Save Money on Your Wedding

This is one of the highest costs in your wedding budget. There are costs for the church, chapel or synagogue. There are costs attached for other services within the ceremony. The average cost for a wedding ceremony is $500.
No matter where your ceremony is held there are things you can omit to save additional money. One of those things is a ceremony program. If you do decide to do a program, make a one page program on a single piece of paper on your computer. There are so many places to get really nice online graphics on the internet, this should be easy for you.
How we cut our ceremony costs The first thing to consider is to have your wedding ceremony at the same location as your reception. We did this and saved a bundle. Plus the wedding guests did not have to drive to another location for the reception. We used some DVDs including the performance of one of our grandchildren. We negotiated with our DJ to cover both the ceremony and reception. Because we had the one venue, we did not have any limos and saved a lot there too. The venue location did a great job on both ends.
Always consider a package deal if offered. We saved money with our package. It hadThe first thing to consider is to have your wedding ceremony at the same location as your reception. We did this and saved a bundle. Plus the wedding guests did not have to drive to another location for the reception. We used some DVDs including the performance of one of our grandchildren. We negotiated with our DJ to cover both the ceremony and reception. Because we had the one venue, we did not have any limos and saved a lot there too. The venue location did a great job on both ends.
Always consider a package deal if offered. We saved money with our package. It had the meal, the cake cutting and serving, the champagne cocktail and a few other goodies

With weddings costing between $25,000-30,000, I set about managing my expenses from the moment I accepted his proposal. I was married on May 7th, 2011. We took into consideration everything we wanted to have as part of our special day and still had the day we wanted while spending under $15,000. And that included a ceremony and reception for 100 with a full buffet meal and an open bar. You can have your wedding just the way that you want it for a very manageable budget.

You can have the wedding that you would like to have without breaking the bank or maxing out your credit cards. It is mostly deciding what the most important part of your day is . For many people, the reception is the significant part of their wedding. If that's the case for you, then focus your budget on your party. The best part of the day is that you have control over what and where your money is spent. But keep in mind that although it is a significant day in your life, your might not want to have an over the edge dream wedding that puts you into debt as you start your new life'
Number one idea to save money at your wedding is to cut your guest list ! Each of your guests had costs associated to them-The price of the food, liquor, cake, ect. Keeping your guest list reasonable, or decreasing your guest list will help every budget line. You have to decide how important each guest is to you as a couple. Do you want quantity or quality, that is the question

Every guest that you invite to your wedding have costs attached to each one. When you start looking at guests this way, then you will see the need to keep your guest list in line with your budget, Think of it this way, for every additional 8-10 guests you invite, you will add one table. That means extra costs in linens, meals and more

• Every guest costs you a meal
• Every guest costs more in invitations, place cards, save the date cards and programs
• Every guests costs you a bar tab per person
• Every guest costs you a wedding favor

As a result, keeping your guest list lower is the number one way to keep your expenses in lone with your resources

Imagine taking 100 of your favorite people out for dinner and drinks ! It won’t take long to figure out why the food for your wedding is one of the biggest expenses of your wedding. When you figure an average of $63 or more per head, you can see where this part of your budget can get out of hand.
Omitting any food before the reception will save money. Food during a cocktail hour adds a significant amount to your costs and most of it will not be eaten-put more money into the meal instead of crackers and cheese
Keep your menu simple. The more complicated your menu, the more the cost. Limit your entrees to 2 choices and save more.
How we saved money We opted for a very short timespan where people could get a drink before heading into the reception room. We eliminated the cocktail hour and put more of our money into the meal itself. It made our beverage bill smaller and gave us more time at the reception itself.

You will want to capture every moment of your special day ! But photographers can be a huge part of your wedding expenses. Most photographers/videographers offer packages that can range between $300-several thousands of dollars. How important are these memories for you ?
Look for a photographer that works out of their home rather than from a studio. They generally have lower overhead and will offer more reasonable packages
What we did We negotiated a package that fit our needs. We opted for an extra photographer and more pictures. However, we also bought a unrestricted CD that enabled us to make copies of any and all the pictures as well as use them in any way that we saw fit. We saved money and were able to make unlimited copies of anything that we liked. We also had a family member use our video camera to make a wedding video for us
Don’t waste money on table cameras. They don’t generally have enough flash to make a decent picture.

With a minimum of $2,000, the flowers at your ceremony and reception will be a large part of your wedding budget. There are flowers for the ceremony, pew bows, centerpieces for the reception tables, bouquets, bouquets for the brides, and bridesmaids, flower girls, plus for the guys in the wedding party. This can be a huge part of your wedding budget and can easily add up
What we did I made the bouquets for and boutiners for the wedding party. I made the flower arrangements for the gift table and the candy buffet table. I also made the centerpieces for our reception tables as well as several display pieces. I purchased all of my flowers and craft supplies with discount coupons and they were mostly purchased when they were on sale. I saved several thousands on these projects.

You can really spend upwards to $4000-$5000 on just an engagement ring, let alone the wedding bands. It is strictly a matter of taste and how much you have to spend. Be realistic and reasonable on this purchase. As newlyweds there are purchases that will have to be made. You may want to consider how important a big diamond may be.
What we did Since this a second marriage for both of us, we opted to chose all of our rings together. Having that once in a lifetime ring was not that important to us. WE waited for a sale and purchased based on the amount we had set aside for rings.

• Choose an alternate day rather than Saturday. Friday and Sunday Weddings cost less at most venues
• Have your wedding and your reception at the same venue-You will save a great deal of money here. You can also cut out the limo if you do it right at the same location
• Do It Yourself -Get Crafty-There is so much information on do it yourself wedding décor. You can save a lot of money doing things like your centerpieces, your favors and other decorations
• Print your own invitations-It seems crazy to spend hundreds of dollars on paper that people throw away. There are plenty of wedding invite kits that will save you lots of money
• Rather than buying individual accessories, buy them as a kit. You will save lots of cash
• Check out the dollar store-You can find glasses to decorate, wedding favors, glass candle holders, candles and more. The trick to this is to buy them when you see them and buy as much as you need

Every girl wants to have the wedding dress of her dreams, but wedding gowns can cost thousands of dollars. When you think about it, it is only worn for a few hours of your life, rarely to be ever seen again. And then add on to that the shoes, the veil, the jewelry and the rest and you can be talking bug bucks. For the men in your wedding party, the suit rental can also add up.
What We DidI found a white tea length dress and added some really nice bling to it. The cost of my dress was under $100 and everyone remarked how nice it looked. The guys in our wedding party were more casual, because of our beach theme. We shopped for them online so that everything matched and saved a bundle Text Module

Liquor purchases weddings are another major purchase that add to your wedding costs. No matter if you are going dry or not, you will need to supply your guests with something to drink. Most venues will supply beverages with your meal like coffee, tea or soda for any younger guests that you may have. But since, more than likely, your party will be going on for several hours, you will need to supply beverages for your guests.
What we did The best way to budget for liquor for your reception is to allot a specific amount for your beverage service. Ask your venue manager to come to you when that is exhausted to add extra money, if you want to have that option. We were at a country club and negotiated our drinks to be served at members prices. We also specified the beer and liquor that was to be served. Ant top shelf liquor was at the guests costs.

More ways to save on your bar tab is to limit the types of liquor that is served. You could limit your bar service to wine and beer. You could serve a signature drink. You can also limit the amount of time the bar is open.

The music and entertainment is another budget line for you to consider. Do your homework when you are considering what kind of music to have. If you have the opportunity, go listen to a band or DJ that you might be considering. Check out their website to find the prices and options if you can.
What we did Although specific prices are listed. Negotiate ! We had our DJ do both our wedding ceremony and our reception and we saved a bundle. He did a terrific job keeping our guests on the dance floor.Everyone had a good time

Wedding Cakes can cost $350 or more. It is not unusual these days for a wedding cake to cost $500 depending on the amount of people you are going to serve ! You can go from very simple to very extravagant and as you move towards the extravagant , your budget starts taking a bigger hit.
What We Did Rather than having a five tiered cake, I opted for a three tiered cake with a hidden sheet cake in the venues kitchen. This saved us a lot of money and our guests never knew the difference.

One thing to consider that when you have a square cake, it generally feeds more people and costs less.

Opt for a cake with dividers to make a small cake look larger