yourself a book on wedding planning and it will take you through it.
October 13th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
if you have alot of time its easier.Get parents, or friends to help a bit.
October 15th, 2009 at 3:02 am
Wedding planners can help but can also cost more. When I was getting married, I just had family help me with planning. Find really good low cost things and don’t go buy things that are going to hurt your budget.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:44 am
It’s not hard….it really is about making a list, accomplishing all the things on the list and checking them off.
Many bride magazines and internet sites have checklists that you can use as a guide.
If you want keep down the expenses — only invite a few guests or just elope and have a reception party for close family/friends. I planned my own wedding in November and we spent less than $3000 on everything…but I had my family help me prepare food for the reception. We come from a restaurant family.
October 18th, 2009 at 3:31 am
I’m getting married next year too! Go to a book store and they have planning kits of all kinds. They’re really awesome, and a big help!
October 21st, 2009 at 12:35 am
its not hard we planned my best friends wedding in like three months. and it was very nice, open bar, on a river boat that went around the bay. nice! well from what i remember. check out sites like wedding channel .com
sounds like you have some time but dont wait…
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:42 am
I planned my own wedding too. What I did to make it more simple and to keep track of things, was I went and bought a wedding book that had listed all of the things I needed to do and space where I could write down notes and names and numbers. It broke down all of the tasks into manageable amounts over time- so you don’t wait until the end to plan it all. Ex. Month one- get prices for cake, Month two- find dress; Month three- reserve facility, ect. You can do it and congratulations! Marriage is WONDERFUL! : )
October 24th, 2009 at 5:00 am
I planned our wedding. My wife picked out her dress, we picked out a cake together. I got the DJ, the reception hall, we got married outside in a Gazebo….
It isnt hard and you can do it on the cheap without making it seem cheap. Just be smart with your money. Don’t spend 20 when 10 will do.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Not very hard if you have the time and energy and If you are by nature an organized person . Good luck =)
October 28th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Make to do list!!! You will probably end up with a bunch of small to do list but make one master list with everything you will need for your wedding and then I will have family and friends help out. I would write down who you want to help with what so it doesn’t get confusing and all the pressure isn’t on you. Also do a little research on the net about what all you will need and how to get creative to cut cost.
Good Luck
October 30th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Have fun and do what your and your new husband want. Don’t try to impress all your guest with the fancies.
A marriage should be full of joy and laughter with your closest friends and family members.
So enjoy your day and remember its not what you have, its who you have.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:36 am
Not hard at all. I got married in Vegas at the Rio after visiting the hotel websites and looking at their chapels online over a weekend. I called the hotel and made arrangements,chose my food , picked flowers etc in one 10 minute phone call. My entire wedding (117 guests), cake, flowers, HEAVY hors d’ oeuvres, wedding attire, plane tickets etc. cost me less than $2100.00. Our honeymoon to the Mexican Riviera (which I highly recommend) for 7 days was $1890.00 for a jacuzzi suite at the El Dorado Seaside Suites. FABULOUS!!! Basically, wedding & honeymoon cost less than 5K.
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:20 am
None of my friends used wedding planners.
Reserve a hall asap, the nice halls book 1-2 years or more in advance.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:58 am
you should make your own decorations and barrow stuff from other people. Since I don’t know where your from, I cant tell you any cheap dress shops. You can also go to Deb or a department store. There is also a website, since your at a desk all day, that you can go to and the prices are really cheap compared to a seamstress or having a dress made. The site has everything from wedding dresses to flower girl dresses to mother of the bride/groom dresses. The website is keepmeinstiches.com. As for where to have the reception, have it at a friends house or your house, anywhere cheap. Ohhh! And the cake. When my friend got married, she had her little sister make the cake. It turned out really good. She only had taken a couple cake decorating courses but if you cant find someone like that, you good just order the cake or go to a supermarket that makes wedding cakes. Any more troubles, just google it!
November 7th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Enlist friends and family to help. I’m sure it can be done and that many people have done it before you. With my aunt’s wedding, it was planned in 6 weeks – including one of my other aunts making all the bridesmaid dresses and my family making all the food (and this was no small wedding).
November 10th, 2009 at 8:41 am
We did it ourselves and had a blast. We both worked full time also. I did a lot of on line searching and ordering for decorations, clothes, etc.(while at work) and my hubby helped by – when working out of town- stopping by little stores and finding things for the wedding related to our theme (it was a casual, western wedding).. We also saved by renting a hall and having both the ceremony and reception there, catered by ordering food from a local restaurant and having friends pick it up for us, etc. I was told by many people it was the most beautiful, enjoyable, relaxed wedding they had ever been to. Have fun and don’t stress. The marriage is more important than what you spend. We saved money on the wedding and were able to take a fantastic one week honeymoon in Monterrey, Mexico (we had a friend who had a small house there and that was his gift to us.) Have fun and congrats!
November 10th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
some tips to save $$$$- get fake flowers–i kno its cheesy but just 4 around the church (or wherever) u need a real bouquet. utilize ur time off–sitting on break @ work or just whenever u get off. look through bridal mag’s. DONT buy them. just flip through @ the bookstore. (scandalous i kno)use ur family & friends. esp ur mom. most wont mind helping. u can create ur own invites (if ur amazing on the computer) & dont invite ppl that u dont need there. like ur best friends 2nd cousins aunt’s gramma twice removed. get it???think cheap & effecient. remember U r paying for it. but dont settle for something that u dont want cuz it will save u $2. its ur special day. most ppl only get 1. well, most ppl used to only get 1.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Every single one of my friends who have planned a wedding and gotten married did not use a wedding planner. It’s not needed. I believe it’s a “trendy” thing and most women can do their own weddings without one. You just have to stay organized and buy a planner, not a human one, but one that will allow you to stay organized and caught up with what you are doing.
November 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
plan your own!! you can do it your self!!
November 18th, 2009 at 9:22 am
First decide what kind of wedding you want to have. It depends (unfortunately) on what kind of family pressure exists. Do you want everything that everyone else will expect or do you want to plan YOUR (and your fiancees) day. Some of the hotels will provide the hall for free if you are using their catering. They will charge you per head at a range of prices. All you have to get after that is music and decorations. If your family is down to earth, you can rent a community hall and have the families bring food. Like a pot luck. Get everyone to help with decor. There is so much to tell. A wedding planner will sometimes work on commision but that will mean they aren’t too concerned about your costs. Good luck and whatever you do don’t over extend. Your perfect day is one day. The debt shouldn’t make your first year of marriage a burden for the two of you.
November 19th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
It’s not hard at all. wedding planners are waist of money. i’m planning my whole wedding and it’s turning out great. I also work full time and my wedding is in florida I live in new york im still doing a great job planning it because i know what i want. if you need help. email me
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:37 am
You can definitely do it yourself. There are tons of books on wedding planning and how to save money. To save even more money, try to check them out from the library instead of buying them.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:41 pm
I have heard planers are a waste of money anyways they are only for convenience. And not everyone can afford convenience right?!?! Well… two of y Friends are getting married and have done EVERYTHING without much help from mom’s or anything. One is doing it last minute with only 2 months to plan. So with you having a year and a full time desk job it may cost you alot of weekend time but it will help keep the wallet fat. I think you can do it just make up a schedule of everything you have to do and the time limit you have to do them some websites have great planning sheets…
November 24th, 2009 at 1:36 am
Keeping it small will help. You sound like an organized person so should have no trouble making arrangements. I found that as soon as the word wedding comes up, dollar signs and also a certain degree of superior ‘Oh here we go dealing with a bridezilla” happens. So sometimes you can say Im having a party depending on who the vendor is, and have less stress. Even for wedding dress, sometimes a white prom dress works and is less expensive! Happy Wedding
November 26th, 2009 at 7:06 am
It’s not hard to do yourself. However, you can hire a wedding planner on any budget. They are usually the best way to go to help you save costs.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Buy everything from EBAY! Wedding dress, veil, tiara, garter, maid of honor dress, bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses, flower girl baskets, ring pillow, invitations, wedding favors, and centerpieces. Rent the tuxes. Visit your local florist shops and ask for prices on your type of flower arrangements. Daisies are beautiful, come in many colors and are also inexpensive. Keep same flower theme pattern from your bouquet to the whole wedding party. As for the videographers and photographers it would be cheaper for you if you picked the same company. BARGAIN!!! They see you as a dollar sign and will go cheaper if you insist. Same goes for the venue. Ask for prices ahead of time and NEVER reveal your budget. BARGAIN with everyone!!!
November 29th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! It is very exciting to put it together.
Your wedding can certainly be accomplished without the help of a wedding planner and on a limited budget as well. The first step is to make a list of guests. With this information in hand, you will be able to assess the costs of each element you think of for your wedding such as reception (if you have one) or tables and chairs rentals (if you hold it at home).
Other things that you have to set are the wedding style,
colors, number of bridesmaids and best men, etc…
From there you will proceed to select settings, inviations, bridesmaid dresses, wedding dress, etc…
I highly recommend you to keep at least a notebook with all details so as to not lose track of anything. You may want to have sections for receptions, rental places (for accessories), bridal shops, etc… and write down everything you learn at each place and any detail. This will later serve you to do comparison in case you change strategies for the wedding, and keep phone numbers and names handy.
You may want to watch wedding movies to get ideas. Some examples are: That Old Feeling, The Princess Bride, How To Marry a MIllionaire, Best Men, etc…..
Planning for your wedding is not a difficult task, it only takes organization to put it all together. You may enlist the help of mom, sisters, closes friends or sister. Good Luck!
December 1st, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Get a wedding planner book from Bride’s Magazine. It’s a great help. It takes you step by step for the whole year of planning. It is based on a 1 year engagement. It gives you what to do at every point of the planning.
It’s really not that hard. Shop clearance racks if you can. Wal-Mart is starting to put things on clearance for inventory.
I managed to keep my wedding at $2000, plus the dress was $350.
My reception was a cake and ice cream reception. that kept costs WAY down. We’re talking about $500 tops for the reception, including the cake.
Just make your priorities and have fun.
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
First of all CONGRATS!!! I just got married 8 months ago and I started with a very limited budget so I couldn’t afford a wedding planner. By the time everything was said and done my family and friends and I had spent almost $5000.00 and I swear we did everything the cheapest way I know how. Lots of little things start to add up after a while lol. If my husband and I would have just paid the $2500.00 to the wedding planner we talked to to begin with we would have came out alot cheaper but I wouldn’t change it now even if I could. I had the best time of my life planning that wedding.
December 5th, 2009 at 5:55 am
It should be relatively easy for you to plan your own wedding as, after all, you know exactly what you want. You could do a search on an internet search engine such as google or yahoo and see if there are any ideas thet you like, or you could buy wedding magazines or books as these can be quite useful. If you want to keep it cheap then you could just have a small intimate wedding only inviting close friends and family.
It might be useful for you to think of some themes or colour schemes that you may be interested in and what kind of ceremony you want and then look for similar ideas on the internet. Also, you could search for wedding venues in your area and request brochures which will enable you to work out the cost in your own time.
Best of luck.
December 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
figure out what you want and tackle it one thing at a time
December 9th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Ask for help from you maid of honor. You will have to spend some time on it, it will not plan itself. Buy a bridal magazine, attend a couple of bridal shows… get a little involved it is YOUR wedding after all!
December 12th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
We have a lot of ideas for “budget weddings” on our website. If you are having a destination wedding, that is, a wedding in anothe area from where you live, planning this yourself cn be overwhelming and we suggest hiring someone in that location to help you with this. Otherwise, if you are planning a local wedding, you can generally do this yourself without too much trouble.
December 12th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
It’s not hard at all, it just mostly takes organization! A good thing to do is start with a good wedding guide/book/planner, with checklists, etc. That helps a lot!
December 14th, 2009 at 11:01 am
You have to take the time to plan things – its the only way to plan them right. Hiring a wedding planner, in my opinion, is a waste of time. Its your wedding and you should have the reins on what is happening.
If I were you, take your time and look at your options and see what you want to do. If you want something cheap, go to city hall, if you want something better than cheap, plan a small reception with an outdoor wedding.
If you want to spend a little bit more money and still have a beautiful wedding, fly to Vegas and get married at one of the hotels.
I did the Vegas thing with 50 friends and family in attendance.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I planned all of mine on my own, for over 100 people, church, banquet hall..etc. It’s been stressful, but i’ve done fine. With a lot of net surfing and yahoo! answers, i’ve done very well!
You should do fine!
Best of luck.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
It is VERY possible. I am working on it myself right now. I as well have a full time job. It requires work on the weekend and I make a lot of phone calls on my lunch break. The key is organization. I have a huge notebook sectioned off such as : flowers, clothing, ceremony, reception, food/cake, invitations and any other category you feel you may spend time working on. I wish you the best of luck!
December 19th, 2009 at 1:14 am
If you are planning to do it yourself you just have to keep in mind that you are going to not have as much time to be choosy. A lot of brides are focused on every little detail that it takes longer to plan. Don’t over think your decisions and always do what you want to do. It is okay to ask someones advice on issues but never let anyone make you second guess yourself or talk you out of something you may or may not want. Good Luck!
December 21st, 2009 at 12:42 am
congrats on your wedding. i am also planning my wedding by myself. since you don’t have much time you should have your guest list low. my guest list is at 80 guests. since you are planning way ahead you have plenty of time. at least take 2-3 days out of the week maybe 2-3hours a day when you have time to call and make appointments with vendors. some vendors will meet on weekends and some meet on weekdays. i count on theknot.com. they have a wedding checklist that lets you know what you need to do each month. it is helping me a lot! it also has a budgeter, and a guestlist that they have for you, also a save the date thing where you can email your guests the wedding date instead of buying save the date cards. hope this helps! goodluck!
December 22nd, 2009 at 5:57 am
wear are you located i help many ppl plan weddings its a hobby for me..
if you need help i can help no problem..
December 24th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
i’ve never met anyone who used a wedding planner, no matter how busy they were, unless you’re rich and have all kind of $ to spend on extravagant things, i’d assume they’re probably a rip off.
December 27th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
It is hard if you are doing it all by yourself. I did it just a few months ago. The best thing to do is stay organized. Have a system to keep everything organized. I had a file for my wedding plans and only that. Go to weddingchannel.com and register(free) and that will help you keep things organized as well as give you great information. I kept the wedding small and did most of the flowers and reception decorations myself. It saved me alot of money.
December 29th, 2009 at 5:25 am
TheKnot.com has a great planner to follow with what should be being done in a particular month before the wedding. It’s quite helpful to have that guidance. Good luck.