In this economy especially, overspending on a wedding just doesn't make sense. Here are a few tips, tricks and ideas from my wedding, as well as a couple things I've come up with since.
1. Comparison shop to get the best deals.
2. If there is a package deal that sounds like a bargain but includes things that you didn't think you needed (or hadn't even thought of having until it was mentioned in the package), find out whether there is a cheaper package without those extras, or even if getting just what you want a la cart is less expensive.
3. Don't limit your dress search to bridal boutiques. I'm not talking David's bridal here (my mother and I stopped in to look at their $99 gowns and found ourselves hectored by a salesgirl to go sign in every time she checked on us, and considering how limited the sale selection was, she must have been coming by every couple of minutes to hassle us about it as many times as she did)
I mean, consider consignment or second hand shops. Check out the prom or bridesmaid sections for something you like. Consider using a relative's dress (if she doesn't mind. And make sure you ask before changing anything! Even letting out a seam). Look on Freecycle (since people give these things away, don't count on the dress being perfect, and you may not find anyone willing to give their dress away, but it's free; if it doesn't work out all you lost is a little time). My "gown" was a white embroidered $35 sundress that I ordered online from a company called Holy Clothing.
4. Think twice before having an outdoor wedding. It may sound charming and seem like a good way to save money to dance the night away under the stars, (no hall to rent, no cake cutting fee) but there are two issues you may be overlooking. One is weather; weddings don't have rain dates, so you need to be prepared for wind, rain, and unseasonable heat or cold. The other issue is that the outdoors does not come with supplies. Whereas most halls come with tables and chairs, and many have dishes, linens, and silverware, the outdoors doesn't offer so much as a floor. You have to provide everything- including any waitstaff and food prep equipment you might need. Depending on the venue, you may even have to deal with toilet facilities. Add up all the stuff you'll have to rent or buy, and indoors will start to look like a deal.
5. If you or someone else who is helping out with the wedding prep is good with computers, you could print up your own invitations, reply cards, placecards, programs, and table signs. This could save you on printing costs, and if you buy you blank cards etc. on sale or with a coupon, you can save significantly more.
6. There can be a big price difference between different types of flowers, and even different varieties of the same flower, so consider the per-stem cost and whether you could achieve a similar effect more cost-effectively. If, for example, you are considering bridal bouquets composed exclusively of a rather expensive variety of rose, consider keeping the bride's bouquet in that rose, but doing the bride's maids' bouquets in roses of a less expensive wedding shade, or doing a mix of the expensive rose and either less expensive roses or a different flower all together. I'm not saying the bride's maids should be limited to carnations and daisies, but if (before you formally agree to anything) you forthrightly ask your florist about ways to make your flower arrangements less expensive, they should be able to come up with better suggestions than having each gal carry a single stem down the aisle.
7. Keep track of due dates and deadlines. Late fees are a useless drain on your budget, and if you loose a vendor because you forgot whether they needed to be paid Thursday or Tuesday you'll be kicking yourself not just for the lost vendor, but also for the lost deposit and the lost time finding a replacement.
8. Speaking of budgets, figure out yours before you start spending. Its not just a matter of how much to spend in total, but of what portion of that total to spend on each element of the wedding. If you don't have your rough break down before you start, the vendors you go to first might end up with a bigger piece of the pie than they would have if you'd planned ahead, leaving you with less for the later vendors.
No comments:
Post a Comment