Save Money on Your Wedding

Archive for August, 2009

One cheap option for your ceremony and/or reception is to book it all at a bed and breakfast that offers an all inclusive wedding package. Many b&bs offer packages that include a site for the ceremony, as well as the reception; food; sometimes décor; often, photographs – all combined with one or two nights lodgings.

Many offer even more in their packages. Some offer witnesses if you want to elope! B&bs can often be cheaper than purchasing each of these pieces separately. The locations are always beautiful, as is inherent to a bed and breakfast. Plus, if you book well, you’ll already have a built in place for your guests to stay, and/or will already be at your honeymoon destination. Either way, these kinds of packages can save you lots of money.

Check the b&bs in your local area and in any places you were thinking of honeymooning. I did this for my wedding and came out with a beautiful ceremony and reception on the coast for under $4,000.00 total. Now, print your own invitations with a do-it-yourself kit and you’ll still have money left over for a down payment on a house, instead of being in debit for your wedding…

There are many ways to save on a wedding and I’ll share the ones with you that I used myself just a year ago.

First, when it comes to invitations, I suggest going to a copy store or a major chain like Wal-mart and buying the blank invitations with templates and typing them yourself. This is quite expensive (about $20 for a box of 40 plus printer ink), just make sure you find a pretty font such as a script font You can do the same for programs, just try to use the same theme.

Bridesmaids bouquets can be made using artificial flowers. Decide on two flowers that have your wedding colors, buy them in bunches and cut the individual stems off of the bunch, then put them together using floral tape and wrap ribbon around the stems. Also, use fake rose petals (can be found on an online auction site).

Favors are another area that can become expensive. If you know someone good with a computer it doesn’t have to be. Make bookmarks, laminate them, punch a hole in the top and loop a ribbon in the hole. Water bottles are another good idea. You buy the small bottles of water (like the kid size the sell at wholesale places), then you print labels on the computer, remove the label that comes on the bottle and replace them with the labels you make. Attach the label with super glue at the seam and tie a ribbon with a tag around the neck of the bottle. You can also make CDs with your wedding music and print the covers for the jewel cases. All of these favors are inexpensive, you just want to start on the early and get them out of the way.

If you are having a wedding at a wedding venue, like a plantation, a lot of the time if you are pleasant they will throw extras in if you just ask (mine gave me fireworks). Also, if you are having an evening wedding you can use white tulle in the room, and rent artificial floral arrangements from a party rental place, since they usually have candelabras for weddings available for rent. Also candle lighting is great, since you don’t need a lot of decorations if you have enough candles in votives around the room.

You can also save on after wedding transportation and drive your own vehicle, if it is an evening wedding, since you probably won’t leave until all the guest are leaving. If alcohol is going to be served at the reception, you can limit it to the toast and just buy one or two types of champagne and give everyone a glass just before the toast. These are just a few of a ways you can save on weding expenses.

There are many ways to save money on your wedding.

1. When you send out invitations, ask guests to respond by email or telephone – this will save you money on stamps.

2. Check Consignment shops for wedding dresses. You can usually find one still in good condition. Some towns have a shop where you can rent a wedding dress, saving you hundreds of dollars.

3. For religious weddings, consider having your wedding near a major holiday. The church will already be decorated, saving you lots of money on flowers.

4. Ask your friends and family to be a special part of your wedding by helping you assemble favors and make invitations, centerpieces, and other homemade inexpensive touches. Ask them what they did to save money on their special day or check internet sites like DIY for ideas. One of them can easily get an officiants’ license online to save you an additional fee.

5. Instead of hiring a photographer, buy a bunch of disposable cameras for your guests to use. They simply take pictures of what they like and leave the finished rolls at your gift table. You usually get more personalized pictures this way since family and friends know you and it saves you hundreds of dollars.

When it comes to plan your dream wedding, you probably want to have every detail personalized to each of the guests. But it is expensive to plan a wedding and time consuming. There are many corners that can be cut to save your time and money.

For example, the table decor. You don’t need to spend a big part of your budget on your table decor. You can get the decorations are second hand stores and you can do all of them by yourself. There is no need for a wedding planner to work on the table decorations.

For example, you can cut costs down by 50% on napkins, table cloths, utensils, and candles by shop them yourself.

1. Buy napkins that match your wedding color

2. Use white table cloths that are elegant and match any color

3. Go for plastic utensils. You can buy nice looking ones at special wedding stores. If you prefer real ones, then rent or borrow them

4. Go to craft stores instead of wedding stores for your candles.

Plan ahead, and buy in advance can save you lots of money.