What are the usual costs? What are some ways to save money on them?
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
By looking for sales. I already have my centerpieces. I bought them a couple of years ago even before I met my fiance, lol. I bought these really pretty pinkish colored long thin vases on sale at Dominicks for about $1.50. I bought enough for 40 tables. There is SOOO much you can do with them and after we are done, they go back in the boxes to be taken out again later. :)
You can go to fabric stores and buy large swatches of colorful fabric yourselves to create a stage. For my sister's wedding, we rented poles and built a stage ourselves with yards and yards of red and white fabric. We lined everything with strings of fresh flowers and it looked awesome.
You can take advantage of Christmas sales and do all of your mehndi and mayun decor shopping then...I did just this past season.
Its all I can think of right now...
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
I recommend you get a professional stage decorator for both the wedding and the valima as for the mehndi day have sum of ur crafty friends/cousins/siblings get together and decorate it make sure you approve of the theme for the mehndi you can set up a floor seating for the dholki and the rest obviously table seating. If you don’t want to buy vases or any other table setting material look for a party supply rental places near you and shop around to see who gives you reasonable rental quotes.
Also, if you surf the web u'll find numerous websites to purchase wedding materials if you can, try to get material for the baarat and valima bc the more u buy the cheaper it becomes and have the groom's side give you the $ for it maybe if you tell me wut ure looking for specifically i can help you out as i am a wedding/event planner.
Where are you located maybe I can assist you in planning ur big day for a reasonable price.
hey
the cost can be anywhere from hundreds to thousands.here are some of my suggestions on how to go about all of this:
BEFORE you set up a budget, you should think about what you want. Note that having fresh flowers will usually add a lot to your cost. When you decide what you want, got to a few decorators (at least 2) and see how much they charge for what you want.
based on what quotes you receive, you can then think about if you need to scale back on what you want or not. for example, if you want a stage with chairs and lots of a accessories and you are quoted about $1600 for this - think about if thats how much you want to spend. If you want to spend less (about 900), you may need to scale back on accessories for example, or bring your own chair to the hall.
there are lots of decorators that will work on your budget. You tell them what you want, they will show you what designs they can provide at that cost. Sometimes, some decorators will even add more!
A little trick that I am doing is I am getting married at the masjid. I am going to get flower arrangements for the ceremony at the masjid then transport them to the reception! cool huh?
for centrepieces, i am ordering them online HANDS-DOWN. I found really nice pieces on ebay which I will use. You can get CPs for so cheap on ebay - like at $5 a piece!!!
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
Depends what country you live in. If in UK or PK - then I can tell you different costs.
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
I would suggest getting centrepieces on your own or making them even !! I had 40 tables at my wedding so getting my CP's from my decorator was getting to be a bit pricey especially the ones I liked ! I went to IKEA and found these really cheap vases for 1.99 and I IMMEDIATELY stockd up on them 8 months before the wedding ! I went to an aquarium store and got colored pebbles/rocks for dirt cheap and those were my fillers and the rest of the stuff i got from Micheals/craft stores. I did this over a period of 5 months so I wouldn't have the financial burden of buying everything alll at once ! Also what torontobride said - i told my decorator what my budget was and I told her what kind of things i liked/didn't like. All in all.. enjoy it all !! cuz those couple of days will pass by so fast it leaves you thinking "I spent months and months planning for this all and its over in just a matter of days !!"
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
^ do u have any pic of ur CP?
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
buy in bulk! find wholesalers in your area- i know i found several places in mississauga where i spent very little buying my vases for the wedding. you usually need a vendor permit to buy from them so if you know anyone who has a business or a store, you can ask to use theirs.
same goes for flowers- instead of hitting up a florist, call nurseries in your area and see what they can do for you. if a florist will only charge you the labour for arranging your centrepieces, it'll be cheaper than them buying flowers for you too- they obviously have their own markup's.
consider using flower petals instead of whole flowers. for eg. a nice silver matka surrounded by rose petals on the table, with some water inside it. add a few floating candles and some rose petals in the water too and it will look gorgeous, and provide ambience but not be as expensive as an all-flower centrepiece. great for mehendi's!
you can buy those in bulk from pakistan or check online.
if you get tall thin centrepieces, you can also slide chooriyan over them all the way down to the base to dress up your vases. i know a lot of people choose colored pebbles or marbles, but multicolored sparkly chooriyan would look pretty too and they're not expensive.
you can also buy embroidered overlays from pakistan. these are usually just square pieces of fabric that sit on top of the tablecloth and can add a lot of sparkle to the look. if you have any family there at all, send them the dimensions and have them get them made for you. you can either keep them for future weddings or rent/sell them to wedding vendors later on. a table overlay will usually cost anywhere from $10 to $20 per overlay- make sure to keep your custom made-overlay costs under that and you're golden!
centrepiece holders don't always have to be glass- they can be wooden too. your local hardware store should be able to help you make those, or you could take a quick lesson from them. i know it sounds far fetched, but its really not- just takes a bit of effort and creativity and if you know you've got months, why wait? it could be a great project for you and your fiancé to work on. at the very least, you can get the wood cut at the hardware store (like home depot or lowe's) and after that, its just glue and some nails here and there. then you stain it and voila! gorgeous wooden boxes for centrepiece. if you make them a bit shallow, you can add in moss, pebbles or simple sand, and arrange a few orchids and candles on top. you can also incorporate branches into your stage decor... those are available for free courtesy of mother nature. take a walk to your local park and pick them!
use seasonal and locally-grown flowers-- off-season and imported flowers are expensive.
also, ask around. there are so many deals to be had if you just know the right people- talk to everyone you know- your colleagues, friends, family, even vendors you meet. your florist might know a really good baker who'll give you a discount, or your stage designer might know a good DJ. a lot of vendors band together and have a little circle where they promote each other- use that to your advantage.
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
shay, it depends on what you want.....buying stuff wholesale will save you a lot of money, look for deals..and stock up...
i rented all my stuff....for the sake of storage issues..etc..
flowers which is the biggest chunk of your decor......again..whats your budget? your outcome/style and ideas come AFTER you determine your budget.
also will you be dividing the work...b/w you and your vendors..??
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
[QUOTE]
consider using flower petals instead of whole flowers. for eg. a nice silver matka surrounded by rose petals on the table, with some water inside it. add a few floating candles and some rose petals in the water too and it will look gorgeous, and provide ambience but not be as expensive as an all-flower centrepiece. great for mehendi's!
[/QUOTE]
Thats a great way to cut costs and looks lovely too
By looking for sales. I already have my centerpieces. I bought them a couple of years ago even before I met my fiance, lol. I bought these really pretty pinkish colored long thin vases on sale at Dominicks for about $1.50. I bought enough for 40 tables. There is SOOO much you can do with them and after we are done, they go back in the boxes to be taken out again later. :)
You can go to fabric stores and buy large swatches of colorful fabric yourselves to create a stage. For my sister's wedding, we rented poles and built a stage ourselves with yards and yards of red and white fabric. We lined everything with strings of fresh flowers and it looked awesome.
You can take advantage of Christmas sales and do all of your mehndi and mayun decor shopping then...I did just this past season.
Its all I can think of right now...
Hey PSquared, do you think you could post pics of the stage you created and the CPs and other deco u bought?
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
shay - Center pieces you can do yourself and on budget. Renting them will be a waste because you can get pretty good deal on them. Go to Michaels, craft stores even doolar store etc for tons of ideas.
I would recomend renting the aisle pieces. You dont want to buy those and they are pretty big.
The stage decoration and lighting - I would leave to the experts or find someone in your community. There are TONS of aunties here that have such a good eye for these things and they would do an excellent job for 1/4 for the price of professional decorators.
You can also go to the place where you are having your event and they will also recomend few places.
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
Shay for my wedding and walima, the halls took care of all the decorations I had in mind. All I had to provide them with was some extra candles since I was obsessed with them and mind you they add a GORGEOUS touch so keep them in mind. But since I had desi vendors both days they were more than happy to set things up for me and do things my way.
For the mehendi, I had to do things my own way myself since we were only getting the hall, tables, chairs and food. I bought color coordinated tablecloths, napkins and cups from 99 cent stores and Party City. Most of shopping for candles, flowers, streamers and balloons was done at various small discount stores which were a blessing for me, especially since I love in New York and I was on a budget!
For my stage, my dad's best friend had a wooden mandap in his house which the men set up the morning of the mehendi. They decorated it with shiny gold wallpaper, yellow/green flowers, yellow green candles, and a takat with colorful cushions and a backdrop to die for.
Another important note***
I thought I was superwoman and that I could do all the decorating myself but that is near to impossible considering that you have to take care of yourself, your guests and everything in between which is not easy. I know friends that gave decorations priority over their looks and others vice versa. It all depends on you. Make sure you can count on at least 3-5 other people that can help you with decorations and that they are done on time the way you would like it to. I wanted to go decorate my mehendi hall sooo bad, but the aunties would not even entertain that thought and plus I had freshly done mehendi all over my hands and feet and so I had to rely on others to do the deed.
This is a GREAT point. I am extremely artistically inclined, very creative. I fell in love with a manzanita centerpiece online that costs over $300 Swarovski Crystal Complete Tree Set - Includes 20’ Crystal, Branches, Filler & Stand - Adjustable 4.75’ - 5’ Tall
I figured out how to make it at home and ordered all the pieces. Mashallah I came extremely close in mimicking the design exactly and only spent about $60 per tree. The problem was that my wedding was thousands of miles away from where I lived. There was no way I could make dozens of these these gorgeous manzanita trees at home and ship them to where I was to be married. And it was ridiculous to think that I could make them over there even if I flew in early. Logistically, it was too much work.
And I didn’t want to run around on my wedding day making sure my crystal trees were perfect. As a result we are paying a hefty premium for stage decor, linens, centerpieces, cake table, gift table etc. But in my opinion, it is money very well spent. I have complete piece of mind and don’t have to worry about how everything will come together.
Someone else will handle that headache and I am essentially paying for my peace of mind! Also, if you’re going for maximum impact, invest in good lighting. Another thing to consider would be fresh flower alternatives; candles, dead brances, etc. Fresh flowers are quite expensive and the costs add up.
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
hey guys if you search on the web there are really cool yet cheap flowers that can be purchased at a wholesale price that is open to the public u dont need a business license to purchase them here are sum really great websites i will be purchasing my wedding flowers from here. They have excellent wedding packages and it comes with all the foliage (the greenery that goes in the center peices with the flowers) also if the bride to be or anyone she knows is crafty they can buy flowers from here and make a bouquet to hold on the wedding day and it'll be so much cheaper to make than to buy it from a florist.
here are the websites for the wholesale florists:
growersbox.com
sunkingwholesale.com
flowersandfreshness.com
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
^ awesome links! thanks!
question: are you in the US? because i'm thinking will Canadian customs cause hassle about bringing in live flowers?
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
if anyone is interested in learning how to make the centerpieces go to theflowergod.com and he shows you step by step in making the centerpieces.
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
I am in the US but sunkingwholesale.com does deliver to Canada go to its website click on "services" and it gives you all the info u may need the only thing is that they are charging I guess a bit more for the shipping but im pretty sure its still worth it compare to the overpriced florists.
growersbox.com doesn’t deliver to Canada but on their website they will be soon
and flowersandfreshness.com I am assuming deliver to Canada since they are located in Ecudaor so im more than sure they deliver to Canada.
If I were you I’d drop them an email and just find out the shipping fees b/c that seems to be their only concern u may just want to know how much more will it cost.
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
^ thanks so much!
Re: Cost of decor- stage/ aisle/ centerpieces/ lighting
Not a problem SGC if you have any other questions about the decor especially about hte centerpeices dont hesitate to ask ive done loads of research on it and may be able to assist you. I am also in the process of becoming a wedding planner so i dont mind sharing what i know.