Budget Weddings

Weddings are holy events – a celebration of the moment a man and woman enter into a sacred covenant with one another and God. Planning a wedding can be exciting…and potentially expensive. In fact, Bride’s magazine estimates that the average wedding costs more than $19,000. Don’t start off your marriage by getting into debt over your wedding.

The minute he slips a ring on your finger don’t rush out to buy bridal magazines. Instead, spend time talking with your fiancée about what you want your wedding to be. Discuss questions like:

• In 10, 25 or 50 years what do we want to remember most about our wedding day?

• What can we do during our wedding to communicate to our guests who God is to us and what He has done in our lives?

• What have we seen in other weddings that we liked?

• When we show our children pictures or video of our wedding what do we want to be able to say?

• How can we be wise stewards of money as we plan our wedding?

It can be easy to start spending money quickly on things that, in the end, don’t really add much to your wedding day memories. The best thing you can do is to: (1) decide what is important and (2) settle on, and stick to, a budget.

Following are some tips to help reduce the cost of the most expensive categories of wedding-planning:

Your Wedding Dress
• Call local bridal shops to see if they have any special one-day dress sale events.
• Consider looking for dresses in local consignment shops or finding a gently-used dress on online auction sites like Ebay.
• Consider checking out outlet centers. If you find a great deal it’s worth the drive and the cost of gas.
• Instead of buying a veil, which can be upwards of $200, make a veil with materials from local crafts and fabric stores.
• When looking for a dress, consider a less-expensive material like poly satin rather than silk satin.
• If you find a bridesmaid’s dress that you really like, see if you could order the same dress in white.
• Groom’s tip – have your groom (and his groomsmen) wear nice suits and matching ties instead of more expensive rental tuxedos.

The Invitations
• Comparison shop for invitation printers online instead of ordering premium-price invitations through a stationery shop.
• Keep them simple. The more detailed the invitation, the heavier the paper, the more colors you choose…the more expensive your invitations will be.
• Choose return reply postcards and standard-size envelopes to reduce the postage costs.
• To make it really inexpensive, use a free online invitation service like Evite.com.

Flowers
• Check at your wedding site to see if another wedding is scheduled for your same day. Call and ask the other party if they would like to discuss ordering flowers for the venue jointly and splitting the cost.
• Consider using fake silk plants at the church and reception site – they are much less expensive than cut floral arrangements and can be re-used.
• Rent plants from a local rental shop or florist instead of buying live arrangements.
• Choose flowers that are in season.
• Skip flowers all together for your centerpieces and think outside the box with items like groupings of candles, pictures of you and your fiancé as children, glass bowls with shells or floating petals in water on top of mirrors

The Reception
• Because most weddings take place between May and October, consider holding your wedding on an “off-season” date which may reduce your reception costs
• Instead of an expensive hotel site, look into hosting your reception in your church atrium or fellowship hall or at another local site such as fraternal organizations (Elk, Moose Lodge, etc.) or fire hall.
• What could beat the beauty of the great outdoors? National, state and local parks and historical gardens can be wonderful wedding sites.
• Don’t overlook the option of a private home or backyard for your reception.
• Skip the limo and get a rental car…or cheaper still, use your own car!

Catering
• Weekend evening receptions are the most expensive — instead of full-service catering for a sit-down dinner consider having your reception at another time. Breakfast is less expensive than dinner and buffets are typically less expensive than plated dinners. Or consider a light hors d’ouevres or dessert reception.
• Most supermarkets offer nice deli platters, even salads and side dishes that can simply be transferred to a fancier serving dish and no one will be the wiser!
• Ax the alcohol. It’s expensive and isn’t necessary for your guests to enjoy the reception.
• Hire high-school or college students as servers and waiters
• Get napkins, tablecloths from party stores or local restaurant supply stores
• Forget the guest gifts – the wedding and reception were enough!

Pictures
• Call around to a local college or art school to find a student to take your photos
• Ask your reception site for a list of recommended photographers – they may be willing to give you a discount for the site’s referral.
• Contract with your photographer to shoot photos at your ceremony and then for a limited amount of time at your reception. The longer he/she is there the more you will have to pay.
• Find a photographer that works alone (so you don’t have to pay for 2 photographers) and who will give you copies of all your photos instead of just the few you order for your album. Check to see what their reprinting charges are ahead of time so you and your family aren’t surprised when you go to order additional copies.
• Ask friends to shoot video with personal camcorders instead of paying for professional videographer

With a little planning, a little budgeting and a lot of prayer you can have a wonderful, memorable wedding day!

Photo Credit: Noelle Franzen