|
After
hours and hours of research, here are some of the best, and worst,
money-saving tips that can help you save money on your wedding. Tips
we think are the worst are marked with a (W)
and are entirely subjective based on personal opinion. (See
disclaimer). Also note, you’ll find plenty of resources at the
end of this article - links to other sites on the internet as well
as books, to help you get more information and money-saving ideas.
Our feeling is yes - getting married is a big business - and while a
wedding doesn’t necessarily have to cost a fortune you want to
make sure that the choices you make are right for you. If you go for
the $175 dollar wedding (actual true story we read about on the
internet - the gown cost $8.99 at Good Will) - well…that’s
entirely up to you. What is important is that the choices you make
about your wedding are decisions that you will be comfortable with
in the long run. We feel there is a happy medium between taking out
a mortgage on your first-born and the $8.99 wedding gown from Good
Will. Hopefully these tips will point you in that
direction.
One
of the biggest money-saving tips that recurs on web sites and in
books is the philosophy that you don’t need a professional -
they’re all out to charge a lot of money when an amateur can do
just as good a job for less money or for free. This is the tip that
has me cringing. Yes, you may luck out with an extraordinarily
talented amateur (most professionals start as amateurs) - or, like
me, you may have no photos and live to whine about it. I actually
hear the soundtrack from the shower scene of "Psycho"
every time I see the words amateur and photographer paired together
with wedding. You’re going to spend a lot of time planning your
wedding, you will most likely be wearing the dressiest clothes you
will ever wear and hopefully, will be getting married only once.
Really - if you’re going to hire a professional photographer only
once in your life - this is it! And whether its photography, or any
other service for your wedding day, before you hire a friend,
relative or amateur - take the questionairre in our article "Avoiding
Wedding Day Disasters" and carefully research and weigh all
your options with your family so that the decisions you make will be
ones you are happy about for years to come!
Finally,
some of the best money-saving tips and ideas come from your friends.
Ask around and then decide what fits your taste, style and, of
course, budget.
Wedding
Gowns:
Wear
your mother or grandmother’s gown
(some of the dresses from the 20’s are really gorgeous). Free or
cost of alterations and/or restorations.
Make
your own gown
- Plus - you can save quite a bit of money, downside, unless
you’re extremely skilled this can be a difficult project and
very time-consuming. Some of the summer wedding gown styles would
be easier to make than those with lace and beads.
Purchase
a used wedding gown - from a store, consignment shop or
classified ad in the paper.
Buy
a white prom gown or bridesmaid dress instead of a traditional
wedding gown.
Rings:
Consider
using an heirloom wedding or engagement ring that used to
belong to your grandmother or great grandmother.
Melt
down dental work or bridgework for a wedding ring.
(W)….I
wouldn’t want to wear a dead relative’s bridgework, would you?
There is a difference between wearing your grandparents wedding
rings and wearing grandpa’s gold crown.
Consider
a non-traditional engagement ring. Instead of diamonds, there
are less-expensive alternatives that may save you enough to pay
for the honeymoon. (Obviously, you may not have a choice on
this one)
Veils:
Borrow
a veil from a friend or relative.
Choose
a communion veil instead of a wedding veil.
Receptions:
Choose
a cash-bar instead of open-bar.
Consider
Friday, Sunday or off-season weddings. Some reception sites
have discounts for non-Saturday weddings. We’ve also seen some
reception sites that offer discounts for August weddings. A Sunday
wedding on a long weekend when people have off on Monday may save
you money and still be convenient for your guests.
Instead
of a sit-down dinner consider a lighter menu such as a
champagne & hors d’oeuvres reception or a champagne
brunch/buffet. This can be really elegant if done right - ex.
you could serve gourmet cheeses, chocolate covered strawberries,
one chef at a carving station for hot roast beef sandwiches on a
choice of gourmet breads, etc. Possible sites -outdoors under a
white tent or in a non-traditional site such as an historical
building.
Choose
a caterer for a local fire-hall and use decorations and flowers to
transform the hall.
Have
your friends and family provide all the food for your wedding
in your backyard and have them cater it for you on paper
plates -
(W)…Isn’t
this a picnic? Backyard Tent-Weddings can be very elegant but not
without a lot of planning and to make it look elegant some costs
will be involved like chair rentals and covers - plastic lawn
furniture just won’t cut it if you want elegance. Also, keep in
mind that if your family is catering the event for you - will they
really be able to enjoy it?
Transportation:
One
of the main reasons people hire a limousine or other
transportation service is to ensure that the bride, groom and
bridal party all arrive together, and on time, to the ceremony and
reception sites. If members of your bridal party drive themselves
there is often a period of time where the bridal party is waiting
for one member to arrive for the photos. This can ruin the timing
of your wedding day if one member of the bridal party arrives late
for photos and your reception site is serving food while you’re
still outside having your photos taken.
Have
a friend or relative with a luxury car drive you.
Have
a friend or relative with a minivan take all members of the bridal
party from each site.
Flowers:
One
way to save money on flowers is to avoid getting married on a
holiday such as Valentine’s Day, Easter or Mother’s Day.
Typically, roses and other flowers cost more on the weekend’s
when flowers are typically given as gifts.
On
the other hand, if you do choose to get married around Christmas
& Easter - you can take advantage of the decorations that
your church uses for these holidays - and save on flowers for
the church.
Choose
flowers that are in season.
Choose
a single stem flower such as a rose or calla lily instead of a
bouquet.
Take
the flowers from the ceremony site for use at the reception on
the buffet table or elsewhere.
Choose
artificial or silk flowers. (okay, this makes me cringe too,
but it can be a viable and affordable solution for the
cash-strapped)
Pick
flowers out of your garden, or your neighbors, and make your own
bouquets.
(W) Yeah,
sure…then keep your fingers crossed that the flowers they have
will be in bloom on that weekend and arrange them into bouquets
attractively the night before. Isn’t that when you’ll be at
your rehearsal dinner? Aunt Hilda can stay home alone and make the
bouquets. Is there enough room in the refrigerator for the
bouquets and how long do hydrangeas keep anyway?)
Make
your own floral centerpieces. (Personally I think this is a
bit far-fetched because it isn’t as easy as it looks. I did talk
with one bride, however, who had an interesting idea - she picked
wildflowers and put them in antique milk bottles and used this as
a centerpiece for the tables for a backyard wedding).
Photography
& Videography
Use
an amateur
(W) Even though all
professional photographers and videographers start out as
amateurs, I personally can’t be objective on this one. Hire a
professional or don’t whine about it later like I do.)
Consider
Half-Day Coverage vs. Full-Day - Most photographers don’t
even offer this option but some do and it can be a viable
alternative. Many couples marrying for a second time have
expressed interest in this alternative because they don’t have a
large bridal party and they don’t want a lot of the traditional
shots like the "getting ready at home pictures." If
you’re really strapped for cash I would recommend this option
over using an amateur.
Invitations
& Programs
Look
for money-saving coupons and/or discontinued lines of
invitations to save money
Make
your invitations using your computer. Note, the printing
won’t be engraved, (slightly raised from the paper). Stores such
as Staples carry blank wedding invitations that you can use to
make your own invitations on your laser printer. The quality is
much lower than a professional invitation.
Make
your own wedding programs for the ceremony. This is perfect
for a do-it-yourself project on the computer because it won’t be
too time-consuming and you can see how it will look before you
print it out on good paper (available at stores such as Staples.)
Music
Play
pre-recorded music instead of hiring a band or DJ. (W)
- Boring, of course if this is all you can afford go for it!)
Hire
a disc jockey vs. a band (For the most part this can save you
money but you may be surprised - often a good disc jockey can
charge as much, or more, than a small band. Editor is a big fan of
the live band at weddings.)
Other
Resources - Links & Books
-
Affordable
Wedding Receptions - www.creativehomemaking.com/articles/011300c.shtml
-
Ron
& Debbie’s Penny Pinchin’ Wedding Page - http://home.att.net/~rsenecal/wedpage.html
Note:
Ron & Debbie’s page has some interesting money saving
tips. However, this is also a couple that chose an amateur
photographer. To see their photos visit: http://home.att.net/~rsenecal/wedpage.html
I feel the photos look amateur and are nowhere near the quality
of a professional photographer.
-
http://www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-r.htm#weddings
This page brings you to the subject index of the site The Dollar
Stretcher. Scroll down to weddings and you will find a
comprehensive list of articles and wedding stories from actual
couples and how they saved money.
-
Wedding
Dollars and Sense
http://www.wednet.com/wedsense/wedsense.asp
A wealth of articles to check out here with money saving tips
and ideas such as "An Enjoyable Wedding Reception on a
Budget of $5,500."
-
Wedding
Ideas Under $100
http://www.wednet.com/lib/under100.asp
-
Things
to Make for Your Wedding
http://www.wedcraft.com/
-
Terrific
Tightwad Weddings: Two Approaches http://www.frugalfun.com/weddings.html
-
Cost
Cutting Tips from USA Bride - this section of their site
features cost cutting tips of their readers http://209.35.217.91/cutcost/index.cfm
-
Free
Newsletter - Bridal Bargain News: http://www.bridalgown.com/bridalbargains/mail.html
plus this site offers brides message boards - read about other
couples and their ideas plus post your own.
-
Five
Wedding Budget Busters http://www.stretcher.com/stories/990726k.cfm
Books
Money
saving tip - before you buy any books, check your local library for
the titles below. Or, order here from Amazon.com.
|