Many brides think it's not possible to have a beautiful wedding for a small price tag, but that simply isn't the case. A little resourcefulness, a little do-it-yourself, and a little research can net you a big payoff. The following was compiled by the ladies on the Second Nests Wedding Board. The majority of the advice comes from Karen so my thanks to her in particular.
If you have a small budget, consider anything non-traditional as it will probably save you huge money right off the top. During the winter, Friday or Sunday, breakfast/brunch/finger foods vs. full dinner, an out of the way park, chapel, hall or other venue.
For example, my venue offers a variety of different money-savers to winter weddings - a waived room fee, upgraded premium bar, menu discounts, etc... and the other place I was looking at discounted their buffet prices $12/head for Friday/Sunday receptions.
DO NOT be afraid to ask people to lower prices, throw in this or that, or meet prices set by another venue. (Negotiation is key!)
I started off at the second vendor above, who for $30/head plus grat included a full five-hour open bar, the cake, a champagne toast and a three-meat entree, BUT it was an hour from my ceremony site. I took their price to a place much closer to me and asked if they could match it. They weren't able to offer my cake since they didn't have a baker onsite, but they came within a few dollars a head by reducing the room fee, throwing in a champagne toast and some other things. The point is, they did because I wasn't afraid to ask.
I went dress shopping like a normal bride and had a list of a handful of dresses that I loved, then went looking for them on Ebay. I lucked out and found my $600 dress for $80 INCLUDING SHIPPING. I also went on to find my tiara, shoes and flowergirl dress at ridiculously cheap prices compared to buying them in "traditional" stores. Beware and ask lots of questions, particularly about alterations to previously-worn dresses, but it can be a great resource if you have the time to keep looking.
Have everyone you know save the 40-50% off coupons that show up from JoAnn and Michael's in the weekly paper and subscribe to the emails from JoAnn.com for even more coupons. DIY really isn't that bad - you can make your own elegant-looking invites, favors or whatever. Also, if you're planning more than a year in advance, when decor items and material from your season go on clearance, buy as much as you possibly can at a discount.
I got 18 different leaf garlands for about 50% off by buying them on clearance at the end of fall, and when my local JoAnn was clearing out space to move to a larger store, I bought a TON of material for table runners, favor bags or possibly dresses at 80% off.
Make a million phone calls, send a billion emails, but contact everyone that you can in the specialty you're trying to book. Get an idea of what the "going" rate is so that you can know a bargain when you spy it. When I was hunting limos, I called at least 20 places and found one for HALF the usual rate because they were a newer business trying to get established.
I called 22 different wedding coordinators and got quotes for anything from $250 to $3000 for the same service!! FI and I tried on a bunch of rings in the jewelry stores to get an idea of what we wanted, and I then went and found something in the same style online for significantly less, no tax, free shipping and free engraving.
One thing I've always had is a credit card with frequent flier miles as a reward. Anytime I make a purchase, I get miles towards a free ticket. Get a rewards-based card and use it for your wedding expenses as much as you can. This way, your purchases pay you back, at least a little.
Since everything I'll be buying is already budgeted and funded in my checking account, I can put it on the card, get the rewards points, and pay off the purchase at the end of the month with the money from the wedding budget. (This just occurred to me the other day as I was putting my rings on layaway - I'm going to call them back and have them charge my credit card instead of debit it from my checking account!)
My local board on the Knot was great for resources and referrals. Many of them were "overpriced" pros that I could never afford, but I also got referred to my FABULOUS cake baker whose prices are amazing, and the wedding planner that I eventually hired that had the lowest quoted price for the most service time. Both had strong references and portfolios - the planner was newer and still trying to get established, and the baker did the work because she loved it and worked out of her home so her overhead was much lower.
When I was buying all that material at JoAnn, the guy who checked me out told me about a great place to get silk flowers (that wasn't JoAnn!) and said that he'd done his niece's wedding flowers and a few others. You never know who you're going to meet when or where that might have a great idea for you.
Avoid anything with the word WEDDING attached to it because it means at least a 100% markup on cost. When I was calling around for my limo service, I told people it was for a family reunion. My company quoted me $65/hr + grat. When I called them back to book, I asked about their wedding packages for "my girlfriend who was getting married" and got quoted $225/hr with a two-hour minimum!
My brother is a partner in a DJ company, so while he couldn't work for free, he said he'd meet the lowest price I could find, so I did my research and found a REALLY low one for him. FI works with a guy who takes amazing pictures and is starting his own business doing it. He took our e-pics for free and will be taking our wedding pics for a very steep discount off the usual prices.
Part of my job is occasional travel, and there's a weekend job in an exotic location that needs to be done not long after our wedding - I talked to the boss and called dibs on it. The company will be paying for our hotel and car, and my airfare and my meals for the first two days. We'll only have to pay for FI's airfare, his food and any spending money we need, plus any additional time we want to add on. Cool enough in and of itself, but I was joking about it with our travel department, who told me if I reminded them when I booked the trip, that they'd be sure to "upgrade" my hotel reservation!
The following are highlights from The Best Weddings Bargain Book by Sharon Naylor.
Another budget bio worth reading is located here.