Suggestions For Affordable Wedding In Tennessee?
Posted on | January 30, 2010 | 6 Comments
Im getting married in September, and i live in Cookeville TN. The wedding has to be as cheap as possible… Im a stay at home mom but my fiance does work full time. We need some tips and/or ideas about where to get affordable dresses, tux, photographer, cake, and well EVERYTHING. We plan on having a very small wedding, just family and very close friends. Probably 20 people at the most. Any and all suggestions and ideas will be appreciated. Thanks!
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6 Responses to “Suggestions For Affordable Wedding In Tennessee?”
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January 30th, 2010 @ 12:03 pm
I had a nice wedding on a budget of $1,000. That price included my dress! I pulled it off though!
First of all, if you want to get married in a church, then the costs are pretty reasonable. If you’re a member of a church, you’ll either get use of the church for free or for a low cost.
I found my dress on ebay. It was very close to the one I wanted at David’s Bridal, but instead of spending $700+, I only spent $160!
Keep the reception food down to meats, cheeses, and crackers. Don’t forget mints and nuts too! Punch is easy to make, and inexpensive.. You can get most of what you need at Wal-Mart.
Make your own invitations.. I’m not a really craftsy-person, but I did it, and they turned out great! What I did was buy nice, thick scrapbooking paper in bulk, printed the message on it, cut it in half, and embossed a few designs on it. It was easy and very cheap!
The coolest thing that saved me A LOT of money was going to Hobby Lobby. If you look on their website (hobbylobby.com) each week they run sales on different things and departments. Most of the sales are 50% off sales. Every few weeks they have sales on everything in the Wedding department. Then they have candle sales, fake flower sales, decorations sales, etc. Just check it weekly! I decorated my wedding and reception area and only spent $100! It looked nice too!
What saved me a lot of money as well, was the fact that everyone was willing to help out and didn’t want money. Do you know a piano player? How about a photographer? Someone who decorates cakes? Do you know anyone who’s good at what they do, but won’t suck you dry out of the kindness of their hearts. Just ask people. I found that people are willing to jump through hoops to help out with a wedding. It’s an honor for them to do so, not a burden.
Well, I hope that helps! God bless you and happy planning!!
January 30th, 2010 @ 3:09 pm
I live up by Celina. You may not know it , but there is a little wedding chapel in Celina. It is kind of cute. They worked on it for ever it seems, but it appears to be up and running now. It is right next to the nursing home that is by the “happy sak” shell station. You may want to check into that. Everything is cheap in Celina.
Instead of catering food, with only 20 people, you may just want to all go out to eat. The old Crow’s Nest in Celina is now a Dutch (Amish) restaurant and could easily handle 20 people and would probably be cheaper than ‘catered food’. They may even make you a cake. Those Amish people do everything, it seems.
I may skip the ‘formals’ (tux and dress) and just get all dolled up. Or you could ‘rent’ formals.
Spread the word about needing a photog. Heck I did a wedding for a family friend when I was younger, free. Digital cameras are amazing these days. If you knew some body with a cannon ‘rebel’ they could get GREAT shots for you.
Well that’s my idea.
Good luck.
January 30th, 2010 @ 6:44 pm
I would say a great way to save money is to get married at City Hall (cheapest possible) and spend money only on a reception, where you can have a big party. That way you are only paying for one event instead of 2 and a lot of expenses are cut. Good Luck.. remember the day is about you two, not everyone else.
January 30th, 2010 @ 9:55 pm
see if there are full service chapels in pigeon forge or gatlinburg
January 31st, 2010 @ 12:48 am
I live in N.C. & I’ve always said that if I didn’t live here, I’d want to live in Tennessee! It’s such a beautiful state! You might consider taking advantage of Tennessee’s natural beauty, flowers, etc. by having an outdoor wedding.
Maybe you could reserve some space at Cane Creek Park. Here’s a link to the contact person. http://www.cookeville-tn.org/ls/staff-di…
You can find some gorgeous wedding dresses at thrift shops! However, if you want brand new, I’d try your local David’s Bridal when they have a $99 sale. Other options are:
Afforable wedding dresses/bridesmaids dresses-99 Dollar Bridal Warehousehttp://www.99dollarbridalwarehouse.biz/9…
$100-$200http://www.bestbridalprices.com/search-b…
and…..ebay for wedding gowns & attendants dresses/ring bearer’s tux!
For the groom, try Tux City on ebay. Tux shirts start at $4.99/used. & a tux (new) for $100!
Other sources for him:http://www.cheaptux.com/ They have a package for
$139.95 with Free Shipping. The Standard Tuxedo Package Includes:
tuxedo jacket
tuxedo trousers
White, pleated tuxedo shirt
Cummerbund and bowtie
Standard studs and cufflink set
Tuxedo jacket and trousers are machine washable http://www.tuxedosonline.com/?source=goo…
For photography, I’d enlist the aid of an artistic friend who is good with digital photography. If that’s not an option. post an ad at The Cookeville Campus of Nashville State Community College. Those students will most likely work a lot cheaper than a professional photographer.
Ditto for cake baking/decorating & music!
If your friends happen to have any of these talents, let that be their wedding gift to you!
Read this great article on about.com regarding outdoor weddings:http://weddings.about.com/cs/weddingloca…
Best wishes to both of you! Enjoy your beautiful day, whatever you decide on!
January 31st, 2010 @ 5:33 am
City Hall is the cheapest option, but if you would like a more traditional ceremony then there are a few things you can do to save money.
1. Use a relative’s backyard or ranch as the setting for your ceremony and reception. Finding a property with a barn and have your ceremony in the backyard and the reception in the barn. Its a neat setting and will allow for your party to go on even if it rains.
2. Sticking with the “Old-Fashioned Traditional Wedding” theme, have a pot luck reception! Ask your guests to each bring a dish, but make sure they call you and tell you what they’re going to bring before the wedding so you don’t end up with ten lasagnas!
3. As an alternative for a cake (which can be very expensive) do a cupcake tree and bake the cupcakes yourself…the cardboard tree usually only costs about $30 and can be decorated with flowers, tin foil, lace, anything you want! Or for something with a little flair, opt for a chocolate fountain instead of a cake. They’re inexpensive to rent and your guests will have a blast dipping strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, bananas, anything you want.
4. Look on craigslist for photographers who are experienced but looking to build their portfolio. Usually a younger photographer will do the wedding for less money becuase they don’t have a lot of clients to use a references and are looking to build their profession. Just make sure you ask for samples of their work before you decide.
5. There are some great Do It Yourself favors…like bath salt scrubs for your bridesmaids…just mix epsom salts, almond oil and essential oils (for scent), fill a mason jar and decorate it with ribbons/lace and stickers. (Lemon essential oils work great becuase they smell fresh and the lemon oil is a natural astringent.) Or you can do wildflower seed bags for everyone. A gallon of wild flower seeds is about $10 at a garden store and you can wrap a small pile of them in sheer material and tie with a ribbon. Simple, beautiful and meaningful.
6. For dresses, you can look at thrift stores or on sites like Ebay. If you find a dress that looks nice for cheap, then you can have some alterations made to customize it, like removing or adding sleeves or shortening the train or adding simple embellishments like appliques. Also, there are some great websites like http://www.wedding-dress-gown.com that have great styles for only about $300 and they make the dress when you order it so you can customize things like train length and buttons, zipper, or lace-up.
7. For music, rent an inexpensive stereo system with speakers (or ask a friend if you can borrow theirs) and then make your own CDs or iPod playlists for the ceremony, dinner music, and after dinner dancing! Ask one of your tech-savy friends or family members to run the system for you.
8. For centerpieces/decoration, use potted plants available at your local gardening store and put them in a terra cotta planter (which you can leave the natural color or paint to match your colors). This will help you avoid wilting flowers and guests can take them home as gifts! Or fill large glass vases with fresh fruits like lemons, limes, oranges, grapes and other colorful fruits (just make sure you take into account what will be in season during your wedding).
9. You can buy neat monogrammed stamps on the web that have your names and the wedding date or your address…you can use this to stamp invitations, thank you cards, tags on gifts, or even napkins!
Do everything yourself that you can (ask family members and friends to help). You’ll avoid paying someone for their service, and you’ll be able to control the cost of your materials/supplies. For such a small wedding, it shouldn’t be too difficult to do a lot yourself. Good luck!