ALT-2 Best Ways to get Married on a Budget
I am not your typical bride, I never wanted to go all out on my wedding and end up in debt over one day's hoopla. It seems insane to me, the money that is wasted for two people to get married. I have been married three times and none of them was a huge expense. Since I am guilty of marrying my first husband twice, I must admit our second wedding was the least expensive of all ... we were living in Las Vegas so we just popped over to "The Little Wedding Chapel" but that is not for everyone and even I must admit it was anti-climatic.
The very first thing you want to remember is if the word "Wedding" is attached to something the price will dramatically go up. It is possible to save money at every possible turn if you are willing to be a bit creative and shop for bargains. Even though I had been married twice before I will admit that my most recent wedding still had details that kept popping up and threatened to overwhelm me at times.
I suppose the first thing most women are concerned with is their dress. I am a big believer in comfort and being true to who you are. If you are not one to get dressed up and decked out, why should you go through all that on your wedding day and end up being totally miserable because your shoes are to tight, your not used to walking in heels or your terrified you'll rip your dress etc. My first wedding dress was lacy but not full length, while my last was not so frilly but was full length. I don't think I paid more that $50.00 for either one. Look for deals they are out there and its even better if you find a dress that you can wear again at some point. Wedding dresses no longer have to be white or traditional.
Location can also save you money, if you are not willing to go to a park, beach or your parents backyard, then you may want to consider a time of year when the demand for "Wedding Parties" isn't so high. In my first wedding we had the ceremony at a chapel and then moved the reception to my father's home. This time we rented a hall and had everything in the one location. We were fortunate because my father was a member of the American Legion and not only got a discount on the hall but then paid for it for us.
Then there are invitations, with the age of computers and a little creativity one can save money by drafting and printing your own invitations. Decorations can also be a great expense if you allow it but again creativity and bargain hunting can save you. I had a friend who made fantastic paper flowers from napkins in our colors and we supplemented with decorations we found at dollar stores. I made my own bouquet with silk flowers and decorated the flower girls basket, giving her silk rose petals to throw ( also a dollar store find ).
Having a friend who dabbles in photography can help immensely on the pictures but if you don't have anyone who's a whiz with a camera, handing out disposable cameras to guests can also work wonders. They will catch every part of your day in a way that a professional photographer couldn't.
How you chose to do your reception can also impact your expenses. Of course that depends on the time of day your having your wedding and how long you plan to entertain your guests. You can keep it simple with cake and punch or go into feeding everyone a meal. At my first wedding I was fortunate to have a friend who made my cake as a wedding gift and it was beautiful, we offered a few snacks for guests but not a meal. With my last wedding, we had opted to travel to where most of our family and friends were, rather then ask them to travel to where we had moved. So we wanted to spend time with everyone and time more or less meant a meal. We couldn't afford a caterer, nor did we have a place we could do much preparing so I came up with the idea of a "potluck" reception. I worried that some might consider it tacky but I hoped that family and friends would understand we weren't trying to put on airs, just get together with those we loved and share our special day. Food is often given as a symbol of love so we asked our loved ones to share their favorite dishes. It actually worked quite well and despite my worries that there wouldn't be enough food, there was more then enough. My new brother in law provided an awesome sheet cake which worked beautifully for our cake. Then also got us a smaller cake for our first anniversary.
Since we had room for dancing we thought it necessary to have a D.J. and thought that was going to be an added expense. Unfortunately there were problems with the D.J. and I decided I better have a back up plan. I discovered that burning CD's from the Internet was not only easy but very affordable. Our D.J. did fall through, so it was very good that we had the collection of music we wanted on CD's and ready to go. It also saved us money. I had a family member ready to start the music and he had great fun playing D.J. through out the evening even though he could have just let the music run without interruption.
No our wedding and reception weren't totally traditional but rather a mixture of old and new, I think it reflected well the down to earth people that my husband and I are. Our guests had a good time and were able to be comfortable and enjoy themselves. Memories were made, that will endure forever and no one had to pay for months on one day's events.
