Wedding planning on a budget
When it comes to planning your wedding, wouldn’t it be great to have an unlimited amount of money to throw the biggest celebration of your life? All of your thoughts and ideas can be brought to life despite the price tag and all you have to do is just whip out the platinum credit card and the money fairy will take care of the rest. Ah, what a wonderful thought and…. now…. back to reality. Unfortunately, most of the planning costs money no matter how much or how little. However, there are ways to save coin on things that don’t hold that much importance in the overall scope of the wedding itself. We want to bring some calm to your wedding worries on some tangibles that you might be thinking hold more value than they do in your pocketbook and also your guest’s memory banks.
One of the first steps you will want to take into account when wedding planning is orchestrating a guestlist. This means collecting multiple addresses of those closest to you so that you can spend time creating, waiting, and shipping out Save the Dates and RSVPs. While this is a necessity, the amount of time and energy put forth this early in the wedding process will exceed your expectations especially financially. The costs of stamps will surprise you beyond belief as you leave the invite in the hands of the postal service. The time you take to write out all of the addresses is endless and repetitive as you find yourself having to do it more than once. Keep it simple and look for alternatives to a piece of paper that sits around the house and inevitably forgotten until you remind your recipients to respond. Going electronic/digital will save you time and most importantly money while providing modern-day efficiencies such as gift registry links, guest directions to the ceremony, and whatever additional offerings there may be.
Wedding cake tastes great but can stale very quickly when it comes to the hole it leaves in your wedding budget. While a wedding cake is traditional, it has lost its luster over the years. The cost of a cake can get quite high. It also doesn’t help that many venues have a cutting fee that charges you every slice the staff has to make to serve your guests. This work of art is usually tucked away in a low traffic area of your reception site so you are forewarned that it might not get the attention you hope it to receive. A good alternative to save on costs might be cupcakes, a dessert, or doughnut bar to avoid those cutting fees as well as the cost of the cake in general.
Poppin savings instead of bottles
Another cost that coincides with a wedding cake is a champagne toast. Who doesn’t want to propose a toast to yourselves with a glass of champagne that you bought for the entire party? It all sounds great but much like the cutting fee there is a corking fee that usually goes along with the bottles you paid for and service fees of the pouring that go along with it. The best way to justify not doing it besides the finances is to remember that not everyone likes champagne anyways.
Flowers make everything more beautiful but there is a limit you can place that can definitely save you from going over the top. Flowers can add up quickly, especially when you think of how elegant everything would look by adding blossoms of color on all the little details. Yes, flowers give a nice touch but keep in mind you and your guests won’t remember the pretty combinations of carnations and daisies like they will the music or the food.
Much like the floral décor, the additional details of centerpieces and ala carte items like chair covers may sound like they would make a huge difference on the feng shui of the room but they too hold little long-term value. The idea of chair covers and maximum lighting sounds wonderful and looks great in your head but these items are additional costs that are not necessary and should be minimized. Centerpieces are a nice touch to the table but keep it simple to avoid unneeded expenditures. A good alternative is going to a consignment wedding shop to get bulk décor for much less.
As the old saying goes there is more than one way to skin a cat. So when you are looking at allocating your funds to wedding necessities think about the ad-ons that hold less value than your mind is giving them. Most people will say that they remember the food, the unlimited booze, and the DJ that kept the party going by setting the tone of the night and playing good tunes. Please keep in mind, this is just a guide. It’s YOUR big day, so if something holds higher priority on your wishlist then work around whatever that aspiration might be.
-Text The Bride
