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getting married?

I'm getting married july 2008 and I want to know where I can find cheap stuff. I don't want my wedding to be trashy but I'm not spending a fortune. our families will probably not be able to contribute to the cause so we will be footing the bill and we are having a baby in january. so yeah two expensive things in the same year. we need everything, location, dress, tux, decorations, food, drinks, favors, invites, and the list goes on. what are some good online or catalogs I can order from I live by st. louis but rarely get the chance to go out there. i go to school full-time and work pretty much full-time so i don't have a lot of free-time.websites, stores, catalogs anything would be great. our wedding colors will be black and cream with silver accents. i will more than likely wear a cream dress with a silver sash, and my Fiance will be wearing a black tux with a silver vest and tie, the bridesmaids will wear black dresses and the groomsmen will wear black tux with black vest and black tie.

Public Comments

Do you have a maid of honor? Or a mom? Have them help you out. i wouldn't trust the Internet to buy stuff. you would more then likely not get what you thought you were going to get. In other words get help and make time
Invites, best for brides on a strict budget http://www.willowtreelane.com/ Favors, decorations, etc http://www.orientaltrading.com/application?origin=page.jsp&namespace=main&event=link.home&BP=596&cm_mmc=Yahoo-_-General+%5C%26+Brand-_-16121563%3A+Oriental+Trading+Company-_-oriental_trading http://www.efavormart.com/index.asp? Dresses http://www.justthebeginnings.com/homepage.htm Tuxes http://www.menswearhouse.com/index.jsp Thats about all I can help with, I dont live in your area to recommend sites. Best of luck! ETA:I disagree with the above post, if you are getting recommendations from other brides, then they have used the sites they are recommending and are happy with them. So you can trust that if a bunch of people direct you to a site, that its reputable.
See if you can get this book either at the library or used online. 1001 ways to Save Money and Still have a Dazzling wedding by Sharon Naylor. This book gave me so many great ideas for my own wedding. We spent less than $5000 and I LOVED my wedding. We did a lot of things ourselves (which maybe you don't have time to do but really helps keep costs down). I made all the decorations/centerpieces ("Stained-glass" windows), my grandmother made all the flowers (silk, cost less than $200 and if they had been real would have been near $1000, plus I can keep it forever), my mom did the cake and my dad did all the food. Theknot.com is also a great website, but be careful, some of thier "cost cutting" tips aren't that reasonable. Good luck and congratulations!
Okay, no need for a tux. A nice suit is much cheaper, and no one else will care, anyway. Have the groomsmen wear suits as well. Get fake flowers from hobby stores. Have friends make the food, or have the guests all bring a covered dish. Get sheet cake from your local grocery store. I got blank invitations and wrote them out myself. No one cared whether or not they were fancy. What's the point in spending a couple hundred dollars on things that will go in the garbage anyway? I borrowed a friend's dress. You can find cheap dresses at thrift stores. No need in spending a couple hundred dollars on something you'll only wear ONE time. My wedding was between $200-$400, including the wedding bands. We rented a volunteer fire dept hall for the reception for $20. That was in 2002. Why in the world people spend more than a couple thousand on their weddings is beyond me. Now if the couple is traveling somewhere to get married, I can understand that. Those are typically the ones that wind up in divorce, due to spending WAAAAYYY beyond their means as a life habit.
eBay, it's the way
If you're at all crafty, you can save a bunch by doing things yourself. Marthastewart.com wedding section is full of DIY ideas for decorations, invites, favors, centerpieces. I'm not the biggest fan of Martha... but she's got GREAT ideas.
either use silk flowers, or buy fresh flowers in bulk to make your own arrangments and bouquet: http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dimId=1001539&catg=1539 dresses (ordering from a warehouse and hiring someone locally for alterations, much cheaper) : www.bridalonlinestore.com theknot.com and weddingchannel.com are both good websites to get ideas and help plan. try to do as much as you can by yourself. bake cookies or make caramel apples and individually wrap them for favors. shop around dollar stores for candle holders and other cheap decorations. buy some nice cardstock paper in your colors and make your own invites and programs. no open bar at the reception, either just get beer and wine or go without alcohol all together. have your family members prepare potluck dishes, or have a cookout and grill hamburgers and hotdogs, or you could just stick with finger foods. hope this helps, best of luck!
Oh, you don't have to worry about money at all, since you will HAVE to change your plans from what you outlined here. You SHOULD be getting married quietly and NOW before the baby comes - just with family present, and just give your baby a great start in his or her life by being born into the world by having married parents -- think about that for a moment. By you having a baby, that's your priority -- out the window goes the 'big dream wedding' - certainly not the way you described - it's just not the thing to do. You two are going to be parents and should have very different priorities -- and use the money you would spend on the wedding for your CHILD. Good luck to you.
Lydia, if she followed your advice, don't you think that baby is gonna ask one day, "Why didn't you have a wedding?" And mommy says, "Oh because of you, you ruined our dreams and plans." No, of course not. Dreams do not change because of a child, sometimes they just get rearranged and re-prioritized, which is what she is doing by having a financially responsible wedding. Sorry, a child is a blessing no matter what and though I do not agree with premarital sex and did not participate in it myself, people should not be condemned for it. People sin everyday and make mistakes everyday, they should not be punished and ashamed. She very well may not think it is a mistake and no one should force morals down other's throats. And if she wants a wedding, she should definitely have it and not "keep it quiet". She is doing the right thing by making a commitment to the man she loves and to the father of her child. I am sure the child will come into a loving and happy family. You correlate paying for a wedding as to not having enough for a baby. That is ridiculous. I am sure their child will be taken care of. I am so glad you are perfect, but everyone else in this world isn't and doesn't want to be. Sorry to get off subject , but I had to get that off of my chest. On with the real answer. The grooms tux pretty much always comes free with the rental of the groomsmen. look at www.afterhours.com Have your checked Target's new line of wedding dresses. Quite lovely actually and they can be gotten fast. Most are around $160 http://www.target.com/gp/browse.html/ref=sc_fe_l_0_16033001_1/601-0940263-7148164?ie=UTF8&node=347006011 JCPenny also had lovelt dresses for a reasonable price: http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/productlist.aspx?deptid=597&pcatid=39907&catid=41299&cattyp=lfs&dep=women%27s&cat=wedding+dresses&refpagename=CategoryAll.aspx&refdeptid=597&refcatid=39907&cmAMS_T=U3&cmAMS_C=C3&mscssid=6aff1fc2d5bf041b087024f6979bbb891xMnVNoVzayoxMnVNoVzayW200BD2F50BA090F21DD47F9804D889A5363A0717111&CmCatId=EXTERNAL|MP|bridalshop|39907 Consignment stores alsohave great deals on dresses. Location: If you are a member of a church, that is the cheapest and easiest solution to location of the wedding. I even had my reception at the church (bc no alcohol was involved.) If not, you might call your city about some of the facilities they rent (often very cheap) Flowers can be artificial and look totally real. You would be surprised with the beautiful creations you and your loved ones can create. I made my own bridesmaids and my friend's bridal bouquet very inexpensively. They really don't take long either. Reception: Food does not have to be extrvagent, especially with an afternoon wedding. We had finger foods and desserts. Everyone actually really enjoyed it. Decorations: Watch for sales that are going to start popping up at craft stores. Most women already have their stuff for the popular summer weddings,so it will start gong on sale. Hobby Lobby saved my sanity when I got married. Invitations: Willowtreelane.com has great prices and I loved their selection, but when my bf got married she had ot move up her wedding and couldn;t irderonline that quickly. She went ot a local print shop who actually had just as good of a selection and didn't cost too much more. You should be able ot get invites for under $100. But if you have more time go to www.willowtreelane.com. Favors: This site has good and relatively cheap favors. http://www.weddingthings.com/ My sister ordered the favor boxes for me online and we filled them with candy. They must have been well liked bc there were none left. Oh and the bubbles: Hobby Lobby has a great supply always and they only cost around $16 for 100 bubbles. They are cute ,you just tie a bow around them and they are good to go. David's Bridal is so easy to work with for Bridesmaid dresses escpeically if they don't live in the same area. There prices are just as good as anyones and they have such a wide variety of color. Go onlien to http://www.davidsbridal.com/index.jsp and look. A lot of times they can get the dresses in faster. JCPenny also has cute bridesmaid dresses if you look at the site I gave you before. Well that is all I have, I am sorry it is so long but I really wanted to help you. I wish you the best. If you need anything else please email me. I will be glad to help.
Davidsbridal.com