It’s hard to know where to start when planning something like a wedding, so I started by asking for suggestions. My sister-in-law recommended The Knot. The website was easy to use and kept me on track so that I would have everything in place before the wedding.
We wanted a small wedding and we wanted to keep spending to a minimum. We requested “no gifts” from family and friends. This worked out well because they insisted on giving us something, so they ended up doing things to help pay for with the wedding.
The first thing I did was create the wedding budget. Here is my budget: Wedding dress ($200 – I know, I know…but I would only use it once, so why spend a lot?), wedding party clothes ($200), venue ($200), flowers ($200), and other items ($200). I was pretty determined to stick to the budget.
Money Saved On the Wedding Location
I wanted to book the wedding site first. I decided an outdoor wedding would be pretty and inexpensive. I looked for restaurants that would allow for a wedding on the grounds.
After weeks of searching I found the Waioli Tea Room. They would do the set up and take down and they would give us $100 discount if we also had the reception there. We took them up on their offer ($150).
Best Time of the Year
We wanted to get married around Christmas, since we both love Christmas. The added bonus was that Waioli Tea Room was already decorated. This would allow us to have beautiful pictures in a Christmas setting.
Now that we had the venue and date, my sister-in-law donated her time and materials for the wedding invitations. Hand-made invitations were less expensive than store bought. If she hadn’t done this for us, it would have cost $60.
Networking Saves Money
I sent mass emails asking for suggestions for the wedding. I made it clear that I wanted quality, inexpensive items. It was mainly through networking that we were able to stay within our budget.
I started with online wedding dress sites, but I didn’t find “the one.” I visited local wedding dress shops and I finally found my dream dress ($108). Because we bought the dress there, Do’s Formals gave me a discount on the veil ($70). We opted to rent a tuxedo for my husband from Masako Formals ($125).
It was less expensive to have someone sew the bridal party clothes than to buy ready-made clothes. One of my friends knew someone who used to sew gowns and was now retired. She sewed two bridesmaid dresses, two groomsmen shirts, and the ring bearer shirt (Total = $195).
We asked the groomsmen and ring bearer to wear dark colored pants and shoes, so we only provided their shirts. My sisters and I bought shoes from a discount store ($10 each). My parents insisted on paying for the materials to make the clothes ($100) and our shoes ($30).
My sisters and I have been doing our own hair and make up for years so we all did our own make up. One of my sisters let me borrow some pretty hair clips with faux pearls and crystals. She braided my hair and put in the clips. She did such a wonderful job that everyone kept asking who had done my hair!
One of the most important items turned out to be a networking Godsend. Days before the wedding, the wedding officiate fell through. We were married by a friend of a friend. This wonderful minister felt so badly for us that she insisted on marrying us for free.
Perfectly Priced Bouquets
For the bouquets, I researched online and called around until I finally found Stanley Ito Florist. They custom designed my bouquet ($90), two bridesmaid bouquets ($130), and they threw in a boutonniere for the groom for free!
Another item we bought on sale was the ring bearer pillow ($14). Planning the wedding was stressful, but well worth the time and effort. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to our family, friends, and everyone else involved who allowed us to have the wedding of our dreams – for under $1,000.
