25 Cost Cutting Concepts for the Post-modern Bride, Part II

Miss part one? Get it here, dudes.

14. Dessert (image)

• No big expensive cake.
  
• Instead, think candy bar, cookies and milk, an assortment of Popsicles and ice cream bars, or doughnuts, or brownies, or lemon bars, or baklava, the list goes on!
• Rent an ice cream machine and have a toppings bar.
• Having a summer wedding? Snow cones!
• Rock some carnival action with candy apples, caramel corn, and cotton candy
  
• Have a friend bake 5 or 6 one-tier cakes. Place them on antique plates and decorate them with unique cake toppers.
  
• Make the dessert bar a "pot luck" - not necessarily making everyone bring a dessert, but maybe a select few you ask personally to do so...
• If you absolutely need a big cake for the purpose of pictures, then rent a fake one. Not kidding. Read here.

15. Suit/Tux (image)

• If you live in a big city like LA or NY, hit up the fashion/garment district and find a fly-ass suit or tux for half the price. Mike and I saw tuxes for sale in downtown for $99.00. A rental would cost that. Why not own it?
  
• Do the mix and match look. I'm a master at finding Internet coupon codes, so I know I can piece a great look together from multiple stores. "What? Gap has a black tailored vest on sale? And J.Crew has those grey pants for half off? What'd you say? Free Shipping on shoes from Urban? Sh*t, son!" ...I like the mix and match look because I don't want us to look too "perfect" and put together. I want us to look like us, only a little hotter. Make sense?
  
• Hit up a thrift store, find an old school suit, and get the thing tailored to perfection. I would KILL to find Mike a fly ass suit from the 70's and get it tailored to look semi-modern.
• Ask your friends and family members if they have an old suit or tux in an attic somewhere that they don't wear anymore.
  

16. Favors (image)

• Alright. I personally don't believe in giving wedding favors - especially the ones where you put both your names on a key chain or a magnet. Nobody gives a sh*t about that stuff. NO favors. Free food and booze is enough, man!
  
• BUT, if you MUST have wedding favors, make them do double duty. In other words, have the favors serve a purpose in the actual wedding, then let your guests take them home as small gifts. Here are a few ideas:
  
• Have a photo booth and have the guests take the pics home. If you're doing digital, craft a website that everyone can have access to.
  
• Everyone needs a cup to drink out of, so why not give everyone a souvenir plastic cup that they can "crunk-ify". Meaning, set up a few decorating stations where they can personalize their cups with markers, stickers, glitter, etc. They can drink out of it the whole night! AND if you have kids at your wedding, this could be great way to keep them busy.
  
• Create an art wall that everyone gets to draw on and contribute to, then at the end of the night, have someone cut it into 8x10's and let everyone take a piece home to frame.
• Provide plastic Ziploc containers so your guests can take home your leftover food. (I realize this one's a little out there, but hey man, I'm not above doing this. Free food is free food).
  

17. Veil/Accessories/Garter

• I won my hair accessories, my bracelet, and my earrings in a contest put on by Southern Weddings. So enter those contests, gals. You never know when luck will be on your side...
  
• I'm not wearing a veil. I'm not paying hundreds of dollars on a piece of tulle that makes me look like a cream puff. Think of cheaper hair accessories like, feathers, flowers, headbands, etc.
  
• For your jewelry, buy something re-wearable, like a watch, or a simple long necklace.
  
• I am not wearing a garter. Creeps me out. I don't need a piece of elastic to "guard" anything - especially one that involves my hoo-ha.
  
• You can rent diamond jewelry from here for around $100 if that's your bag.
  
• Something old, something new, something borrowed...wait--Why only borrow one thing? Borrow ALL of your jewelry...Chances are your Mother, you Grandmother, or your Mom or Dad's pals will have some fly jewelry hanging about.

18. Flowers (image)

• We are going to hand make the bouts with sturdy materials like succulents, fabrics, buttons, and paper flowers. The boys aren't gonna give two sh*ts about wearing these anyway, so we're not going to blow the bank on this one. I have a few crafty friends. Needless to say, I will be using them. Kate, Anne, Alexis: I'm talkin' to you :)
  
• I found this bout on etsy for only $3.50. That's pretty reasonable. I would only buy if I couldn't make them myself for cheaper.
  
• Some peeps just want to order flowers and not have to worry about making anything. A cheaper and less stressful option would be to order your flowers from Costco. They make everything fresh, box it up and have it sent to you that day. You can get a nine piece set for $229.99.
  
• Bouquets are just "balls of pretty" - they don't necessarily have to be made of actual flowers. So rustle up some fake flowers, newspaper origami, brooches, pins, ribbons, buttons, fabrics - basically anything that's colorful or cool looking - buy a Styrofoam ball and glue and pin everything together. I want UNIQUE. So I'm gonna go for this. AND since this bouquet won't be a living bouquet, I can Brideshare it!
  

19. Photography

• We won our engagement shoot, day of wedding shoot, and day after shoot from the wonderful and talented Nicole Polk, of Polkadot Portraits :) That was obviously a big help...We are simply providing her with a plane ticket, a rental car, and hotel accommodations for the weekend. So we're getting world class photography for a mere fraction of the price.
  
• I guess my big tip here is to enter these contests and make your entry STAND OUT. There are actually a decent number of photogs out there who put on these contests - and they'd be damned if they're gonna give away free services to boring couples. People respond to creativity and unique ideas. So oooooze it!
• I'm sure you all have heard of this, but it's such a cool thing I thought I'd mention it just in case...Insanely awesome photog Dan Chen of "Chennergy Weddings" offers to shoot a free wedding a year for unique couples in financial need. All he wants from you is an email detailing you sitch. The always fab Broke-Ass-Bride won her photography from Dan and the pics were like WHOA-SAUCE AMAZING. Check 'em out here.
  
• A bride friend of mine got a HEAVILY discounted photography package from a team looking to expand their portfolio to include weddings. Have a photog you're in love with? Ask he or she if they'd be willing to shoot a wedding. I guarentee they won't charge you the normal full price.
• Reach out to your local university's photography program. They need the practice and would charge a lot less.
  

20. Plates and Utensils (image)

• A bride friend of mine had a buffet style set-up. Her caterer didn't provide plates, napkins or utensils, so she bought "fake china" from Costco instead - basically plates and utensils that appear to look all real and classy, but are made of plastic. This made clean-up super easy. And no one even noticed or cared that they were eating on plastic.
  
• Having a smaller wedding? Thrift store shop for all your plates. Who cares if they're mismatched. I would actually prefer mismatched. Each plate has it's own special story :)
  
• Or buy a big set from Ikea, and donate them or Brideshare them, or sell them to another bride when you're done.
• Using plastic silverware? Make it look sexy by wrapping it in a napkin and tying it with ribbon or twine, then adorning it with dried flowers or rosemary.

21. Save-the-dates/Invites (image)

• We're sending simple postcards you can make online for the save the date cards - we won these as well! But regardless, they are very inexpensive and you can make your own from scratch online. We're using Digital Room.
  
• Your guests don't NEED two printed invitations to your wedding. Just email your STD's.
• Want something super cool, but way cheaper than your standard wedding invite? We're thinking of using 'ticket stub invites" - the ticket would look exactly like a Ticketmaster concert ticket, but would be personalized to fit our event. What better way to tell your guests they're in for a fun, "rock n roll" type of wedding. PLUS you can mail these inexpensively.
  
• Tell people to RSVP on your wedding website. That way you'll save on return postage. And don't pay for your wedding website, kids. There's tons of free ones. We used Wix.com.
  

22. Rehearsal Dinner (image)

• We have no idea how we're going to pay for this. I mean a full dinner for 25 people PLUS booze isn't going to be cheap if we go out. I'd prefer to go out downtown for the rehearsal, but I had another idea in case we need a back up:
  
• Both our families live out of state so they would have to get a hotel anyway - so I'm going to suggest to my family or Mike's family to rent a house with a BBQ and a big backyard near downtown. That way, we can just buy a case of wine, grill up some dogs, or order in some pizzas for the rehearsal dinner. I don't need fancy. I just want FUN.
  
• And as an added BONUS, you can use the rented house for the day after BBQ.
• OR, hit up a happy hour. Have your ceremony rehearsal early - like 4:00pm, then head out to Happy Hour at 5:00pm (most usually last from 4-7pm). I know a great place downtown that has a happy hour with food AND booze options - even on Saturdays and Sundays. When happy hour ends, head out to a bar afterward where everyone will pay for their own drinks, but the party won't stop!
  
• Consider a cheap place that has has authentic flare - or somewhere that is a 'taste of your city'. We're considering a place called Phillipes - it's a cheap beef dip sandwich place that is TO DIE FOR. Just think of hole in the wall places that your guests would be excited to try. I always take my out of town peeps to Korean BBQ, or Zankou Chicken (Armenian). Both big hits every time.
  
• Or head to a place that is BYOB. Usually these types of places haven't obtained their liquor license yet. So what better way to get the booze for cheap than by bringing in your own two buck Chuck? Knowing my friends and family, the alcohol budget will make up for half the bill...so this would be a help fo' sho'.
  

23. Wedding rings (image)

• We're getting Mike a ring on etsy.com for under $50 made out of stainless steal or titanium. Mike doesn't need platinum or white gold - he would ruin it in a year's time anyway!
  
• Girls proposing to their guys (myself included): buy a titanium ring set on etsy. Use the thinner ring for the proposal and the thicker for the wedding. Women opt to wear two rings, why not let the dudes in on some double ring-age? This set costs $90.00. Not too bad for something you're gonna wear for your whole life.
  
• No ring for me. My beautiful heirloom engagement ring is enough bling (unless I can find an etsy gem for under $50).

24. Additional Entertainment (image)

• Have a dance battle - fun AND hilarious.
  
• Some peeps just don't dance, so keep them in on the fun by setting up different inexpensive activities.
• Set up cocktail tables in another section of the venue so people can mix and mingle when they're not dining or dancing. We're using the garden area for people to chill, chat and get fresh air.
  
• Make a homemade photo booth with props. Ask a friend to be in charge of the digital camera.
  
• Build a crunk cup station, as mentioned earlier.
  
• Set up an old fashioned game of cornhole or darts.
  
• I have a lot film friends, so I was going to ask them to film a funny video to show at the wedding. I'll just use iMovie to edit it all together.
• Have a wine tasting table. Buy ten good bottles (or save up some bottles you've been gifted over the years), and let your guests sample them. Some friends of mine did this at their wedding and it was a big hit.
  
• We're going to have a mead tasting station. Since a lot of people have never tasted mead before, we're going to make sample sizes available at a small table. I'm sure my dad will be stationed here for a time...well he made it, who better to talk about that him!

25. Chairs (image)

• Make your chairs work double-duty. My bride friend used the same chairs for the ceremony AND the reception. After the ceremony was over, they had their MC tell all the guests to bring their own chairs into the reception area. It worked out perfectly.
  
• Use benches instead of chairs for a rustic look. Benches can do double duty too - just get long tables instead of circular.
• Since our wedding party will all stand on ONE side as opposed to being split up, our wedding party will be sitting/standing up at the "altar" in a lounge-y area we create - think a vintage looking couch surrounding by old hat boxes, a phonograph, and whatever else we can find! After the ceremony, we will use the couch for the lounge area in the garden.