Wedding Planning on a Budget

Nancy Semon-Krauss shares her tips for planning an elegant wedding on a shoestring budget

The Nuptials

Ambiance was essential; Kristy and her husband-to-be, Paul, wanted a venue on the water. In fact, they wanted to get married on the beach. Logistics prevented their original plan as several of our older relatives would have had difficulty walking on the sand, but getting married on the water was still at the top of their must-have list.

We put the family to work, scouting out affordable waterfront locations. The groom’s mother suggested they hold their nuptials under a gazebo overlooking Barnegat Bay in Lavallette, N.J. There was an adjacent parking lot and sidewalks, and the entire area was completely handicap accessible.

The great thing about this setting is that since the township owns the land and leases the gazebo, the usage fees are nominal, only $200. Of course, it didn’t hurt our cause that the groom’s mother was Lavallette’s deputy clerk, and she managed to get us a nice little discount on renting the space for the day (our price came to only $50). This brings me to my most important and most repeated tip: use your resources and connections! They are your best shot at getting reduced pricing or little extras here and there.

The Reception

Finding a venue for the reception was more difficult. Kristy and Paul wanted that location to be on the water as well, and it had to accommodate up to 150 guests. Also, it had to have a dance floor.

The problem was cost. I spoke with the catering manager of Jack Baker’s Lobster Shanty, a restaurant located on the Manasquan Inlet, and I couldn’t get a price that would fit our budget. Thankfully, the restaurant’s catering manager, Nancy, gave me two very important pieces of advice: 1) An afternoon event would be cheaper than one held on a Saturday night; and 2) Once the word "wedding" is uttered, look for a dramatic price increase.

Nancy suggested that in order to save money, we should opt for a buffet luncheon. My daughter wanted her wedding to be one big party — she didn’t want the formality of a structured dinner — so this fit with our vision. I booked the reception on a Saturday afternoon as a buffet luncheon without ever mentioning the costly word "W word." We brought in the wedding cake and band, and I provided the table decorations, effectively saving a fortune on flowers (more about all that later).

We decided to splurge on an open bar ($24 per person), because my daughter really wanted her guests to have a good time. Food costs were reasonable, leading to a total cost of about $49 per person plus an additional $165 for hors d’oeuvres during happy hour. For the 125 guests who attended, the tab came to $6,290.

The Music

There must be live music at the reception, Kristy and Paul emphasized. No DJ’s! Now as you can probably figure out, a band of four to five musicians playing live music can be a bit pricier than one DJ playing recorded music.

Luckily, Paul worked on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where the average age ranges from the 20’s to late 30’s. Most of his friends loved music, and one co-worker even had his own cover band. Great! Paul negotiated a ridiculously low price (food and booze plus a cash payment to band members who didn’t make their living on the Exchange). Yes, yet again, connections came into play.

There really is nothing like live music. The band took requests, and when they played Rolling Stones songs, all us Baby Boomers were out on that dance floor cutting a rug. My daughter’s friends later commented that they didn’t think old people could move so well. Kids!

The Dress

Sleek Vera Wang wedding gowns were popular in 2005. My daughter wanted that look, but a Vera Wang gown cost in the thousands. I turned to my sister Lily, a true fashionista, for advice. She and my daughter stopped in at the Nicole Miller boutique at a local mall and spotted an ivory-colored, sleek satin gown that, when combined with the proper accessories, would look exactly like a Vera Wang wedding dress.

At $650, the dress wasn’t exactly cheap, but it was less expensive than a Vera Wang wedding gown. And no one knew the difference. And since my fashion-loving sister is also my daughter’s godmother, she purchased the dress as a gift. Another item crossed off my budget sheet!

The Cake and Flowers

This category can easily add significant costs to a wedding budget, but it’s also one of the easiest places to save money without sacrificing on quality. My friend’s husband worked for Shop-Rite, a local supermarket chain similar to Publix, and suggested that we get the bouquets and wedding cake from there. Really? A supermarket wedding cake?

Kristy drew a sketch of what she wanted her cake to look like. It had to have three layers stacked on top of each other with no separators. She wanted white fondant icing trimmed with coral roses to match the bridesmaid’s gowns. Shop-Rite’s cake designer said she could design that very cake that would feed up to 100 people for a cost of just $325. Done deal! I had contacted regular bakeries with the same specifications and received estimates ranging from about $700 to nearly $1,000.

Just to make sure Publix offered the same fabulous deals, I spoke with Kayla at the Publix supermarket on Airport Road in Punta Gorda. She gave me an estimate of about $450 for the type of cake I described (the slight increase in price didn’t surprise me; we all know how much pricing has gone up everywhere!) She then added that the same cake with traditional butter cream icing would cost about $300. She said Publix doesn’t make its own fondant icing, and since it must be purchased in five-pound containers, a cake covered with fondant is more expensive. Still, $450 is well under most bakery stores’ estimates.

Kristy met with Shop-Rite’s floral designer to plan her bouquet, a classic cluster of ivory roses. The bridesmaids carried bouquets of ivory and coral roses to match their dresses. The cost for five bouquets? Just under $300! This was significantly cheaper than prices quoted by florists in our area.

Aury is the floral specialist at the Publix on Airport Road. She said bridal bouquets can cost as little as $55.99. She added that many more people are getting their wedding flowers and arrangements from her store nowadays. "Every customer who comes to me says that our prices are better than the florists," she said.

Table Arrangements

When it came to deciding on centerpieces, I felt as if we’d hit a wall. Kristy wanted flowers. Paul didn’t want flowers. He wanted a seashell motif. She didn’t want seashells. How about candles? I asked. I had seen a magazine feature on a celebrity wedding in which the tables were simply adorned with white candles. Miraculously, both bride and groom agreed!

Then it was time to invade Wal-Mart and the dollar store. Anticipating 150 guests, I planned for 15 tables. Wal-Mart has its Mainstays Home brand, and I purchased 15 white 6-inch by 5-inch pillar candles. I wanted the candles to rest upon round glass plates, which I was able to find at the dollar store. I placed round circles of tulle on each plate, placed the candle atop and then sprinkled bridal confetti, also purchased at Wal-Mart, on the tulle and around the candle base. The total cost per table was about $9!

Just to see how much prices have gone up since my daughter’s wedding, I visited the Wal-Mart Super Center in Punta Gorda. Today, the candles cost $8.97 each, tulle circles (75 in a packet) are $5.97 and wedding confetti costs $2.96 per packet. I bought three of the latter when planning my daughter’s wedding. Since the glass plates were $2.68 at Wal- Mart, I turned my attention to the local dollar store and found them for, of course, $1 each. Today, it would cost $10.97 to decorate each table.

The Wal-Mart Super Center bridal section also carries ring-bearer pillows, invitations for home printers, bridal veils, tiaras, guest books, thank you notes, flower girl baskets, cake knife and server sets, bride and groom champagne flutes, tulle sachets to be filled with Jordan almonds or other types of bridal candy and so, so much more. Other good local resources are Michael’s and the LTM Party Store, both in Port Charlotte.

Invitations, Favors and Keepsakes

I wasn’t so computer savvy four years ago, and so we didn’t want to chance printing the invitations ourselves. Knowing that traditional printers would charge more, my daughter ordered her wedding invitations and matchbook keepsakes online from Marilyn’s Keepsakes (www.marilynskeepsakes.com), paying about half of what the local print shop would have charged. Kristy also decided to order some save the date magnets online to send to her guests as a precursor to the invitations.

There were plenty of styles, cardstock, colors and themes to choose from online. There are a plethora of sites that offer discount wedding favors and printing services. Just beware, as you would ordering anything online, be sure that you first check out the Web site and vendor. My daughter initially ordered her magnets from a company she found online. They took her money and never delivered the magnets. When we tried to contact them, they had disconnected their phone and dismantled the Web site. I stepped in and ordered from a company that advertised in a popular brides magazine, and we were pleased with both the service and cost.

And of course, if you are computer and printer savvy, Wal- Mart, Michael’s and other similar stores carry an array of print-athome invitation kits.

When NOT to Scrimp

Do hire a professional photography service that will also provide a videographer and custom wedding DVD. A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the images will remain long after the memories fade. This is the one area I splurged on, spending about $3,600 for a bridal album, mother-in-law albums, grandparent albums and a rocking DVD showing the wedding guests having fun. But every time I look at those photos, I am so very happy about my decision. The wedding photos and DVD are priceless.

So there you have it. You can save money on a big wedding as long as you utilize your connections and look into some of the not-so-obvious vendors. I’m sure that after reading this, you’ve come up with ideas of your own that could help you save even more!