My Big Fat Cheap Wedding
In the year 2009, it’s très chic to have a cheap wedding. Cheap, meaning “inexpensive” not “likes to dress like a back alley hooker.” Wedding websites around the Net are even claiming that you can throw a wedding for under $10K in some of the nation’s most expensive cities (ie: New York City, San Francisco).
Dubious? Take a look at some of these oh-so-useful cost-saving tips and decide for yourself:
#1 Cost Saver: Make your guests pour their own lemonade.
From the article: “Put a pitcher of lemonade on a table borrowed from the church and let the guests pour their own.” Seriously? How much money does this actually save? It’s not like you have to pay your eleven-year-old cousin a cool hundy to pour a few glasses of juice.
#2 Cost Saver: Steal your bridesmaids’ flowers.
From the article: “Instead of a buying bouquet or boutonniere for everyone, only the bride and groom get them.” Okay, cool, no worries. But then... “you can carry tulips from a neighbor’s garden and he can wear a coordinating succulent.” I’m sorry… is that even English? And since when was it cool to troll your neighbor’s garden like it’s a two-dollar florist?
#3 Cost Saver: Skip lunch, skip dinner, and make your guests skip around San Francisco.
From the article: “Your guests will be invited to explore San Francisco on their own until the evening cocktail reception. Take this time to do some sight-seeing of your own!” Whee! Just what your 85-year-old grandmother wants… a free pass to wander around the City for eight hours, looking for a not-too-gritty diner because you’re too cheap to feed her dinner.
#4 Cost Saver: Go to Sephora to get your makeup done
From the article: “After all, the folks at Sephora are professionals!” Can anyone say “product placement”? Really… who wants to run into Sephora for a freebie makeup session on the day of her wedding?
#5 Cost Saver: Let your friends and family choose your wedding reception music!
From the article: “You’ll love what your friends and family choose for your first and second dances.” Please read this before you even begin to consider the ramifications of allowing your second cousin to determine your first dance fate. NOT.WORTH.IT.
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J- I totally get you on the Sephora thing. I went there the other night to get my makeup done for a night out and they made me look like a bad America’s Next Top Model shoot- Tyra would NOT be happy. -S
POUR YOUR OWN FREAKING LEMONADE? srsly? These are the COST SAVING TIPS OF THE YEAR??? Next they’re gonna tell me to do my own pedicure- it’ll save me a whole $14 on my big day!!
To save money at my cousin’s wedding, they had a vending machine for the drinks. drinks were only a quarter. but come on. a vending machine????
Sarah- your wedding sounds awesome and really fun. I am so tired of attending ridiculous weddings that cost more than a year’s salary! I applaud you for your creative thinking.
hey there! i’m a friend of chris’ from MIT. So excited to see someone else thinking about what marriage really means and what is important in a wedding.
I’m throwing a “wedding” in SF for less than $10,000 this year. and i think our ideas are more creative than those listed above. It’s involved assuming that we aren’t following any of the rules and it’s great fun. We’re renting a modern victorian house near Alamo Square for the weekend, having a ceremony and dinner for 30, and then inviting all of our friends for a party in the evening. the filter for an invitation to the ceremony is “could we call you in the middle of the night if we were having a serious problem in our relationship.”
as for the event planning, because we aren’t using an “official” wedding venue, our friends are catering. other friends are making beer. and my brother is going to program an ipod if we feel like dancing!
looking forward to following the rest of your trip and picking up some tips for a succesful life partnership. Congrats!