Managing your wedding budget is the first big hurdle you are going to encounter on your road to marriage. Take time to make a budget as a couple and work together to make a list of what is important deciding where you should spend money and where you can skimp! We have listed a few helpful cost cutting tips below to stretch those dollars…
1. Avoid Sugar Flowers on your Wedding Cake – as beautiful as these elaborate cakes look with cascading sugar flowers. Request an all white cake from your baker, and have your florist decorate the cake with fresh blooms. Your cake need not be overly extravagant to still be beautiful.
2. Set Up a Wedding Website – all your wedding information including local hotels, directions, and registry can add up when you try to include these details in your printed invitations. Both theknot.com and weddingchannel.com offer simple tools to help establish a personalized wedding website for free. Its saves you on printing extra cards to include within your wedding invitation and is better for the environment.
3. Choose a Full Service Wedding Location. Its about 30% less to host your wedding at a full service location that already has tables, chairs, linens, plenty of bathrooms and a kitchen. Hosting events in non-traditional locations such as galleries, raw loft spaces or private homes are often much more costly.
4. Avoid a Champagne Toast – So much champagne often goes to waste when you do the traditional toast for the bride and the groom. Guests will take a sip of champagne and never pickup the glass again. Save the good champagne for those that request it at the bar, and let your guests toast you with their own drink or with the wine you are serving at dinner.
5. Save on Save The Dates – Save-The-Dates are usually sent 6 to 9 months prior to the weddings, and even further out if it’s a destination event. If timing works out, Kill two birds with one stone, and mail out your save the date information within your holiday cards.
6. Enlist Music Students for the Cocktail Hour – you will pay half the price for the background music and still have the elegance of live musicians.
7. Play with Color – Hotels and Rental companies can get white linens for the same cost as they can get colored linens. The same is true for the standard reception chairs, they come in all sorts of colors! All you have to do is ask. Play with the colors and make the most of your budget by using color in a smart way!
8. Non-Floral Centerpieces – Candles will stretch your budget and add a romantic glow to your reception. Or use organic items such as branches, seasonal fruits or nuts in unique ceramic containers to create your own centerpieces.
9. Ornate Fabrics – you can find great deals in the garment districts for fabrics. Use these fabrics to jazz up traditional cotton linens. Create your own runners or table toppers, its very minimal sewing and is an easy way to involve or enlist your female relatives for help.
10. Family Style Food Service – you don’t need to have a traditional four or five course meal. Large plates of food, saves not only costs but also encourages good interaction between your guests and creates and at home ambiance.
Labels: Educational, Weddings and Social Events
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