Planning a Budget Wedding

Do you want to have a wonderful wedding without spending lots of money? It's not impossible when you use a master budget wisely. This article will give you some tips for planning a low cost wedding and stretching your dollars further.

Planning a wedding on a budget can be a challenge but also a lot of fun. When you're planning a wedding on a small budget, you'll have to be creative, clever, smart and organized.

First of all, you should ask for some recommendations from a wedding coordinator. A wedding coordinator will have a lot of experience in this area and will be able to advise you for the best choices. They will also save you some precious time.

There are many ways to cut corners without looking like you're cutting corners. For example, design and print your own wedding invitations and thank you notes. You can use free software to design them on your PC, and then print them with your own printer. A $50 printer can print super quality pictures.

How to buy without spending lots of money
Wedding Jewelry: If you haven't purchased the ring or rings yet, one of the most economical ways to do so without going into debt is from a pawn shop. Pawn shops always have a big selection of wedding rings and reputable pawn shops are picky about the jewelry they accept. It must be real gold and the diamonds have to be real also. They won't accept cubic zirconia. Since they only loan about a tenth of the value on jewelry, they don't have to mark up the price much when people fail to pick them up.

You should start looking for your wedding dress a few months before the event. If you go shopping in the last few days before the wedding, you may be pressured to buy something more expensive. Choose simple but elegant clothes and you may save hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If you can't find beautiful clothes that you can afford, you may rent them at lower costs, or you may search for discount ones.

If you're planning a wedding on a small budget, you have to look at all the expenses and see where you can compromise. Think about the wedding flowers. If you have a December wedding you can save on flowers. Usually hotels, reception sites, and churches are already beautifully decorated which keeps expenses low. You can reduce the cost of your flowers by a third when selecting seasonal flowers for bouquets. And, who said the bride and the bridesmaids have to carry an entire bouquet? Think of the savings if they only carry one flower. Simply elegant.

One of your biggest expenses will be the reception. A buffet is less expensive than a seated dinner, but have you considered something unique, such as a picnic, barbeque or afternoon tea? If you make the food yourself, you'll save a bundle. Cook ahead and freeze some items. Have family members cook up some family favorites with secret recipes. These will be sure to please every guest in attendance.

You could also bake your own cake. You can find beautiful, easy to make cakes in magazines and on the internet that will rival even the most expensive wedding cake. Not only will you save money, but you'll have a ball doing it. When you're planning a wedding on a budget the key is to plan ahead and get organized.

When you're planning a wedding on a budget, you'll find yourself just shaking your head at some of the prices being charged for things like mint and nut cups. This should be one of the easiest, most frugal details to take care of. Imagination is the key here. You need a container to hold mints and one to hold nuts. It doesn't have to be crystal. Find something that matches your personality. It will be fun being a little different.

Use candles for centerpieces. They're beautiful and inexpensive. You can place flowers on round mirrors to expand their appearance on the tables. Keep the food simple. No one is going to remember the food anyway. They will remember the festivities and the atmosphere in general but the exact dish that was served will fade quickly. Have enough but not too much. You might even consider hors d'oeu rves and mini sandwiches.

If you know someone who has a unique talent, now is the time to flatter the heck out of them. Do you know someone who sings, bakes or takes pictures? Most people are flattered to be asked to participate in a wedding. Maybe you know someone who makes crafts. She might be willing to help out with the decorations. When you're planning a wedding on a budget, think about the things you might be able to borrow like punchbowls, serving pieces and things you would only use once.

Another way to lower the costs of your wedding is to hold your wedding during off-season or on a Friday or Sunday. The fees are much cheaper than for a Saturday event. While you will save money if you have a Christmas wedding, many venues up their prices, especially for a Friday or Saturday night. Consider a Sunday wedding since this is usually an 'off' day for most restaurants and clubs. You could also check at the venue you want to hold your wedding to learn what open dates they have and set your wedding date for that time, rather than the usual approach adopted by people where they go to the venue after finalizing their wedding date.

You can sometimes save a bundle when holding your wedding in a historic home, plus you'll have a more intimate setting. Consider having your wedding, reception or both at a local garden club or botanical garden. Both will offer a beautiful setting all year long, and your decorating expenses will be low. For a more intimate setting, consider a pretty bed and breakfast.

One woman who was planning a wedding on a small budget hit the jackpot. She had been toying with the idea of having a garden wedding but didn't have the garden in which to hold the wedding. What she needed was a friend or relative with beautiful landscaping. She had noticed a particular house with lush landscaping full of flowers and bushes had been on the market for some time. She figured it hadn't sold because it was so expensive.

She approached the realtor for the property she was admiring and proposed a deal. She explained about her upcoming wedding and said how she had long admired the property and asked the realtor to ask the owner if she might hold her wedding there. She offered a small deposit, promised to clean up and also promised that her friend at the newspaper would do a write-up about the whole thing.

To her surprise, the owner agreed! She was ecstatic. She received the rental of the chairs and the folding tables as a gift and borrowed and crafted and drafted everyone she knew to help her. Sure enough, the following weekend her "wedding story" appeared on the front page of the Sunday paper's "Living" section, complete with photographs of the lush gardens and beautiful house. To her delight, the house sold two weeks later.

Where there's a will, there's a way. This woman's story proves that. Not only did she get a free place in which to hold her wedding, but the paper's photographers took a truckload of pictures. When she was planning a wedding on a small budget, she was creative, clever, smart and organized. You can be too!

Weddings do not always need to be expensive, except in the cases where people want them to be. There are many ways to reduce the costs and the only thing you have to do, is to use your imagination. Planning a cheap wedding is not difficult and you can save some money for your honeymoon, for a car or for a new home. It doesn't make much sense to start off your marriage with debt you can't afford and will most likely regret.

I hope the above ideas of planning a budget wedding will be of real help to you.

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