adminTips to plan your wedding on a budget
1. Avoid guest list bloat
Although you might be tempted to throw everyone you know on your guest list, that isn’t always a great idea. With each addition you make, you’re adding additional costs while also making your wedding less intimate.
Make it a day to share with people that you really care about whose best wishes mean a lot to you rather than everyone that you know and others that you don’t.
2. Ask for wedding help instead of wedding gifts.
For most people family and close friends are part of the wedding planning committee and they usually pledge some help towards the wedding bill. Go one step further and identify people in your circle who offer services needed who can charge you at cost price in lieu of presents. For example people like photographers, caterers, décor artists as well as those with PA systems.
3. Outdoor venues can be anywhere
Renting a building or function hall for your ceremony and reception can be very expensive. Instead, consider using your own home (or the home of a parent or friend or relative) for your ceremony.
You can decorate it to your fancy with less than half what you would have paid for a hired venue. It’s best to have a back-up plan in case of bad weather like rains or an unexpected chill in the middle of summer
4. Do the catering yourself, or hire a family-owned restaurant
Hiring caterers has become mandatory for any function be it wedding or funeral. But if you have limited the number of guests you can rope in friends and family who are not part of the bridal party to do the food.
If you do not have enough people to call on you can employ some local teens to work under the supervision of an accomplished cook. Just make sure that they are over 16 to avoid charges of child labour!
5. Go minimal with the flowers.
Instead of spending boatloads of money on flowers that will die shortly after the reception, keep it simple but elegant. If you know someone with a rose bush, you can actually make your own bouquets the day before the ceremony by cutting the roses yourself and trimming away the thorns.
If simple does not do it for you, try mixing genuine with good quality fake flowers. It’s likely that no one will even notice.
7. Make your own invitations
There are a lot of beautiful templates on the net with simple instructions for adding your information. Then all you have to pay for is the paper and the printing. If you have your own capable printer the cost goes to almost nothing.
8. DJs are all around you
If you are not technologically capable, get a young person to help you. Create a playlist on your iPod that features a few hours’ worth of your favourite songs. Cue up a clever young person to do the honours and with adequate rehearsals they will be as good as any professional.
9. Stock the bar yourself
Alcohol is a big expense when it comes to a lot of weddings, and it’s also a big variable you can play around with to cut costs. Instead of opting for a full open bar, for instance, you can save money offering just beer and wine, or a free cocktail hour followed by a cash bar.
10. Display ‘vendor cards’ in exchange for reduced rates
If you’re hiring people to provide services for your reception (musicians, a DJ, florists, caterers, photographers, etc.), offer to advertise for them in exchange for reduced rates.
At the reception, put a small card by each person’s place setting that lists the businesses responsible for each service at the wedding, along with their contact information.
11. Plan a simple honeymoon
Instead of planning a big, expensive trip, focus on what matters: Unwinding after those hectic weeks leading up to your wedding, and savouring some time alone with your new spouse. There are many budget accommodations near the many attractions across the country. Whatever you do, just enjoy this time together.
12. Plan, plan, plan.
When you’re trying to have a wedding on a budget, it’s important to plan ahead. List everything you can think of and walk through these items step by step.
The earlier you get started – and the more things you think about early on – the less “last-minute stress” you’ll have, and the more time you’ll have to find sales and discounts and research other good ideas.
13. Don’t stress
Something will probably go wrong at the last minute – a little detail of some sort won’t work out.
Don’t worry about it. Just assume something little is going to go wrong and avoid the urge to throw money at the problem.
Most likely, no one will even notice the little issue, and quite often someone in your wedding party (or someone helping out) will come up with a pretty good solution to fix things. – thesimpledollar.com/The Saturday Herald Lifestyle
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