Its becoming increasingly more difficult to plan a wedding with a budget in mind with the cost of everything going higher every year, but if you try it is still feasible to plan that special day on a shoestring. Here are a few tips to help you pinch those pennies and make the dollar stretch as far as possible. If you have already started thinking about getting married and have looked into prices at all then you already know that the rental of a church or other indoor facility will definitely cost you money. This was a surprise to me when I got married; I thought the church would supply their building for free! It was $200 for us to use it from 9am to 11:30. Another requirement with most churches is that you must be a member of the church to be able to get married there. If you opt for some other venue they will probably ask for a deposit and they will usually have a minimum rate that is charged. There are other choices that can erase this part of your bill. If it is a time of the year that is not cold where you live you could get married in a park, on a lake, or if you are lucky, on a beach! The cost of floral arrangements and flowers can be higher or lower depending on the season. You may be able to choose flowers that are similar to the ones you really want but cost an arm and a leg. Also remember that buying a package of some kind will drastically lower your total cost as opposed to buying single flowers. The price of a good wedding photographer can be the single most expensive part of the entire event. If you and your groom are agreeable and have a friend or relative who is good with a camera, why not give them a show at it? You may even be able to get a few people to do it. One idea I saw once was to give everyone disposable cameras to take pictures then they left the cameras at the reception to be collected and developed. Contrary to the opinion in some debutante magazines you dont have to spend thousands of dollars to get a nice wedding dress. You can now find factory outlets that offer wedding gowns just like other clothes. Sometimes you can find them as low as a hundred bucks! Shopping online is another choice. For the groom the easiest thing to do is to rent a tuxedo if you are having a formal wedding, if you are having a beach wedding you may just go with a tropical print shirt and light colored pants! You can cut costs for the reception by having yours at a friends or neighbors home if they have a nice yard with a cool setting. If you need more space and need indoor seating then a place like a legion hall may be an option. For catering try your local grocery store first, they usually offer large platters at reasonable prices. The choice to skimp on the honeymoon has to be mutually agreeable by both the bride and groom. You may choose to just do a small simple 3 day weekend and have a full blown honeymoon later. It is up to you. I hope you have found this helpful. |
