Whats the best way to save money for my wedding?

i found a wedding package in lake arrowhead that i am very interested in, it's pretty much everything you need for the wedding, flower decor, food reception, photographer, dj, the list goes on, the dress and suit are pretty much the only thing thats not included, but i will need like 15,000 for,everything (the wedding package, dresses, honeymoon) i have until september of 2009, any advice? i make about 1200 a month. not counting my fiance's pay. our parents dont make enough money to help.

Whats the best way to save money for my wedding?
get a part time job.





at my part time job there are 3 girls who have full time day jobs but work from like 5-9 every night and make about 500 extra dollars for their wedding every month
Reply:Here are a few, u might not agree with some but I'm just offering some suggestions





Have your wedding on a weeknight or a Sunday. There is less demand for these dates, so vendors will often be willing to give you a better rate





choose flowers that are in season and grown locally


or buy from a flower wholesaler





avoid having wedding around a holiday b/c flowers are more expensive





choose a simple buffet instead of having a sit down dinner





find a reasonable photographer and book well in advance of the wedding





visit bridal shows and preview all the photographers , get cards and then make your decision





use a wedding dj rather than a live band





buy your invitations through a mail order catalog, prices are hard to beat and u have a variety to choose from
Reply:oh my gosh! think this one through... 15,000 on a wedding?? honestly the best way to save would be doing everything your self :( AND you have plenty of time to find great deals! i am getting married in november and am in the same boat with the parents. im going to jamaica to an all-inclusive resort to get married, then having a reception when i return home. im serving o-hordurves, cake, %26amp; open bar for 100 people. my total is 6,000.





go with a restuarant rather than a venue, they barely have a room charge %26amp; you can do catering, linens, and clean up through them,


make your invitations!!! i compared mine to some online and i saved $250 ny making them. (i got my supplies at paperandmore.com )


o-hordurves is a cheaper alternitive to serving a meal


add balloons instead of going with all flowers


make wedding favors candy instead of frames or pens, ect.. im using m%26amp;m's in my wedding colors


i bought my dress at davids bridal when they were having there $99 sale.


by doing your own dirty work- you will save!
Reply:you need to put away $937.50 a month in order to pay for this wedding. Try picking up a second job, maybe bartending? Or even being a shotgirl. You don't need to know drinks to be a shotgirl, plus you make rediculous amounts of cash!
Reply:That's about average, but it's still a lot of money!





Keep shopping around for other package deals, even a trip to Vegas would probably be cheaper. I think my friends paid $8000 at a nice hotel downtown, which included dj, food and flowers.





Forget the photographer. That is a HUGE expense. Just get friends to take photos. I used disposable cameras and had my guests take them. My mom took lots of photos with her camera and they turned out so nice! We edited them ourselves on our pc.





Good luck! Think about this...would you rather save that money for a wedding, or a down payment on a home you will keep forever?
Reply:With the money you are saving have it directly deposited into a savings account. The thing is too come this September the wedding will only be a year away. If this place is popular and you do not have enough money for a deposit for them to hold your date you might end up losing it. So I do agree with the first writer and I would think of getting a second job of some sort so you don't have to be completely broke trying to save. Congrats and good luck!
Reply:You couldn't have asked at a better time. This week's issue of Time Magazine has an article about saving money on a wedding!





The link is below because the entire article is online. Check it out.





A few things they mention are smaller guest lists, smaller wedding parties, and less expensive food at the reception, ways to make less costly favors, and picking a time other than a Saturday evening.
Reply:We're paying for our wedding too. And since neither of us can take a second job b/c of our first this is how we're doing it.





Take your total cost and divide it by how many weeks you have. this will let you know how much a week you need to save.


Cut out any unneccesary services, such as a land line if you both have cell phones. In our case it was premium cable(my fiance wouldn't go without it completely). I unplug anything not in use and cut our electric bill in half! Switch to CF lightbulbs as well. They save you some serious money. Carpool, shop with a list. Only buy gas in the middle of the week(prices go up at 10am on Friday in most areas). We dont go out to eat and bring sack lunches to work. I pick up every penny I find, I pick up as much overtime at work as I can. We don't buy bottled water like we used to. We bought each of us a reusable container and keep washing and refilling it. We only run full dishwasher loads to cut down on water bills and let them air dry or towel dry them instead of the electric wasted on heated drying.





If you really want to do this you have to get tough on yourself. Get very frivoulous and you'll find the money.
Reply:you and your fiance need to sit down and figure out a more tightened budget than the one you are on now.





can you cut back anywhere?





for example:





-both of you take lunches to work instead of eating out (put any money you'd be using for this towards the wedding).





-stop going out to eat,to movies,etc on weekends. start staying home more?





-can either one of you pick up overtime at your job?





-open a special banking account or have a special jar/jug inside your house and label it wedding money. make it a requirement that you put at least 300 dollars into the jug each month (try to do more). also put ANY change you accumulate into the jar.





-have a garage sale to get rid of some of the things in your home you dont need anymore-put all money earned from this towards the wedding.





-go w/out cable or specialized features on your cell phone plan from now until your planned wedding date. use the money saved towards the wedding.





there are a ton of things you can do to help save money. but the first thing you need to do is sit down together and find out exactly how much money you need to cover you bare necessities. anything above those is extra and can be cut out for now





good luck!!
Reply:Put away a certain amount of money into savings from each paycheck. Also cut back on unnecessary daily living expenses. For example, if you can, take your lunch rather than buying it everyday. Don't go out to eat every opportunity you get. Fix coffee at home (you can get flavored creamers and chocolate syrup and whatnot at the grocery) and take it to work with you. Rent movies and books from the library which are free rather than going out all the time. Carpool with a coworker. Little things do add up after awhile so decide what you can cut back on in your everyday life and go from there.