When I was getting ready for my wedding I frequented a site called Offbeatbride.com.

It's directed at people that want somewhat non-traditional weddings, but you'll find that almost all of them are looking for cheap ways to do things at their wedding too. There are some really fantastic suggestions thrown up on the forum all the time.

One of the best tips I have: When trying to buy things, look for non-wedding versions (i.e., DON'T tell the baker you go to that the cake is for a wedding, and better yet try to get your cake from somewhere that generally doesn't do weddings). Give it a try, get creative, congratulations and good luck!

Those are way cool boxes.A really great place to find stuff (where they make the majority of stuff) is www.DHgate.com. Best way to describe it is an Asian e-bay where everything is new and gowns are made to fit . Hope that helps you. Wishing you all the very best.

Great thread. I am in the same situation as bridalgirl. I have champagne tastes on a beer budget. One place I have been frequenting for unique wedding favors is etsy.com. What I would really like is to find simple but beautiful dress.

Congratulations, bridal!! Hope you get a chance to tell us the story of your fiance's proposal sometime soon.

I'm just a wannabe bride (need to find me a groom) who loves wedding stuff, but I think that www.weddingbee.com has some cute ideas on their website.

Check out this site for gently used (but practically brand new) wedding items at a fraction of the original cost. http://www.bravobride.com/

Congrats on your engagement!
Susan

when is the wedding.just kidding

congrats,post us about your wedding day,details,etc.

Congrats to you! I love a great rememberal wedding

hit up coupon message boards. they had a bride on tv the other day who said she was able to do her entire wedding for 6,000! coupon sites are where it's at! they won't be bridal specific but there will be crazy good prices for names you recognize

Congrats to all of you who are planning your wedding!

For my wedding in March DIYed everything possible. Our favors weren't elaborate, just Hershey's hugs & kisses wrapped in tulle circles and tied with a bow. There was a little tag attached that said "Hugs & Kisses from the new Mr. & Mrs." on one side and had our names and the date on the other side. I also DIYed our invites, programs, unity candle which saved quite a bit.

Keeping an open mind can save a lot of money, too. I found gold shoes on the clearance rack at DSW for $5 and thought "Those are fun!" They turned out to be perfect. The Kate Spade toasting flutes I wanted were quite pricey. I found something nearly identical (Martha Stewart) on the clearance rack at KMart. $8 for a pack of 4.

My husband's cousin is a florist so we were fortunate to get a great deal there. One tip they did let us in on is that choosing in-season flowers can save you a ton of money. Once you set a date, start doing your research.

Oh man my comment ended up really lengthy. I still get really excited about wedding talk even though it's been 9 months since my own. Feel free to PM me if you ever need help with anything or just need to vent about wedding stuff.

Don't waste your money on personalized candy, do it your self. Buy chocolate bars wrapped in gold paper beneath the label (ex. Hersey's Symphony) in bulk (Sam's club). Then design your own label and print it out on glossy paper at home. Simply cut to size, wrap around the bars and use a couple drops of school glue to hold it in place. Your guests won't even know that there weren't professionally done!

I'm also planning a classy wedding on a budget, and I love Martha Steward Living and Martha Steward Wedding magazines for DIY ideas. One way that I'm saving lots of $$$ is by skipping out on the DJ. You can rent a PA system and lights if you want them for way cheaper than you can pay a DJ and all you have to do is make your play list in advanced and set it to play. You can designate a friend or family member to announce special dances.

Check out the wedding section at Etsy. You're likely to have a single person making them who can adjust to your budget and customization requests.

For flowers, I went to the local college. They were at least half the price of the regular florist and turned out beautifully. Also, look for a photographer who will shoot the pics and give them to you on a disk. A lot do it now, and it's a great way to save money. When you have the funds you can load the images onto target or costco and print them.

Just found a new site favorfavor.com
Unique Wedding Favors at Cheap Prices

Try Craigslist in your area for brides that have gotten married and need to unload some stuff. Visit shops in your area off-season...for instance, we shop after Christmas to find beads embellishments for bouquets and decor. They can be as much as 80% off! Be creative and have fun with your favors and decorations.

Congrats! my husband and i were legally married a while back, and my parents feel its about time to have a traditional wedding, it so costly having one.... i feel your pain, but there will always be a way out, and after the wedding you will feel so proud of yourself, what i plan to do is to buy the cystal beads from the china market to add on my dress to give it more bling! also start purchasing the drinks, and other trimmings earlier, so it becomes lighter on the budget and you have a bit of a breather towards the time of the wedding. I am also going to make my own servette holds with cheap pearls and beads that look soooo expensive.

Good luck!

I love weddings...especially as a wedding photog! I recommend etsy and use the alchemy link. You can ask for specifics within your budget and most likely will get a lot of bids from different artists. Definitely worth a try!

Those boxes are adorable!!

If you are interested in doing edible favors, there are lots of candies, etc. that look lovely and are not that hard to make yourself. One example is chocolate lollipops. You can get really cute molds and make chocolate pops, or just molded chocolates if you don't like the lollipop idea. If you use white chocolate, you can try and color it to be your wedding colors or whatever you want. You can also buy pre-colored chocolate too. You want to buy molding/melting chocolate. You can make these ahead of time as long as you keep them somewhere cool where they won't melt.

Also, M&M's does customized candy (http://www.mymms.com/customprint/), which is kinda cool. You can pick what they say and the colors. I have never done this before, but it seems neat.

Oh, and congrats to you!!!!