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!

Ooh! We Like this Frugal Wedding Story

Well, you can't get much more budget-friendly than the advice this guy is offering for how to have a super cheap wedding the way you want it. Sounds intimate, original, memorable and fun. Take note of the brilliant cost-slicing ideas he had for saving big on the location, making his own wedding music, limiting the guest list, opting for a different kind of wedding meal, eliminating the wedding dress expense entirely, and other goodies.

Cheap wedding, anyone? Sign me up!

7 Steps for an Awesome, Cheap Wedding

5 Ways to Cut Costs on Your Wedding Day

I was just Googling around and came across a great article published in US News and World Report about how brides and grooms around the country are cutting non-essentials out of their weddings as a means of spending less. Looks like our wedding was right in line with the national trend... very encouraging and good to know!

http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2013/03/18/getting-married-5-things-your-wedding-probably-doesnt-need

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

How to Negotiate Great Prices on Your Wedding

You may wonder how people manage to afford a beautiful, lavish wedding. Do they spend the rest of their lives paying it off? Well... beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and expensive is an opinion. Regardless of what you feel is important to invest in on your wedding day, it's certainly worth speaking up on your own behalf so you can save a little bank.

Image courtesy of GoGirlFinance.com

Some tips for how to negotiate for the best wedding day deal:

Go into this feeling confident. So many people won't even try to haggle on prices... why? Somewhere along the way someone told you to take whatever you get? Well, that's just not so! Practice haggling - the more you do it, the better you'll get at it.

Remember that wedding venue managers are people, too. They have overhead costs to cover, like the monthly rent and bills, the salaries of the people who work at their venue, and tons of other expenditures. They want to earn your business, not turn you away laughing. A little negotiation is all it takes to reach a compromise where both parties walk away feeling like they gained something.

Brainstorm ways to work it out. A Facebook friend shared her wedding-day success story with us. She got a very well-known and respected NJ wedding venue to come down on their price by 10 dollars per plate by guaranteeing at least 150 guests.

Determine what you can live without. Another friend pointed out that, after working with the Macy's Bridal Shop assistant, she was able to find a dress that looked nearly identical to one that had a designer label. By choosing the non-designer dress, she paid less than $500 for her wedding gown. In our case, a spring wedding would have been sweet, but we opted for November because prices were lower during that time of year.

Keep your expectations reasonable. As illustrated in the previous point, you may have to forgo certain luxuries if you want to save a bit of cash on your wedding. It's okay to not have the designer dress, get married at the venue that was your second choice and not your first, and so on. Remember that this day is not about being flashy or extravagant. It's about celebrating your love together, and sharing your joy with family and friends.

5 Reasons to NOT Have an Engagement Party

Should you have an engagement party?

As I mention in various posts on this blog, we chose to have a more affordable NJ wedding that was also simple, yet fun and memorable. Part of this initiative included not having an engagement party. We did this for a few reasons that maybe you, too, might identify with.

Here are 5 Reasons to NOT have an Engagement Party...

You are already living together. From what I've seen, an engagement party is right for the couple who has yet to merge households and pool their material resources together. I believe many NJ brides and grooms register with stores like Macy's, Kohl's, Neiman-Marcus, etc.  in the hope of receiving various household goods in the colors and styles of their choosing. We had no interest in doing this, and in fact we were in the process of offloading things that we didn't want.

You are an older bride and groom. Engagement parties tend to be for the younger set who is just setting out together, starting life from scratch. If yours is a second or third wedding, a wedding of two people who have remained single longer than most, or the marriage of a couple who already has a child or children together, you may decide that you just can't be bothered with an engagement party, and that's great if that's your choice. It means less planning for you, less money spent on the party by whomever is throwing it, and less obligations for your guests to fill (see next point, below).

Consideration for your guests. Weddings are a busy time... life is a busy time. If you're not into having an engagement party then your guests are probably secretly thanking you. No one will be forced to go out and shop for an outfit to wear, take off early from work if it's on a Friday, make an extra trip, or buy a gift for you guys that you probably don't want cluttering up your house anyway.

It's expensive. An engagement party is typically held at a night restaurant or other type of venue, and can cost as much as the wedding hall rental. Many people's parents offer to foot the bill for their engagement party, but then that means that the guests who attend are merely covering their own plate cost rather than giving a gift to help the bride and groom start their life together. If your parents offer to throw you an engagement party but you don't feel it's necessary, maybe they'll feel like they saved some bank and will give you a bigger contribution toward your married future than they would have otherwise been able to afford. 

It will make the wedding all the more special. Since my husband and I opted to not have a wedding shower OR an engagement party, we really felt a special glow of happiness on our wedding day. Honestly, having ONE day where everyone came together to offer their blessing on our marriage felt RIGHT to us. Indeed, it seemed as though the heavens were beaming down on our happy little family through the warm smiles of our adoring wedding guests. 

Don't get me wrong here. If you want to go full tilt and have an engagement party, wedding shower, and whatever else in preparation for your marriage, that is wonderful! Everybody does it differently. I wrote this article so that anyone who doesn't feel like having an engagement party can read some supporting reasons to feel good about their decision. No matter what you do, you're sure to have a happy day/month/year in anticipation for your new, coupled life ahead. Mazel tov and many blessings to you!

Cheap Wedding NJ - Something Borrowed, and Your Frugal Bride Story

Hand-painted glasses added a special and sentimental touch
to our frugal NJ wedding.

Looking for stories from frugal brides who found ways to cut corners on wedding-day prices without sacrificing style, ambiance and romance on their wedding day. Have you found an awesome wedding vendor who managed to work with your modest budget? Did you catch a sweet local deal on flowers, jewelry, cake, or some other aspect of your NJ Wedding?

We want to hear from you. Tell your tale in the comments section below, or share on our Facebook page.

I just took a look at this article on How to Have a Gorgeous Frugal Wedding, and I thought it had some really creative ideas. So today's NJ Wedding on a Budget Article is "something borrowed" - hope you don't mind!