Save Money for Your Wedding - One of the Best Days of Your Life

There are two ways to look at saving money and your wedding day. One is to save up your money to be able to afford the wedding, but also consider minimizing the cost of the wedding to make it more affordable in the first place. Both perspectives will save you money to make your special day happen and wonderful.

Determine a Budget

First you must determine what your budget is for the wedding. Don't rush into things, even though you may be excited, but take time to really think things through, and prioritize. Look for good help and suppliers for your wedding, and prioritize these. A rule of thumb to keep in mind is that often, your food, drinks and menu end up being about half of the cost of your wedding. I recall being stunned to find out what things cost for my wedding. Still, it is good to be realistic, or consider adjusting accordingly. It IS your wedding, and you can do what you think is best for that day and your future.

Knowing what you can afford and what you cannot really afford is a good thing, because it will help you to avoid a common pitfall for newly married couples. That being, starting off in debt as newlyweds. Nobody wants that.

After coming up with a general budget of what things will cost, create a spreadsheet and put on there your payment plan. You can put on this sheet who you have hired for different jobs at the wedding, and what they are charging. You will want to keep careful notes of when you are to pay them as well. At the meeting or discussion times of the details of a wedding, you don't imagine you could forget anything. As the details accumulate and time passes and you get busier, you will be glad you kept careful notes of everything.

For some people that aren't that organized, and find such details grueling or unpleasant, it may be worth the extra cost to hire a wedding planner to do all that "not so fun" stuff for you They are there to make sure people are getting paid, and that people are in their places on the big day as well, etc.

From your spreadsheet, you can see what you are spending and how soon you are paying it off, etc. At a glance, you can see what else needs to be done or looked into. It can help avoid possible nasty surprises on the actual wedding day as well.

From the beginning on, stay organized as much as you are able. Even if you haven't been organized up to a point, begin to be from here on out. Shop around, compare prices and quality of services and products both. You are going for the greatest value for what you want. A great idea is to have both the wedding and the reception in the same place or at least near each other. You can avoid multiple site fees, as well as sometimes extra transportation costs.

Saturdays are by far the most popular, so consider asking if they have reduced fees for Fridays and Sundays perhaps? I have been to beautiful Friday evening weddings, and they were lovely!

Prune Guest List

This is my least favorite part of wedding planning, and I just hardly had the heart to not invite everyone I wanted to come, as well as my parents friends and all the family I could! Many however, don't have a problem with pruning down their guest list, and it makes more sense once you realize how much it costs literally, per head. These numbers can make one's head swim in amazement. Still, I went with NOT having a full scale meal, but still had a lot of great food to choose from as well as cake and plenty of drinks. We were not short at all, and I got to invite all the people I wanted, thankfully. I recall worrying about hurting people's feelings, and I hate to do that.

Some people consider saving money by negotiating with their photographer and/or videographer. I think this is okay to do especially if their prices seem especially steep. To avoid possible embarrassment however, I would do your research first, so that if the prices seem steep to you, that it not be that you just weren't aware of how much these things can cost. You don't want to make people uncomfortable or be insulting. Get a feel for it, and then move forward with asking questions.

Cake

I have a dear friend who used cupcakes at her wedding, and it was lovely! With all the exotic and amazing cupcakes there are now, you can get some very nice ones. Keep in mind however, their cost is also often expensive, and you may have saved money just going with a regular cake anyway. Are there friends or family that have offered their talents to help offset costs? Before you turn them away, consider allowing them to have a part and let you save some money. Many have different skills, and it is okay to ask them for a favor that can help you have your beautiful day.

Do It Yourself

Are there any areas where you can do something yourself, and therefore save some money? I wouldn't recommend doing things on the day of the wedding, as a bride and groom and their wedding party are very busy! However, on things like the invitations you may love to put together your own stationery. Again, shop around and see what you can find for the best deal, without sacrificing quality.