Wedding! im the maid of honor, in college and broke, should i have to pay for bachelorette and bridal shower??
Question:
Answer:
No, you shouldn't pay for a thing. Education trumps some lame wedding for a marriage that has a 50% chance of failing anyway.
Maybe talk to the parents/ other members of the bridal party, friends and explain the situation- that you don't mind organizing, and getting together, but you can not afford all the prizes or what not, could they help out?
find 5 homeless guys bath them and feed them...introduce them as strippers...the end and they lived happily ever after
Just talk to everyone.
For my sister-in-law's "bachelorette party" all we did was meet up at a local resturante and had dinner together and just got to know one another better.
And for the bridal shower, we all pitched in. It wasn't just the maid of honor that did everything.
I have to ask why you'd accept being maid of honor if you knew you couldn't afford anything and you were expected to host something?
Anyway, what's done is done. There are two options here. First, you can host both parties on very little money. You can have the bachelorette party at a restaurant where everyone pays their own tab (be sure everyone brings cash just in case the place won't split the bill for large parties). The exception is that the bridesmaids all chip in for the bride's bill. Be sure to get everyone's ok on this beforehand. So, yes you're going to have to get over your shyness and talk to them. You can also host a bridal shower by "borrowing" a friend's or family member's home for space and have the bridesmaids chip in for groceries for food. Simply finger snacks, a couple of desserts, and drinks will do.
The second option is to have a formal bridal shower (like a catered one). If this is what you prefer, ask yourself if you accepted maid of honor b/c of family pressure. If so, ask these people to help you out with any expenses. If not, ask the other bridesmaids to share the expenses.
Personally, I prefer the first option. Go for cheap!
I am getting married this May. My maid of honor is also in school, and money is tight for all of us. First of all, I would never expect her to pay for the bachelorette party nor the bridal shower. Honestly I don't want either. I told her that I would be very happy with just a nice girls night out with our friends. In the long run it is my day, and I don't care to stress anyone out in order to have a good time.
As far as the shower goes, we are having some people over at my house and everyone is bringing a little something to eat. Maybe you could do something similar. I don't think you should go into debt over being a maid of honor, and I am sure your friend doesn't expect you to either.
Tell the bride you want out of this responsibility because you are broke. Simple as that. Don't feel guilty at all.
No not at all. I am sure your friend knows that you are in a tight financial situation right now.
Get everyone to bring a plate of their favourite foods and enjoy the social occasion together.
The bridal shower is for you all to get to know each other if you don't already so a nice relaxed meal would be the perfect opportunity.
Contrary to popular belief now a days it is NOT another reason to ask for gifts!
Well, you are responsible for throwing them, but you don't have to go it alone. All the bridesmaids are expected to contribute, and you could also get your friend's friends in on it. If you are shy around hte other bridesmaids, throw a simple "get to know you" coffee brunch or something. You can serve coffee and tea, and make muffins, which costs almost nothing.
Also, you can throw these parties on the cheap and have them turn out ok. For the bachelorette party, you could go bowling or something, or simply organize a good old fashioned sleepover. For the bridal shower, you could see if there is a church rec room you could borrow, and you can usually get decorations at craft stores. You could have it be a pot luck, which will cost you nothing and you might score some leftovers. You might also be able to get some of what you need, like audio visual equipment for dancing or movies, from your college. You could see if anyone in communications would be willing to DJ one of these events just to be able to put it on their resume. Basically, you can do this with money or imagination, and since you lack the one, you have to use the other. Good luck- i'm sure it'll all work out.
Oh, dear, what a problem. But take heart, there are several options.
Talk to the people you would like to invite to the shower, and explain you are broke. Have the shower at your place, no matter how small and crowed it is. Ask for money for a cake and punch, and some paper plates, forks, and napkins.. Check out the price on a cake[get an inexpensive one at the grocery] and the plates and punch. Tell people the total you need, minus your share and the brides. I think that people would be glad to help. Go to the local party store, and look at some games for a shower, and copy them at home for nothing. One is giving them a piece of paper with the grooms name written at the top, and a writing implement, and have them see how many words they can make out of it, and set a time limit.
For prizes, go to the local party store. Mine has bins and bins of cheap plastic favors for every occasion. One was a tiny plastic wedding cake, and there were "diamond" rings. Go buy a cheap umbrella, they are $5 at Dollar General, open it up, tie cheap artificial flowers and crepe paper, [or go to Walmart and buy some cheap ribbon], on it. It is the shower umbrella, and it is your gift to the bride. If money allows, buy her a more expensive one.
Crepe paper and balloons are cheap, Dollar Tree has balloons for like six for $2.
I do not know where the bachelorette party got started, but back in my day, we did not do that. Been to a lot of weddings, and not one bride had a bachellorette party. So, if money is tight, skip it. If some bridesmaids want to get together and pay their own way, and of course, someone be the designated driver and pick up the bride, fine. Or, go the cheap way, everybody meet at a bar, buy their own drinks, divvy for a couple drinks for the bride, and call it the bachellorette party.
I have never been to a bridal shower that the cost was not split between at least 2 people.
Sorry, but you are the maid of honor, you do have some responsibility, but only within the budget that you can afford. If the bride is expecting more than that, she should have picked someone else to do the honors. Maybe found her a new rich friend! Make the shower just as fun as you can, laugh, play silly wedding songs on the tape player, watch some old corney wedding spoof movie, sing songs, make up a skit to perform, get baby pictures of the bride and groom, and blow them up, buy some poster board and stick them on it, with silly construction paper hearts, and some majic marker art. find two current pics, and stick them on there, too.
Hit up some friends, bet somebody bought a tape with wedding songs on it, good grief, I even have one, and I am single!
A trick: pick a color, and stick with it, on the paper plates, crepe paper, cake, cheap flowers, ribbon. the party will look pulled together and like you thought it out.It won't look cheap. Find out the brides favorite color, check to see if you can find it on everything, and go there and do that.. The grocery and the Dollar stores are your best bets for cheap matching stuff.
Hope this helps, and try to have a good time!
More Questions & Answers...