Can Someone Really have A beautiful Wedding For Under $100.00?
Still we had a wonderful wedding and reception in 1995 for just under $100.00 total cost. Now if you have been dreaming of a big fairy tale princess wedding ever since you were 5 years old, then this probably isn't the right place for you.
But...If you need to throw a wedding with a hundred or more guests and want to have a really fun and beautiful wedding without breaking the bank...then you are definitely in the right place!
My Garage Sale Wedding Dress
Would you wear a pre-owned wedding gown?
I write articles for a site called helium.com and one of the things they do is debate articles.One of the debate issues was: would you wear a pre-owned wedding gown. Well, since I had worn one, I went ahead and wrote an article about it. That article has been # 1 in that catagory for a couple of months now...so, since it seems to be so popular, and I love squidoo...I said to myself, "Bambi...make a lens about it!"
Plus A lens can have photos and the photos of our wedding just make the story even better.
If you would like to read the original helium article, just click on the banner below and it will open in a new window!
My $25.00 Wedding Dress
A break-down of the cost of our wedding
I found my wedding dress at a garage sale and it cost $25.00, the original reciept for the dress was in the box...it had originally been purchased for $800.00. The woman who sold it to me assured me that it had been dry-cleaned...and it was spotless and in mint condition...and my size. Since I was much bigger then, than I am now...the extra large size mattered.The wedding itself cost $40.00 for the license and the Justice of the Peace fee. I designed the wedding invitations myself and printed them up at a local copy shop. The invitations including postage cost about $25.00.
So total cost = 90.00
Not bad and I'm sure our type of wedding isn't perfect for everyone, but for a couple of old free-spirited hippies like us it was perfect!
The Question That Started it All!
What Do You think?
They say that little girls start planning their weddings almost as soon as they learn to talk. Would a used wedding dress spoil the fairy tale? Or is the love and marriage more important that the dress? Or should the bride be able to have everything exactly the way she always dreamed? Lets debate it!
Would You Wear A Pre-Owned Wedding Gown?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes! Spending a fortune on a wedding is ridiculous!
Summerm says:
I'm the little girl that never dreamed about getting married or having a wedding. But, if I ever were to tie the knot I wouldn't want to spend over $100. A dress is a dress, if you can't wear it more than once it's a waste.
Posted December 12, 2009
MeltedRachel says:
I would definitely buy a pre-owned wedding dress but I'd probably take it apart and re-make it- add some different bits to it and stamp my personality onto it- make it personal, but I don't have a problem with reusing stuff- I think it's a great idea! I've had a look in charity shops but even there second hand out of fashion wedding dresses are around £100!
Posted April 26, 2009
24websurf says:
Since I have now had 2 weddings, you can bet the next one will be more frugal.
Posted April 24, 2009
Heather426 says:
sure, in fact I used to work in a store that rented gowns for weddings.
Posted April 23, 2009
tandemonimom says:
I didn't come in under $100 but I did have a pretty frugal wedding. I made my own wedding gown and purchased material for two bridesmaids' dresses: my sister made hers and the mother of the other girl made hers. Flowers and cake and a few decorations made a beautiful wedding!
Posted April 17, 2009
Wysiwigs says:
Absolutely! Technically, if you think about it, any mother that passes down her wedding dress to her daughter would count as pre-owned right? :o) I drew mine on a piece of scrap paper and actually found a woman to sew it! The total cost (including some fabulous taffeta material) was $175...pretty cool, huh?
Posted April 17, 2009
Ramkitten says:
Oh, by all means, the dress is at the bottom of the list when it comes to what's important about a wedding. Of course, all girls want to feel pretty, especially when they're the center of attention, but it's very possible to cut the cost of a great dress way down.
Posted April 17, 2009
Never! A wedding is a Special Occassion and worth the cost!
Janet21 says:
While I would never wear a pre-owned wedding gown, I also don't feel you need to spend a fourtune on it either. If I remember correctly, my gown cost me around $300 at a Jessica McClintock outlet store. This was in 1993.
Posted April 17, 2009
Wedding Dresses on eBay
These may not cost only $25.00, but a pre-owned dress can shave a big chunk of the cost off a wedding
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Our Wedding Invitations
Jojo And Mel-mel
We used this adorable photo of my youngest son Jojo with my Maid of honor's daughter Mel-mel.These two were the most amazingly photogenic children together.
We actually used different photos of these two in their play wedding outfits, for all of the different cards, from the shower invite to the thank you cards.
We still think they perfectly represented our free-spirited hippie personalities.
Don't Forget the Groom ~ Tuxedos on eBay
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byThe Big Day!
Hidden Falls
On the day of our wedding we first went to our favorite nature spot here in the Highland Park area of St. Paul, Minnesota. It's a little hidden park on the Mississippi River called Hidden Falls.We went with just my Mom and Dad as well as our best man and maid of honor. We took lots of really fun photos and had a really great time.
We also got a good head start on the party aspect of the wedding!
Our 70's Album Cover!
Doesn't this photo remind you of a rock album cover from the 70's?
Hidden Falls Photos
How Much Did You Spend On Your Wedding?
some people spend a small fortune on their wedding, lets see what most people spend.
The $500 Wedding
How to have a beautiful wedding and reception for $500
The $500 Wedding: How to have a beautiful wedding and reception for $500
Amazon Price: $16.98 (as of 12/29/2009)
You really can have a beautiful wedding and reception for $500 or less! There are real and easy tips in this book that will help you get exactly what the title promises, a beautiful wedding for $500. Even if you have more than $500, this book will help you save a lot of money, money that can be used for a down payment on a house, a honeymoon, or building a savings account.
Next Stop ~ the Local Watering Hole
More Celebrating before the Ceremony
After taking photos at the park, we still had some time to kill before the ceremony.So of course we went to the bar!
We played some pool and had a few beers to loosen up a bit before the actual wedding.
Mostly we just had a whole lot of fun!
Check out those snazzy Chucks Hightops the bride is sporting!
Next Stop The Court House
Where we actually Got Married!
We had fun everywhere we went!Our little group met up with more of the family at the court house. Scott's parents, my brother Rock and my Grandma Murphy were among the guests at our small court room ceremony.
Scott of course turned the court room into party central, and was so funny that soon the Judge was joining in the fun.
Our Wedding Ceremony
Our Favorite Wedding Photo!
Budget Wedding Books
The Everything Weddings on a Budget Book: Create the Wedding of Your Dreams and Have Money Left for the Honeymoon (Everything Series)
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 12/29/2009)
Bridal Bargains, 9th Edition: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 12/29/2009)
How to Have a Big Wedding on a Small Budget
Amazon Price: $11.24 (as of 12/29/2009)
The Big Wedding on a Small Budget Planner & Organizer
Amazon Price: (as of 12/29/2009)
The Elegant Wedding and the Budget-Savvy Bride: How to Have the Wedding of Your Dreams for Half the Price
Amazon Price: (as of 12/29/2009)
Another Bar!
After the ceremony Scott's Parents took us all out to dinner.
The party continued on long after the ceremony.We all went to a fancy dinner and drinks, where a few more family members joined the party.
I really don't have a lot to say, because the photos remember more of it than I do.
By this point we had been partying all day long, all I know for sure is that it was a really good time!
After the Wedding Dinner Party!
The Wedding Reception
We had the reception on a different day.
We actually had our wedding reception on a whole different day. It was a really fun potluck style picnic at a park in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, which is my home town.I come from a very large extended family, we had over 300 people at our last family reunion. So the big park with play ground and swimming beach was perfect for our reception.
Lot of my friend and family are musicians, so there was even live music. That is me singing with Tommy on the bottom.
There was mountains of food and all of our friends and family came to play in the sunshine with us and celebrate our marriage.
Another party that we remember very little of, but we've been told that we had a great time, and people are still talking about our wedding almost 14 years later.
Not bad for spending less than a hundred bucks!
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Mystic Mama
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Hello, My name is Bambi aka: Mystic Mama I live in the Highland Park area of St. Paul with my husband Scott. We're just a couple of old hippies now that the kids are all grown up and out of the house. One of the things we've always had in common is...
Thanks For Stopping By
please take a moment to say hello
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Reply
- KimGiancaterino KimGiancaterino Dec 26, 2009 @ 4:11 pm
- I love this lens. You were a beautiful bride. My first wedding gown didn't fit, so I donated it to Out-of-the-Closet and included a note to the future buyer that it had never been worn. It was a gorgeous $800 Jessica McClintock that I bought for a song on eBay (it didn't fit that bride-to-be, either). I hope it made another bride happy. I ran out of time and ended up ordering a prom dress for my wedding, but it was perfect!
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Reply
- ChapelHillFiddler ChapelHillFiddler Nov 25, 2009 @ 6:20 pm
- I hadn't seen this one before. I've played at some great cheap weddings (not as cheap as yours because they paid for musicians)! I'm featuring this lens on my new fan-club-thank-you lens. Thanks.
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- Ener-G Ener-G May 20, 2009 @ 11:06 pm
- Angel blessings!
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- FunGifts4All FunGifts4All Apr 26, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
- Very nice lens. Great job!! 5 *'s.
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- Sojourn Sojourn Apr 26, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
- Such a sweet lens! Great ideas, too. My parents offered me a deal on my first wedding (not that I thought at the time there would be another) and offered us some cash if we'd agree to let them put on a small wedding at their house. Grabbed that deal. Second wedding, I used points in Vegas, had free rooms, a small number of family and friends and we paid almost nothing. I wouldn't have done it any other way. Love your tennis shoes under the wedding dress. :)
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- 24websurf 24websurf Apr 24, 2009 @ 12:24 pm
- I love this lens! Great job and 5*s!
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- Heather426 Heather426 Apr 23, 2009 @ 7:11 pm
- Wow, this sounds like my kind of wedding...the kind you don't remember, I mean, LOL
very fun lens from a fellow rocket mom. 5*
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- aj2008 aj2008 Apr 19, 2009 @ 5:42 am
- This is great - as the Mother of the Bride who is now the Mother of the Divorcee, I cannot help but be just a little bit relieved that it was my Ex who paid for the wedding - sorry but AJ is not that angelic at times!
But seriously, it is not the amount of money that is thrown/spent/wasted on a wedding that counts, it is what is in your hearts and I happen to believe that the more that is spent on a wedding the less personal it becomes.
Thank you for sharing this with us Bambi. Not only is the story lovely but this is a very good lens, which deserves another blessing methinks.
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- JJNW JJNW Apr 19, 2009 @ 3:34 am
- Awesome job, fellow RocketMom! I am a tightwad to the end of time. I LOVE this!
5 stars!
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- C-Joy C-Joy Apr 19, 2009 @ 1:18 am
- Fantastic! I never had fairy-tale wedding dreams, so we had a budget wedding too :)
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About Mystic Mama
Lensmaster mysticmama has been a member since January 8 2009, has rated 2,554 lenses, favorited 287, and has created 119 lenses from scratch. Bambi Watson donates their royalties to Humane Society of the United States. This member's top-ranked page is "Squidoo Support Sites Mentor". See all my lenses
My Bio
Welcome and thank you for visiting my lens.
My name is Bambi aka: Mystic Mama
I am your Citizen Squid Support Sites Mentor, here to help answer any questions you may have about the many different types of sites & tools available to help you along your Squidoo journey.
I am also a Giant Squid 100 club member, an honorary Squid Angel, & a RocketMom.
GNXFSBN8391503
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