The Fire Hall Wedding: An Affordable Option, Not to Be Overlooked!

We opted to not do a fire house wedding. We had thought about it, and even priced out a few local fire houses in our area. But, with running two businesses and raising a small child, we just didn't have the time or energy for a total, do-it-yourself wedding.

I remember going to the wedding of some friends who rented out a fire hall space years ago. It was a small gathering – maybe sixty people? They got married right on the premises. Some features which made this kind of neat, special, and one-of-a-kind... not to mention saved the bride and groom a lot of money I'm guessing:

Guests helped decorate, set up and clean up. I am assuming the family pitched in for these activities. They did a nice job. Everything ran smoothly and there were no "mishaps" or wedding-day fumbles as far as I knew!

Guests brought covered dishes. Well, why the heck not? You can think of your wedding as a highbrow event where people expect to be waited on. Or, you can think of it as a fun and humble gathering of family and friends. Why NOT encourage people to bring their signature recipes? All that's required is someone to manage the food setup and takedown (after all, you wouldn't want the bride and groom doing all this work on their special day).

Guests pitched in. I remember helping to fill up water pitchers and replenish the napkin supply at that wedding... it felt nice to be a contributor for our friends' special day! I also remember the smiling bride and groom, the lovely music and dancing... the laid-back feeling of simply enjoying the company of a group of nice people.

Guests took photos and played music. Okay - I'm not sure about the music, exactly. It was a long time ago. But a DJ station is certainly easy enough to set up if you have a bit of computer skill and patience. I DID go to a different wedding where the bride's brother played DJ all night... what a great gift to give!

If you have the time and are lucky enough to be surrounded by giving, helpful individuals... why NOT spend the extra time coordinating a firehouse wedding. Homemade decorations... homemade goodies... a hand selected musical score... what's not to love?

We're interested to hear from brides and grooms who made firehouse wedding a success. How was the planning? What did you have to ask for help on? What would you do differently if you could? Write to info@njweddingonabudget.com or comment below!

$15,000 Wedding Budget in NJ? Tips for Keeping Costs Down

Image courtesy thefoodistreviews.com

For those just finding this blog, here is a recap of some NJ wedding budget-slicers that worked for keeping our costs down, and can work for you, too!

 

Marry in off-peak season. More and more savvy brides are forgoing the June wedding in favor of a beautiful fall or even winter wedding, when the prices come down a bit. Each season offers its own, festive backdrop to set the scene for your day. A friend of mine got married in February, and there was fresh snow on the ground for her photos... absolutely breathtaking!

Buffet dinner instead of tableside service. A buffet dinner really isn't such a bad thing at all! You get multiple dinner selections, so guests can try everything. People can take as little or as much food as they like, and go back for seconds. A buffet dinner is an easy way to feed kids who don't require their own plate. 

Forget the flowers. Unless you know someone who works in the florist business and can snag you some posies at a pretty price, this is probably the first thing to turn down in the interest of staying within budget.

Discount DJ. There are many ways to lower costs on music for your wedding reception. Hire a small, local band instead of an established wedding band. Hire a DJ instead of a band. Take a chance on an amateur DJ instead of a "wedding pro." Trust a friend or family member to hook up an iPod and some speakers.

Skip the favors. We opted to not have wedding favors for our guests, and I don't think anybody seemed to mind. In fact, I think half the time people either don't appreciate, leave behind, or (sad to say), the wedding favor that you invested good money on and carefully selected, ends up in someone else's garage sale bin. Sad, but likely true.

Snag a secondhand wedding dress. The options for a secondhand wedding getup are limitless. You can hit up the local thrift stores like Salvation Army or Goodwill. Or better, go for a dress that hasn't been handled quite as much – find a seller on Ebay, Craigslist, or one of the used wedding dress sites (you can find a list of them here).

Shop an estate sale for your rings. This includes the engagement ring, if you haven't already purchased one. You can find estate rings at your local jeweler; at antique stores; at online shops where people refurbish vintage/antique jewelry; on Ebay, or even in your family. With a bit of creativity, you can even take a family heirloom ring to a jeweler and have it resized, or add your own stone/other creative accents, for less than you'd pay for a new engagement ring or wedding band.

There are many more ways to save money and stick within a $15K NJ wedding budget. Follow along on this blog, and especially check out this post, The Average Cost of a NJ Wedding vs. Budget Wedding and How You Can Save or Cut Corners, for more details!

More Inexpensive Wedding Venues in NJ and PA

This is Bella Giorno Catering in Belvidere, NJ. Little did I know that you
can have your wedding hosted right on the premises, with a lovely
outdoor setting that's perfect for pictures... and then party in a
 fabulous, indoor space. Amazing what you learn from the internet.

The lower-priced wedding venues seem to be in the more westerly part of this state. If you do opt to get married in Warren County or even eastern PA, remember that there are many picturesque spots along the Delaware and Pequest Rivers where you can have beautiful, scenic wedding photos taken.

I was just doing some more poking around trying to get an idea of what people pay for their weddings, and I came across a really informative thread. Seems that wedding hall per-plate prices run the gamut, depending on what part of NJ you live in, what's included in the wedding package, and so on.

On this thread, I saw a range of wedding prices from $49 pp all the way to $200 pp. Completely crazy, and an indicator that it really pays to shop around. Ask yourself: what do you want out of your wedding? Are things like 7-course tableside service, top shelf liquor, Venetian table, etc. really necessary to make this party great?

I like what one person on that wedding thread had to say about the whole situation:

"We don't have all the extra stuff as far as a Viennese Hr, or Wine tasting bar but we do have each other, family, food/alcohol and music!"

Some Western NJ wedding venues that may be worth looking into:

Belvidere Manor/Belvidere Firehouse - Belvidere, NJ
Never have attended a wedding here, but I know a girl who got married here and she reported it to be a blast - laid back, fun, affordable, no fuss, really great party. Everyone who attended said it was one of the best weddings they'd ever been to.

The Stroudsmoor Country Inn - Stroudsburg, PA - I went to a wedding here and thought it was really well done. A lovely, outdoor Pocono ceremony; nice cocktail hour and dinner, open bar, and spent the latter portion of the evening enjoying some wild karaoke at the after-hours bar. We didn't stay over but many guests did. Convenient, affordable, easy drive just over the Delaware from NJ, elegant, scenic, fun!

White Meadow Lake, Rockaway, NJ - I don't know much about this place, but the photo looks absolutely gorgeous.

Bella Giorno, Belvidere NJ. I have driven by this place for many years, thinking it was a catering facility and having no idea that they host weddings on the premises. Just saw a review from someone who was married here and said it was "fantastic." This is directly on the Pequest River, a very pretty area of Rt. 46 in Belvidere. Check out their photo gallery!

Reasons to say "Definitely" to a Day Wedding

Image courtesy of RuffledBlog.com

As an eager NJ bride, you may think that a day wedding is the low-rent wedding option. "Oh, we can't afford anything more than that." Yes, a wedding that starts at noon instead of 6 pm may in fact be the more economical choice.

However, for all you NJ brides who are feeling let down by the thought of getting married during the daylight hours... maybe no one has filled you in on the many ways that day weddings totally rock.

They cost less. I can't resist re-stating this. Our wedding was held in November, on a Saturday, at noon. It included open bar, cocktail hour, buffet dinner and dancing, and ended at 5 pm. The price was $60 per plate.

Less time to be nervous. When you have a day wedding, there's no time to fret all day about how the wedding will go, if you'll get to the church on time, and so forth. You'll just be rushing around trying to get out of the house... and then suddenly, you're getting married!

You can kick off the festivities bright and early. Maybe this isn't the option for you younger brides... but my friends and I all have kids, some on the younger side. We start our days a little after sunrise, and tend to shut it down around 10 or 11 pm. I'm not saying that you'd want to stick to your usual bedtime schedule on your wedding night! But a day wedding may very well work with your parental body clock.

Old folks will appreciate it, too. A day wedding can be particularly thoughtful to the older relatives who don't drive well at night, and are simply livelier before the sun goes down.

Day weddings tend to be a bit more casual. My husband and I are not really fussy types. We complain when we have to wear constricting clothing, and generally feel out of sorts in places where one must dress to the nines, put on airs, and try not to accidentally break expensive items. A day wedding was a nice option for us to have a "come as you are" kind of day for our wedding celebration.

You actually have longer to keep the party going! Here's how our wedding went: married at noon, cocktails at 1 pm. Dinner, then dancing, then say goodbye. Old folks mostly go home – some hang out at the hotel, or maybe head back to our parents' houses for a post-wedding get-together. Bride, groom and good friends all shower up, then head down to the hotel bar/lounge area to drink beer, play cards, and thoroughly enjoy each other's company. For a busy bride and groom who typically spend their entire wedding running around greeting people, taking pictures and dancing/doing various rituals for an audience... a day wedding can actually give you some time after hours to finally relax and let your hair down.

Average Cost of NJ Wedding vs. Budget NJ Wedding and How You Can Save or Cut Corners

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I came across a really comprehensive list of NJ Wedding Expenses in this article. I was shocked at the amount of dollars NJ brides, grooms and their families typically shell out to create the wedding of their dreams.

As I repeat throughout this blog, we were totally frugal in our efforts to have a nice, simple and tasteful wedding.

I wanted to do a comparison of the "typical" NJ wedding vs. our budget NJ wedding and what you can save on/eliminate in the interest of keeping wedding costs down.

So here is a breakdown of each aspect of the standard NJ wedding. Under each heading, first you'll see the costs of what the average NJ bride and groom spend. Then below it you'll see what we spent (or opted to NOT spend at all) on our wedding.

Hope this gives you some good ideas of how much you can chisel off the total cost of your NJ wedding, simply by being practical and sticking to the essentials!

Attire

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Bride accessories: $367 to $569
Groom accessories: $193 to $300
Groom suit/tux: $265 to $412
Hair/makeup service: $193 to $300
Headpiece/veil: $344 to $534
Wedding dress: $1,524 to $2,367 

Attire Total: $2,886 to $4,482

OUR WEDDING:

Bride undergarments: $100 (bought imitation Spanx at JC Penney)

Groom accessories: 0

Groom suit/tux: $120

Hair/makeup: 0 (Friend helped with makeup and hair)

Veil: $30 (purchased on Etsy.com)

Shoes: $40 (Etsy.com)

Wedding Dress: $248 (Ebay.com)

Alterations: $100 (local seamstress)

Child's suit: $30 (Ebay)

Child's shoes: $15 (Ebay)

Attire Total: $683.00

Ceremony:

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Ceremony accessories: $215 to $334
Ceremony decorations: $640 to $994
Ceremony location: $748 to $1,162
Officiate/pastor/priest: $268 to $417
Rehearsal dinner: $1,453 to $2,257

Ceremony Total: $3,324 to $5,164

OUR WEDDING:

Ceremony deco: $50 (We had minimal decor – just the arch)
Ceremony location/chair setup/runner: $500
Officiate/pastor/priest: $400
Rehearsal dinner: $0 (We opted to NOT have a rehearsal dinner)

Ceremony Total: $950

Music/Entertainment

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Ceremony/reception band: $2,184 to $3,392
Ceremony/reception DJ: $834 to $1,295
Ceremony/reception musicians: $688 to $1,068

Entertainment Total: $3,706 to $5,755

OUR WEDDING:

Ceremony/reception band: $2,900
Ceremony/reception DJ: included in above
Ceremony/reception musicians: $0 (We had friends perform our chamber music in lieu of a wedding gift)

Entertainment Total: $2,900

Flowers:

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING: 

Boutonnieres/corsages: $203 to $316
Bride bouquet: $174 to $270
Bridesmaid bouquets: $278 to $431
Ceremony flowers: $497 to $772
Flower girl flowers: $56 to $87
Reception flowers: $1,122 to $1,742

Flowers Total: $2,330 to $3,618

OUR WEDDING:

Boutonnieres/corsages: $0 (We did not have these at all)
Bride bouquet: $0 (Maid of honor put together bouquet from her family greenhouse flowers)
Bridesmaid bouquets: $0 (Only had maid of honor and best man to keep costs down)
Ceremony flowers: $0
Flower girl flowers: $0
Reception flowers: $0

Flowers Total: $0

Gifts

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Gifts for attendant: $541 to $841
Gifts for each other: $436 to $678
Gifts for parents: $192 to $298
Gifts and Favors Total: $1,169 to $1,817

OUR WEDDING:

Gifts for attendant: $0
Gifts for each other: $0 (Who does this??)
Gifts for parents: $0 (We technically still owe our parents a nice dinner out as a thank-you!)

Gifts and Favors Total: $250

Invitations and Other Mailings

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Bridal shower invitations: $115 to $179
Guestbook: $56 to $87
Invitations & reply cards: $50.00
Personal stationery: $154 to $240
Save the date cards: $188 to $293
Thank you cards: $101 to $156

Invitations and Stationery Total: $1,103 to $1,714

OUR WEDDING:

Bridal shower invitations: $0 (I did not have a bridal shower)
Guestbook: $0 (No guest book at our wedding)
Invitations & reply cards: $50 (ordered online)
Personal stationery: $0
Save the date cards: $0 (Did not have these)
Thank you cards: $20?? (Purchased at Staples)

Postage: $100.00

Invitations and Stationery Total: $170.00

Rings

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Engagement ring: $5,271 to $8,187
Her ring: $1,063 to $1,652
His ring: $749 to $1,164

Jewelry Total: $7,083 to $11,003

OUR WEDDING:

Engagement ring: $0 (My ring was passed down from husband's grandmother)
Her ring: $200.00 (Found antique wedding band on Ebay)
His ring: $300.00 (Had his ring crafted at local jeweler)

Earrings for Her: $50

Jewelry Total: $550.00

Honeymoon

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Honeymoon: $4,244 to $6,592

Bridal consultant/planner: $1,525 to $2,368

Honeymoon/Planning Total: $5,769 to $8,960

OUR WEDDING:

Honeymoon: $0 (We did not take a honeymoon after our wedding)
Bridal consultant/planner: $0 (No wedding planner)

Honeymoon/Planning Total: $0

Photography

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING: 

Photographer: $2,328 to $3,615
Videographer: $1,691 to $2,627

Photographer/Videographer Total: $4,019 to $6,242

OUR WEDDING:

Photographer: $600.00 (Found our guy on Craigslist)
Videographer: $0 (Did not video our wedding)

Photographer/Videographer Total: $600.00

Reception

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Reception beverages/bartender: $2,537 to $3,940
Bride/groom hotel: $319 to $495
Cake: $613 to $953
Cake knife set: $49 to $76
Cake topper: $47 to $73
Reception decorations/centerpieces: $1,225 to $1,904
Favors: $409 to $635
Reception food service: $8,637 to $13,415
Reception location: $2,808 to $4,362
Reception rentals: $1,257 to $1,953

Reception Total: $17,901 to $27,806

OUR WEDDING:

Reception including food and service: $11,250.00 (November day wedding at Somerville Elks with buffet dinner and open bar)

Reception beverages/bartender: INCLUDED
Bride/groom hotel: $??
Cake: $535 (local bakery)
Cake knife set: $0 (Why do we need this again?)
Cake topper: $0
Reception decorations/centerpieces: $0
Favors: $0

Tips: $280

Reception Total: $12,065.00

Transportation

AVERAGE NJ WEDDING:

Car rental: $346 to $538
Limo rental: $763 to $1,185

Transportation Total: $1,109 to $1,723

OUR WEDDING:

Car rental: $0 (Father in law drove us to the hotel from the reception)
Limo rental: $0

Transportation Total: 0

GRAND TOTALS

Average NJ Wedding, Grand Total Low End: $68,567.00

Our Budget NJ Wedding Grand Total: $18,168.00

Source of Average NJ Wedding Costs: CostofWedding.com

Average Cost of NJ Wedding

Pic courtesy Huffington Post

So, I was doing a little online research trying to find out what the average bride and groom shell out for their entire wedding. I quickly came upon this article from RealSimple.com.

Frankly, I was shocked and appalled. After reading, I did a quick comparison of what we spent on all aspects of our wedding, from attire to honeymoon (or lack of, ha ha) -- and we were far under their supposed budget. Unless I did the mental math wrong, it looks like the lowest numbers on their wedding day expense list still, when totaled, reached close to $70,000.00.

That is unbelievable! And the fact that this is what sets the bar for what so many young and naive brides expect they (or their parents) should be spending is really kind of sad.

I was never one to follow the herd, and if you're not either then it will be completely satisfying for you to say that you spent less than a quarter of the going rate for weddings in NJ.

If you're truly interested in doing that, then I recommend you read this blog and pay close attention to what I'm saying.

You might find some really practical and sound advice here on how to budget your wedding in a way that sets you up nicely for a little nest egg that can count toward your mutual life together.

Anyway - that scary wedding expenses article again!