Comments on: 13 Ideas to Keep Your Wedding As Simple As Possible

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:59:20 +0000

“While we saved our family from having to cook, we are asking for help from a few friends and family. Instead of trying to do all the preparations on our own, others are being enlisted. And trust me, they love to help.”

Well, why sure. What are they going to say, no? You’re putting them in a position. Of course they say they’d love to help (whether they’re cringing or not, which is likely the case).

I think it’s wrong to ask guests to help with anything except the smallest detail. If they BEG to help then that’s something else. If you can’t afford something, then you just shouldn’t have it. Guests should never be “enlisted”.

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:56:59 +0000

So me and my ex-husband are planning on remarrying 8 months from now…. our first one was pretty small.. sort of eloped.. but then our parents threw a feast to celebrate the occasion 3 days later. Anyway, got divorced 7 years later.. and 2 years later.. going to get married! So, this wedding will be special for us… first because we never had a proper one.. and secondly… a mark of change in our lives to be better people (which we have) .. and lastly… just happy that we made it back together to be as a family again (we have 3 children). No doubt that this reunion will bring happiness to our kids and their grandparents.
Our first wedding was not big but i felt great and happy. I would like to feel just like that in this one we are planning. So far here’s what we have:
1. Ceremony will be at church.
2. Dress will be simple.. don’t know about his yet
3. Best man to be our eldest son (9 years old)
4. Maid of honour to be our daughter (3 years old)
5. Ring bearer to be our second son (5 years old)
6. Reception at home – catered
7. Guests to be less than 50
8. No alcohol.

I still don’t know if i should have my adobted father give me away. I’m thinking of just walking together down the aisle with my daughter. What you think?

We are hoping to leave our country straight after that and start our new life together at where he is currently working.

Anyway, thank you for all the ideas…. i realise mine will be much simplier.. we intend to be paying for the wedding ourselves and just have people come and enjoy our day together with us. So the simplier the better.

Thank you.

By: lolitzki

lolitzki — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:36:44 +0000

wow, I’m glad I was directed to this website. so good to read your comments, guys! I agree with you all.. I believe it’s kind of unwise to spend your life’s entire savings for an event which will only take place for two to three hours…

By: Cindy

Cindy — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:21:08 +0000

We have been married for almost 21 years now. This is the 2nd marriage for both of us. I had 2 young daughters from my previous. We initially started planning the large, church wedding. Inviting all family and friends, etc. I worked at a print shop and the owner was allowing me to purchase invitations, cake topper, cake knife and server, toasting goblets, etc. at wholesale. When we started adding up all the expenses, we decided to have a small wedding. Just us, my daughters, my parents, his parents, my best friend and her family, and his boss (his best friend) and his wife. Just the 14 of us at a small chapel for the ceremony, then to a small restaurant for the reception, then we spent 2 days at Disneyland for our honeymoon. We had at least 7 rolls of photos taken by our guests. I wouldn’t have traded for a larger wedding any day.

By: ZANISHIA

ZANISHIA — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:57:37 +0000

Im getting married in 5 months and I am thinking about going simpler then that (what you suggested). I made my wedding dress my self. We’re using a digital camera for our pictures and the reception will be in my parents backyard. I live in South Florida and the ceremony is at an indian reservation park (with permission of course) and our honey moon is in Paris where he (Daryl, my fiance’) is originally from to visit his sick parents who cant make it. Talk about casting a ricocet stone. Food is prepared by my mother who has her own catering business and music is by my brother who is a DJ at a night club (alcohol included as a wedding gift from his club). We still will end up spending a little over 2,000 dollars on our plane tickets and room but that is still not bad, right?

By: Mrs. Berbon

Mrs. Berbon — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:14:43 +0000

My husband and I were just married February 28th, 2009. He has three children from a past relationship and I have one child. With four children between us, we felt strongly that we didn’t want to be over-the-top and get into debt just to impress people with our wedding. It was much more important to us to have a church ceremony, our family, very close friends that have supported us, to include our children, and definitely for it to be a warm loving experience for everyone. I totally related to this article, and we did many of the things on your list.

I had a unique situation because I’m in my 30’s and my parents have passed. Plus we didn’t have as much support as expected from our wedding party. Everyone seemed to have a lot going on and unfortunately couldn’t assist much with our wedding. It was definitely stressful at times, and I would suggest to keep asking people for help even if they are not in your wedding party. don’t feel guilty about that, because you really do need the assistance.

While we were on a very tight budget, we didn’t feel we had to give up what we wanted because of it. It just forced us to be more creative, and we loved how it turned out.

My suggestions would be to:

* Purchase things like ring bearer pillows, flower girl baskets, and wedding decorations/pew bows online from people who used them for their 30-45 minute ceremony. It will save you lots of money and they are in “like new” condition.

*Candlelight is the way to go. It is inexpensive and adds lots of warmth and romance to the room. We had vanilla scented votives all over and the room was filled with the light scent of vanilla.

*Get help!!! Keep asking until you find someone. Don’t feel embarassed.

*Negotiate…Negotiate…Negotiate. You will never know unless you ask. With the economy the way it is, we got some amazing deals.

*Be creative and don’t be afraid to try to make things like favors and decorations. You’d be surprised at how easy some of it is, and it will save you a ton of money. Just be smart and don’t get involved with a project that takes way too much time.

*Mix in some non-traditional ideas to make your wedding unique. If you are a fun couple and love to laugh, add a fun dance or game into the reception. If you an older couple and don’t have a lot of single friends, give the bouquet to the woman who has been married the longest. Don’t worry that it isn’t “traditional”. Your wedding SHOULD be unique.

I hope our advice can help some couples out there get some ideas and realize you can have a beautiful unique wedding on a budget. May God bless you and your marriage!

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:49:55 +0000

Actually, I am disappointed that simple means the same as less expensive in this post. Have we gotten to that point?

As to Jodi and her etiquette… I think we can move beyond that. I think modern etiquette is less about the pretension of what some body of people or a person (the etiquette mavens) say is correct and more about what makes a person and the people they love happy. Clearly this family wants to throw a big party to celebrate this wedding and who the heck does it harm?

Still, I would have loved to have heard more about taking advantage of those who are wanting to help. For a mature couple marrying, wouldn’t it have been great – for example – to ask the guests to make donations to worthy causes (if they are inclined to offer a gift) in lieu of something for the couple? Or to ask the guests to become involved in the wedding/reception and it’s process (like helping with the food/decorations/sewing/even flowers from their garden) rather than another toaster?

That is where I’m at. I could have an expensive wedding but my fiance’ and I don’t really want one. I know people will be inclined to want to give gifts, which would border on ludicrous, we are already going to have difficulty accomodating the stuff we already have properly.

So to me, making it ’simple’ would mean finding ways to make it meaningful – which would also mean taking away some of the insanity leading up to trying to get all the logistics to work. It seems to me a great way to do that is with a very simple ceremony and a reception that is more akin to a typical family gathering … at least that is my starting point. Obviously, by planning further ahead, we can have lots of potted plants or ask the green thumbs in the family to bring a bunch of cut flowers or similarly for decorations, etc.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:51:57 +0000

It is in poor taste, and bad etiquette, to have a second “wedding” after having a civil ceremony. You get one wedding………it’s fine to throw a reception at a later date.

You will not find a single etiquette source out there that says otherwise.

By: Kristina Krull

Kristina Krull — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:40:15 +0000

My husband and I held our wedding a year after we were married. A few months after he returned from Iraq. We kept it very simple, but it was still beautiful. We held it at his church so the venue was free. We had our reception on the church grounds, so there was no drinking, but many of our friends had young children, so it was probably more appropriate anyway. We got finger foods and our cake from Publix. They made the cake exactly like the picture. I got some really nice plates from Target and arranged the finger foods on them. We had Sparkling grape juice and throw-away flutes. My mother and I woke up early on the morning of the wedding and went to Sams club where they have so many beautiful flowers, and arranged our own bouquets in vases we purchased, and the bridesmaids bouquets with ribbon. I had my bouquet professionally done because it was very elaborate and one of my favorite parts of the wedding. I did the invitations myself with beautiful ribbon-y paper. We had a photographer who was a friend of the family, but everyone brought their own cameras and honestly everyone’s pictures turned out the best. Your friends and family really know who and what you want pictures of. My dress was beautiful, it was head to toe lace and pearls. and my bridesmaids’ dresses were black tea length. we spent a little over a thousand on all the dresses at David’s bridal. I looked at sooooo many dress shops, from hole-in-the wall to couture. It was the one thing I had unlimited budget on, but I didn’t find any I liked as much as the one at David’s, and for 600 bucks it was a steal! All and all the wedding was probably 2.500, and the pictures are beautiful and everyone had a great time. When you are with friends and family, you don’t need to spend a lot to have a great time.

By: Useful Ideas For A Simple Wedding « A Cheap and Fabulous Wedding

Useful Ideas For A Simple Wedding « A Cheap and Fabulous Wedding — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:12:38 +0000

[...] with the right amount of money on the right thing. Simple but not plain. As such, I found these tips pretty useful for me and they have inspired me to have a clear visual understanding [...]