Here are some tips and tricks and get the best prices on everything you want to make your wedding day exactly the event you envision.
Draft a Budget
Your first budget will be merely a draft. It's a list of things you think you want and some rough estimates of what you expect them to cost. Once you have a draft, then it's time to talk with your friends who live in the same area and who have recently married. This will give you a better idea of actual costs in your part of the country, and you'll also get recommendations for a wedding photographer, wedding planner and the best places to order your wedding cake. You should also get ideas about local wedding venues and the associated fees, how early you need to book the venue and the services that are included. The key to planning a wedding on a budget is to get good numbers from people who will be honest with you.
Make an Invitation List
Your first list should include everyone under the sun that you, your partner and all of your parents want to invite. Of course not everyone you will invite will actually be able to attend your wedding, so try to get an idea of the number you expect to attend in addition to the number of invitations you will actually send. Many items on your list will be priced according to the number of people you are expecting. Knowing these numbers will help get other prices together such as your wedding cake, food at the reception, wedding invitation and wedding favor.
The Wedding Party
Be careful when deciding how many people will be in your wedding party because this will add to the cost of your wedding. Three attendants each, plus flower girl and ring bearer, can be plenty and will not look out of control in any size of church or other ceremony venue.
The Church. If you are members of a church, you will get the best rates there for using the facility and for the pastor to perform the ceremony. If you desire a church wedding but do not have a church of your own, you can call around your area and meet with the pastors to see which church might work best for you and your budget. Many pastors not only conduct the ceremony, they will also provide the couple with pre-marriage counseling to get you started on your future with some good communication tools. For your reception, if you intend to serve alcohol, you will most likely need a separate venue.
Your Rings
Buying your wedding ring can be an expensive part of your overall wedding budget. Consider some of the options you have. You can go to a retail jewelry store and buy a pre-made wedding band set, you can buy a second-hand ring or stone at a pawn shop and have it restyled, you can have a jeweler custom make a wedding band set just for you, or you can go online and buy your bands direct from a wholesaler. There are many possibilities and each will come with a cost or a savings or some type. Do your research and shop around until you're comfortable with your purchase and the price.
The Wedding Cake
Shopping for your wedding cake provider is actually quite enjoyable. Call around to the bakers your friends have recommended, then make an appointment to sit down and talk about what you'd like and the cost. The bakers will usually have several samples for you to try. Make sure to contact any references they give you to make sure you're choosing someone dependable and who will deliver without fail.
Wedding Photographer
Your wedding will happen one time and on one day. After it's over, all you will have left are the pictures, the videos and the leftover printed cocktail napkins. This is not the event where you want to hire your mother's best friend's college kid who has a really nice camera and his mom says he takes really good pictures. You want to hire a professional, someone who makes it their business to take wedding portraits, and wedding pictures. You want someone who can give you references of local weddings they've covered recently, you want to see a wide variety of their photos and you want to look for creativity, variety in their shots and composition of people, and you want to see that they can actually take pictures that are in focus and brilliantly sharp in color and contrast. You want to see that they can take posed pictures as well as candid pictures, and that they have an eye for detail and drama.
Your Wedding Dress
Do you need a brand new designer gown? How about last year's knock off? Would you be willing to wear a used dress? A borrowed dress? Your wedding dress is a one-time item that can really break your wedding budget. Look into all the options. Some women are opting for renting their wedding dress, while others are buying antique dresses at second-hand shops. There are more options now than just a few years ago, so do some research, talk to friends and see the range of prices before you buy.
Bridesmaids' Dresses
The best deal for your bridesmaids will be to find a discount dress catalog and have each woman order their dress online. You can get some great dresses for less than $50 and the upside for your girlfriends is that they really can wear them again. A simple black dress is elegant, can be dressed up with pearls and an Audrey Hepburn updo. Classic styles are always in fashion and generally are more affordable than this year's fashion.
Making your wedding the event you have always dreamed about doesn't have to mean going into debt for the next decade. Using these tips will help you keep costs down without diminishing the memories.
