Paying for a chasuna

Ruchel

Thu, Sep 18 2008, 3:50 am

Save.
Do 50/50 with the other family, more if they're really rich and you really poor.
Don't put more money than you can.

You don't HAVE to go into debt. I don't think I know many people who do/would. But again, I don't know many 300+ guest wedding either. So think, who is important to be there, and who is not (= you don't need the chosson/kalla's whole class, just their friends, and certainly not the whole school - a thing I could never understand unless their checks repay the ceremony?).

su7kids

Thu, Sep 18 2008, 5:44 am

Keep it small. The only real way to keep the costs low is to have less dinner guests. Make a small meal and invite everyone for dancing and dessert.

The main thing is to keep costs down.

a 5 piece band is not essential
big enormous expensive center pieces are not essential

Get some low interest rate credit cards and transfer balances.

Dress - gmach

su7kids

Thu, Sep 18 2008, 5:52 am

I'm not sure I agree with the money that the chossen and kallah receive as gifts to go towards paying for the wedding.

Usually, if the parents can't afford a big wedding, then the chossen and kallah won't have too much to start their life with ad they need that money.

I do believe they should give maaser, though.

Tamiri

Thu, Sep 18 2008, 7:13 am

sarab wrote:

Any advice on how to pay for a chasuna without going into debt?

Well, if you have nothing budgeted and live hand-to-mouth with no savings, there is no way to make a wedding without borrowing. If you are in that situation, the smartest thing is to make the wedding as inexpensive as possible so you aren't paying for a wedding for years to come. Something nice and simple - all that matters in the chuppa and kiddushin and a seuda. Oh, and the rest of their lives...

yOungM0mmy

Thu, Sep 18 2008, 7:39 am

No big suggestions, but see every place where you can save. eg: at my friend's wedding, we did the centrepieces. They bought pillar candles and glitter, and we went round, put 2 or 3 on a table, made a "sun" out of glitter around it, and that was it. Nice, simple and cheap, no need to pay $100 plus for centre pieces, times however many tables. See if you can get one friend to do that, it takes maximum half an hour. you can cut out the soup course. you can get a friend to do a home video - honestly, how many people watch it more than twice, if that even? you dont need to give out those candied almonds, I didnt, and no one missed them at all. get a dress from a gemach, or if you must, rent - it's a quarter of the price at least of buying or making. a one man band on a keyboard can be just as nice as a 5 piece band....

SingALong

Thu, Sep 18 2008, 3:34 pm

I heard of these chasunah programs where for a certain reasonable sum of money htey arrange the hall, food, photagrapher, flowers, furniture for couple, plus chosson and kallah gifts. they can get it for cheaper cuz do it in bulk. like they will order 100 bedroom sets or something.
I rememebr seeing it advertised in boro park a couple of years ago, but haven't seen anything recently

mummiedearest

Thu, Sep 18 2008, 4:58 pm

if you really want fresh flowers, go to a florist that has not dealt with jewish weddings before. ones that have charge an arm and a leg cause they know they can. we had beautiful flowers, and the florist had to be told how to do everything. but it was gorgeous and simple. and it cost a fraction of "experienced" florists' prices.

shop around for everything. ask a friend if you can use her wedding dress. provide the wine yourself. don't bother with a color scheme and family gowns. they can dress beautifully without having to have the dresses made.

keep the guest list short. get married in the off season so hall rental is cheaper. go straight to the apartment after the wedding, not a hotel. not all the sheva brachot require the kallah to show up in a $400 suit. arrange for people to host sheva brachot, don't bother with restaurants.

wedding videos are not really necessities. get a friend to videotape if you want one. anyone with a computer can edit a wedding video. don't get the parent albums from the photographers. get a cd with full sized pics from the photographers so you can order cheaper prints.

don't get tons of diamond jewelry for the kallah. she doesn't need it. the young couple can discuss which gifts they will and will not buy each other. they should be responsible to pay for these gifts, not the parents.

hmmm...

it's been a while since I planned my wedding. I'll think of other things, I'm sure.

rachel6543

Mon, Sep 22 2008, 9:09 pm

My husband and I did our wedding on a tight budget. Ways we saved money -

1. Negotiate!!! Negotiate!!! Negotiate!!! Negotiate!!! Never ever pay the printed price. With the wedding hall I used, I told them up front I was on a tight budget and they really worked with me on pricing; I saved thousands of dollars doing that. For appetizers, we just did a fruit/veggie display. I got them to give me free children's meals. They didn't charge me for several meals because there are always "no shows." ...etc just some ideas.

2. Same with flowers. I did use real flowers for the center pieces, but I negotiated with the guy I used. I told him up front what my budget was, and he worked with me. The first several places I tried laughed at my budget. But if you ask around and negotiate, it is possible to find something affordable. Also, my mother made the flower baskets for the flower girls and used petals from her own garden.

3. Take advantage of gemachts. I rented my dress from the gemacht. My bridesmaids got their dresses at a gemacht.

4. Print your own wedding pictures. My uncle (a retired photographer) took my wedding photos and gave us digital copies. We printed pictures out at Costco and framed the pictures ourselves. Right now I'm working on making my wedding album using Shutterfly.com.

5. Keep the guest list down for the meal. I ordered extra desserts and invited many of my friends for the dancing.

6. Print your own invitations. We designed our own wedding invitations and printed them ourselves.

7. We ordered benchers/kippas online.