How Can I Get Some Financial Assistance?

Tauyna,

Depending on the size and time of your wedding there are many alternatives to catering...1) do it yourself
2) ask friends and family to help "potluck" 3) have a appetizer and punch recpt. Just a few suggestions. My wedding is 8/7/04 and my FH and I could not afford the catering thing either. We have planned to do it our selves with cold cuts and salads but a few wonderful people at our church are providing everything from the Prime Rib to the sweet -n- low...... Good luck with you wedding and congratulations........

We too are having $$ problems when it comes to the reception. What we did was use a private garden for the ceremony and reception, to save money on rental items and delivery charges, decorations (only have to do 1 site instead of 2), we were able to cut the floral bill by 90% by using a local grower from our farmer`s market who will deliver for us free, and by using a garden, not as much color is needed. We planted our own ivy and morning glory to grow over the arch so we don`t have to pay for garland and flowers there. The bouquets will be hand tied by myself and future sister in law with the market flowers.

Most of our decorations have come from the huge auction website we all see commercials for every 5 minutes. Don`t be afraid to bargain with the sellers. Fixed prices mean nothing there. I found butterfly lights that are $30 in the store, they wanted $20, I talked them down to $12 and purchased more sets than I thought we could afford. Check out clearance sales at craft stores and even home stores for centerpieces. We decided since the reception will be immediately after a 3pm ceremony in a garden we are going to provide several flavored ice teas with the beverages, sort of like a garden tea party thing. And we picked up beautiful teapots at the thrift stores and yard sales. The pots will be filled with flowers on a mirror sprinkled with butterfly shaped silk petals. Each one will be done at a cost of under $5 each.

For the food, we went to a small cafe in town where we LOVE the food. The chef/cook there is willing to do all of the cooking for us for only $100 above food cost. We are going with him to our local warehouse store (sam`s club, Costco) to purchase the food so we save a bundle with bulk purchases.
We decided against a DJ and made our own CD`s that will play continuous throughout the reception without repeating a song.

Our cake is being baked by a senior student at the local comm. College who is specializing in pastry and desserts. We put up an ad at the school and received a response right away. When we met with her, she had baked a mini 2 tier cake and decorated it in our colors, and let me tell you, no commercial cake baker can tough the moistness or flavor of her cake, even better, it was at a cost of under $1.50 per person including sugar flowers and gum paste and fondant butterflies, flowers, and decorations.

Although it may all seem impossible right now, it does all come together at the end. Also you or you FH could take a part time job at a craft store or party supply store, The discount alone can make a huge difference. Watch sales papers for coupons and so on.

My fiance and I are working hard to pay our current bills but also save for our wedding. It`s hard, but please remember that you have to do what`s within your budget. I know everyone wants a beautiful wedding, but don`t go into debt over it. The best thing you can do is plan it way in advance so you can buy and pay for things a little at a time without it interfering with your day to day needs and bills. We are doing only what`s within our budget, if it`s too pricey you can always find substitutions and improvise.