For those who got engaged at Christmas ( Hint...I think we need a Wedding Section!)

[kkuchma]

My cousin just got engaged and wants my help planning and getting deals so this is great! Start posting everyone!! lol

[Tripsplanner]

I have attended both backyard weddings (one in downtown TO and one in Kingston by the water) and destination weddings (resort in ON, in the Caribbean & in Umbria, Italy) - both are lovely but if pressed, I would say I enjoyed the backyard wedding more. It was smaller group of people, I was not stressed in trying to organize my leave/ travel and while I love spending time with my friends, I was tired from the '3-day wedding-a-thon' events with no option of escape (without being rude!).

The thing I really loved about the backyard wedding was it was mostly done with help from family and friends. It brought forward the true meaning of a wedding - the witnessing of two people joining their lives together. Everything else is just props!

Then again, who didn't dream of a fairy tale wedding?

On a side note, if you ever want to check out wedding gowns in TO and help a charity at the same time, check out the wedding gown store run by a charity called "Windfall". All the wedding dresses are brand new and sold at minimal price. I helped tagged those dresses (and paint the store) when I volunteered there in the summer!

[g_skywalker]

destination weddings are great IMO but and its a big but, you have to have family members that can make it work and as the bride and groom you need to not pick your dream resort. Pick one that is good value so that your guests don't have to spend a fortune. I wanted to do it and we picked a resort that would have been $700 all in per person(4.5 star in the Mayan). I went to my cousin's wedding in cuba, wished I had stayed home, it was a horrible resort that they loved and it cost($1350 each) us more for that 4 star resort in cuba for 1 week than it cost for any 2 week trip we ever went on all inclusive. I hear that amongst way to many destination weddings, bride and groom pick the resort they want and the price for everyone is horrible.

[momof5boys]

Coming from someone who has been married many years, I think it's crazy to go all out for one day....we didn't, and our wedding was beautiful.

Money would be best spent for a down-payment on a home.

Ducking now. lol

Totally agree! I have a son getting married this year and am thankful that they are of the same mind set

[cally]

TEACH ME please...............!!!! Lol. JUST got engaged on Dec 25th @ 12:10am!! We're planning our wedding in our yard (which is huge) and we're looking between 75-90ppl. We're going to check out the most adorable hall for the reception (I can see it from my house!! How convenient is that?!?!) We've picked September 22nd (so about 9 months to plan) the fall equinox too! My fiance and I are paying for this ourselves - both my parents have passed and his mom isn't financial secure. SO....with that being said. ANY ideas/tips/suggestions would be BIG help. Our budget is somewhere between $10-15. Or UNDER.

I know I know, I will never convince brides that a wedding is a waste of money(sure didn't work with my wife, lol) but here are two hints:

1) you still have time to say no(lol), or if you insist on getting married
2) Get married in clothes you already own, with a ceremony in your yard or house with no decorations, flowers or other wedding stuff and then have d'œuvre's for the guests that you got free via coupons. Then take all the money saved and put it towards something that is actually worthwhile like a house or kids education acct.

yours truly,
man about to be attacked by all the ladies in here, lol.

(PS: I am a man who has been happily married for 11 years and got a deal on every single item in our wedding, got a 40k wedding for about 6k, even got our 2 week honeymoon in DR sort of free by planning to get married just before the end of the year, ie wrote wife off on taxes)

[itsjustmebub]

If you have one nearby (not sure if it's only toronto) go to DAVID'S BRIDAL.
My dress (gorgeous) was under $300 new ... and you can take home ALL of their dresses off the rack OR they will order you a new one if they don't have your size. So you don't need to wait the standard 6-9 months or pay extra for a rush.

my shoes were $50 and they are FABULOUS

[itsjustmebub]

I agree with the previous posters about not going completely nuts on the wedding.
MY fiancee and I are getting married in about 3 weeks and we decided to keep it very small. 42 people, small budget we rented out a whole local restaurant that is new and very classy and we are keeping the menu small but filling (no need for 5 courses that no one can stomach!) and having our closest friends and family.

Best wishes to all of your whom are planning!

[mimi-]

congrats to all the newly engaged couples!
i'm not engaged yet but hopefully soon

I'm getting married in 8 months on a $5,000 budget and will make it happen. Most of the biggies are booked including purchasing a $40 gown on Dinodirect LOL

can you post a pic of the dinodirect gown?
i'd love to see how the dress looks in real life compared to the stock pics

[glowworm2k]

I'm not in the market to get married, but it really makes me smile seeing so many folks so excited! Congratulations to you all!


Weddings can be very inexpensive if you're careful and budget. I love backyard weddings and keeping things understated. Some of the nicest weddings I have been to have been in backyards, campgrounds (sounds weird, but was fabulous) and even one very memorable city hall wedding.

If you want to go really super fancy, it still doesn't need to be insanely pricey. When my Dad got married for the third time (I know, I know...), they did a really nice wedding. They held it at the Niagara College culinary school. The entire wedding party wore whatever they wanted and everyone looked great. The entire celebration - including ceremony, dress, appetizers, meal, drinks, DJ, favours (bottles of wine), photos, etc. for 60 guests (and my family drinks waaay too much ), plus hotel rooms for the immediate family and wedding party, cost about $6000... it could've been way cheaper, but they did open bar all night and a really, really high-end meal. Limiting the bar to beer and wine, and going for something cheaper than rack of lamb would've easily brought the entire day below $5000 for them...

[gracesmommy]

i got engaged 11 years ago . still can't get myself to the wedding dress part yet. congrats to those who got engaged. i'd also love a wedding section. so many pretty d.i.y projects.

[leavitts77]

When you compare it to something like a backyard wedding ofcourse its more expensive. Not when you compare it to somewhere nice like a resort/wedding facility/country clubs.
Which is what we would've been doing otherwise.
I just feel something like a backyard wedding is really tacky - which I'm sure a lot of ppl on here will disagree with me.
Dollar store shopping wouldn't of cut it for me.
For us we saved a lot of money. People that would've had to travel 5+ hours, pay $200 for a hotel a night got a great vacation instead.

I dont lol but i totally respect your opinion and hope others on here do as well. We are using all the money we save and fix up the house and save for our 3 kids. Its not about a fancy wedding its about getting married to th eone you love this subject is kinda like corperate christams. I think that playing alot of games on the co,puter all day is tacky and rather do something productive

[loftywater]

Me too!!! Congrats to you and the others who are tying the knot. We've picked Sept 2012 so not much time, but in a way it's also lots of time - less options means less choices to be made


Awedding section would be amazing!

Congrats to you too! Except we have set a date or anything... Was thinking of Aug 2012... No set date tho! But reading this section has given lots to think about. Although I want the wedding dress of my dream, think I'd settle for a cheaper price

Congrats to everyone who got engaged and best wishes in your hectic wedding planning and many smiles and years to follow. But years and years of happiness too!!

[canadablue]

It's a give/take. Often the wedding gifts/cash offset the cost of the wedding itself, if you don't lose your mind when you're spending.

I'm getting married in September and would LOVE a wedding section. I'm DIYing my little heart out and chasing deals.

Highly recommend The Bride's Project (http://www.thebridesproject.com/). I bought my dress there in November. It's all donated dresses, either from brides or bridal shops, some have never been worn. They range from $300 and max out at $1200ish, even if the dress is worth some ridiculous amount.

More importantly, it's entirely volunteer-run and ALL the money goes to cancer charities. Got a great deal on a gorgeous dress and made a donation to charity instead of a bridal shop's profits.

** Edited to add: they sometimes have little cards on the dresses, from the previous bride, telling them about the dress and wishing them luck on the nuptials.

[cally]

I would love a wedding section. Please SC powers!!! We're planning Sept 2012 too! So I know what that other poster means---it feels like ya we have time...but than you think how fast time goes!! I've been engaged a whole two weeks and I have just about everything 'picked' out in our minds. For our BACKYARD TACKY WEDDING! Which it will NOT be. (no worries...I'm not offended...I'm just a loudmouth! lol) My fiance and I are paying for the entire day ourselves and we would rather put money into fixing up our backyard (which is already quite beautiful) and have our intimate - romantic day underneath the tree we love on our property with all the people who love us there. We are having our reception at an beautiful historic building across from our house that rents out for $200!!! Plus an additional $150 for clean-up (worth it!) Plus we have many friendors that have offered for years (if he ever popped the question) to help us out. I'm hoping that with the amazing ppl on here and the amazing ppl around me that we'll be able to pull it off! Congrats on all who are newly engaged!

[itsjustmebub]

I've heard wonderful things about The Bride's Project as well!