The times we live in demand frugality in almost every undertaking and this is also the case when it comes to wedding expenses. This will probably be a cause for gloom on many a prospective brides' faces but there are ways to have a wedding on a tight budget and that wedding will be the source of many pleasant memories later down the road. An inexpensive wedding need not compromise on style – it won’t if you know what to do, where to go, and what your priorities are.
In short, you need to do some really meticulous planning, taking the time to infuse and incorporate lots of creativity into the effort - a joint one at that - and ensuring that you don't exceed the limits of your wedding budget.
When planning a wedding on a budget, you will need to consider most of the following:
1Determine the Number of People You Will Invite
An inexpensive wedding can only be possible if the number of guests invited is kept to an absolute minimum. For this matter you should only invite the people who matter most in your life, immediate family, some extended family members and very close acquaintances. Your list of invitees can also be based on people you can call upon to get involved in ways as diverse as driving the wedding car, handling the photography, etc. This will certainly add more camaraderie to the occasion. It is also a very cost-effective way to avoid hiring a wedding planner.
2Find an Inexpensive Wedding Venue
An assessment of the conventional wedding costs indicates that the wedding venue is the biggest expense, up there with food and drinks. Planning a wedding on a budget, therefore, calls for smart thinking when choosing the perfect venue. Wherever applicable it may be worth considering a venue that can host both the ceremony and the reception thereafter.
Rather than having the venue in a fancy hotel and parting with thousands of dollars you can always inquire about using a local hall, public spaces, or indeed the quaint hotels and pubs found in the countryside. If you have the right contacts you can even host the reception in a local school hall where you won’t have to worry about seating arrangements, toilet arrangements, accessibility worries, etc.
3Wedding Food on a Budget
In a bid to make an impression on your expected guests you may be tempted to select some really expensive culinary delights like lobster and steak. This is okay if you can manage it but impressive doesn't really have to be expensive. How about making the most of your cooking skills and serving the guests with fried chicken that you had bought pre-cooked from the local chicken joint? How about baking your own cake and making sure to apply fondant icing to make it look really grand? Other cheap options include hosting a barbecue, afternoon tea and snacks, and maybe serving canapés. Serving wine can be quite prohibitive; why not settle for freshly made fruit juice?
4Use Inexpensive Wedding Invitations
Wedding planning on a budget does not necessarily mean that you have to send invitational SMSs to your expected guests. Nowadays there are extremely cheap methods you can use to design some really attractive and impressive wedding invitations on a budget. Some of the online resources you can use for this include www.madaboutcards.com and www.weddingcrafter.co.uk, plus a host of free software. Wherever time allows, you can also design and make your own invitations at home.
5Find a Reasonably-Priced Officiating Minister
Any church minister you call upon to officiate at your wedding will almost always need to get paid. Make your nuptials even more tight-budget by sourcing for the cheapest minister available. You can look up the local papers for ordained ministers in your locale who can handle the business cheaply – they are usually very affordable and will charge as little as a fifth of what regular ministers charge.
6Wedding Decorations on a Budget
It is only the extravagant wedding types that need boxes and boxes of flowers. Your wedding on a tight budget can understandably not afford these, perhaps only a very minimal quantity for the bride’s bouquet. Wedding decorations can however be done very cheaply and still look very lively. Use the cheapest of accessories including tulle, ribbon, candles, paper wedding bells and crepe paper, etc. If you aren’t great with artwork, why not hire the services of really artistic teenagers and let them do their thing? It may be their big break and they’ll love you for it forever.
7Plan Ahead for Your Honeymoon
Shop around for the best possible holiday package that will hardly be a stretch on your pockets considering the experience. It is advisable to avoid being rigid on destinations. It is also worth being patient until you can strike the best possible deal with the travel firm of your choice – you can actually convince them to grant you an upgrade just because you are honeymooners.
8Inexpensive Wedding Entertainment
Wedding receptions on a budget don't require live bands for entertainment and they can certainly do without professional emcees. You can opt to play recorded music and request the services of a friend of yours for the emceeing part.
More tips are accessible via www.cheap-wedding-success.co.uk and www.moneysavingexpert.com.
