How You Can Save Money on Weddings

Whether you are a bride planning your own wedding, or the father of the bride, one concern you may have is how to save money on the wedding. The financial burden of a big wedding can produce a great deal of stress and friction between the bride and her parents. This can often spill over into friction with the groom, as well. As a result, if you are the bride it is important to realize it is in everyone’s best interest if you can come up with a reasonably priced wedding budget which will allow you to have the wedding you want, while still staying within the limits that make your parents and your fiancé feel comfortable.

The important thing is to keep in focus the fact that your actual marriage is more important than than your wedding. You want to start your marriage off right by having a pleasant, memorable service and celebration which does not create unnecessary stress and friction. You want a wedding which exemplifies how much the two of you love each other, and how thoughtful you both are in considering others. You can have this kind of wedding in almost any price range.

As the mother of four adult daughters, all of whom are married, our family has learned that one of the best places to start is by writing down a budget that will cover everything you consider essential. Do not start out by planning to spend your entire budget, because there are always unexpected expenses. Try to only budget about 90% of the maximum you think you can afford. In this way, if you have an unexpected expense, it won’t be a disaster. In other words, if you can afford $5,000, plan a budget using $4,500 as your goal. Then, if you need to spend a little extra for food or gratuities, you are prepared.

Having a reasonable budget will help you decide how much to spend on each area of your wedding. It will also help you decide if there are some activities which you can completely eliminate. Does the groom have a nice suit? Perhaps he doesn't need to rent a tux. Do you really need a DJ to handle the music? Why not use your own choices and hook your iPod up to speakers? Do you have friends or family members who would happily host the reception at their home? Would your celebration party be just as much fun if it is a potluck? These are just a few quick, easy ways you can save hundreds of dollars on your wedding.

Other than food and alcohol for the guests, one of the more expensive purchases that a bride will make for her wedding day is when she selects her wedding dress. Lovely dresses are available for less than $100 or as much as $5000 - $10,000. Of course, if you purchase a dress at the high end of that range, it can totally destroy your wedding budget. In order to find the best wedding dresses possible for the money you have available, the book mentioned above will help you find a number of shops and websites where you can find a large selection of dresses for under $250 ... and some for much less. Our daughters have found they were just as lovely and happy in a gown which cost them under $500 than they would have been in a more expensive one.

Another approach is to look for white evening gowns or dresses which are not specifically listed as wedding dresses. You may be able to find a lovely gown for a fraction of what you would pay for a luxury wedding dress.

Since a gown can be one of the most expensive items in your wedding budget, keeping it reasonable in price is one way to dramatically reduce your expenses.

Another idea for saving money on a wedding is to make some or all of your decorations yourself. It's easy to go to a Farmer's Market and buy flower arrangements. If you have a few months to get everything ready, you can also get together with friends and relatives for fun combination lunches and workdays where you make some charming decorations. One great place to look for ideas is on the website Domestic-Divaonline.com where the author has included a number of items which can be created with clay and similar craft materials. In particular, in the clay section, you may want to see the bride and groom wedding sconce lights. These lights are easier to make than you might think and will be be a beautiful addition to your wedding!

With a little planning, it is quite reasonable to be able to have a nice wedding that will not cause you, your fiancé, or your parents to have to go into debt. Sit down for a calm discussion, print out all the information you can find on money saving wedding ideas, and plan out all the details for your wedding. Put together a notebook, so you can keep all this information organized. Then, shop around and get the best price possible for every item that you need to purchase. Make whatever you can. Put together a list of all the items that you absolutely will need for the wedding, as well as a reasonable price to pay. With a little patience, maturity, and good humor, you can plan to save money and still have a lovely wedding!

Finally, one of our daughters was married in Las Vegas. The wedding was quite affordable, even with transportation for our family and a few hotel rooms. It was a fun way to combine the ceremony at a lovely chapel, the celebration dinner at a fun restaurant, and the honeymoon for our daughter and her new husband. The book below contains the basic information you will need to arrange a Las Vegas wedding.