Wedding Planning On A Budget
by Andrea Pressing
http://www.daveswedding.com
So your friend got married and she had a $30,000 budget and
you thought her wedding was beautiful. Now it’s your
turn to get married and you are hoping to have around $5000.
Don’t get down. Just know that you will have some different
kind of planning to do than she did. You still have a perfect
wedding!
There are so many short cuts out there. I want to share a few
with you that some would never consider and others that most
don’t even know exist. The key is being creative while
knowing what really shouldn't be put on a budget.
One of the bigger expenses in a wedding will be the wedding
dress. There are some great options to consider. I give these
options from actual experiences from friends and myself. My
friend found her perfect dress by digging and imaganing a little.
She started by looking through some clearance items and several
of last year’s styles. She found a dress that was perfect
on, but had an odd, big ruffle across the top. She was able
to remove the ruffle without damaging the dress and ended up
with a perfect dress. Be sure of your choice before making
this decision because once you altar the dress you won’t
be able to return it.
My situation was a little different. I found a dress that was
way out of my budget. I went to the vendor and began asking
questions about the dress. I found that for a third of the
cost, I could rent the dress. The rental price also included
the vale and the skirt that went under to make my dress fuller.
(Yes, I was married a few years back.) Also included were the
price of alterations, all of which I would have had to pay
for on top of the price of the dress had I purchased it outright.
I have never regretted not having my own dress and I have to
say that the styles today are so much different, that I doubt
anyone would want to wear my old dress.
You all know that you can rent the candleholders, but what
some people don’t know is that you can actually rent
the flowers as well. Flower arrangements are truly amazing
these days. Don’t rule this out until you check it out.
The flowers are not real, and are arranged any color and type
that you would like. For the flowers that people will be carrying
or wearing you can choose real ones. You will be surprised
at how wonderful they look and, honestly, everyone is going
to be looking at you anyway.
The food. The biggest decision here is whether or not you are
going to provide it. It’s hard because it’s kind
of the “right thing to do.” If you can’t
afford it (it will be costly), know some of your options. It
used to be that all that was served was cake and punch. It’s
still okay to do that. You will need to plan the time of the
wedding accordingly. You can also just do cheese and cracker
platters and a few other finger foods. Most foods can be done
affordably, it’s adding the alcohol that can really run
the price up.
My advice on what not to skimp on is pictures. Do your homework
and be willing to put some money into this area. Choose wisely
and seek advice from friends or references. These are precious
keepsakes that you will want forever.
Make decisions on where you want to spend the money. Decide
what is the most important thing to you. Ask a lot of questions
and be willing to do a few things on your own. This is your
wedding day, make it perfect, but don’t put yourself
in a position where you are taking the next ten years to pay
it off.
If you have an article you'd like to submit, please visit our
Submit An Article page.
|
