Wedding Information

Archive for March, 2010

If you are going to plan the perfect wedding free from hassle and without burning a hole in your pocket then you are going to have to be prepared to do a little research and learn how to negotiate a better deal for the services you require. Hiring a wedding planning expert can definitely help you save time but you will be paying for their services which will add to your cost base. Organising a wedding months in advance gives you plenty of time to do your research and preparation without causing you stress. A do it yourself approach requires an investment of your own time. If you want to save money then this is a great way to go. It can actually be fun and a challenge to plan a low budget wedding. For the uninitiated there are eight areas where you can save the most money.

These 8 areas will require to draft up a budget to establish your guidelines. If you have a figure to work with then you can allocate amounts to each of these 8 areas. By working out the essential costs and trading off on non essential areas you can reach a balanced approach.

How to plan a low cost wedding: Focus on these eight specific areas.

Food:
When it comes to food there are a number of creative ways to save on food costs. Wedding venues that cater for the event will build healthy margins into the food they serve as is expected when running a business. They will also charge differently depending on the day of the week and time of the day. By doing some leg work you can pick a venue and establish your cost guidelines that fits in with you budget allocations. Sometimes picking a venue that doesnâ??t break the bank and using your own source of catering can end up being cheaper. Examine the options before you proceed.

Bar:
Buying wholesale will definitely save you money. If you use a reception center this is not likely permitted. By hiring your own venue you may be able to assemble your own team of caters/waiters and supply the alcohol and food. If you find a suitable venue then this low budget wedding tip can save you thousands alone.

Wedding attire:
In general, the more formal you make the occasion the more expensive the cost. Consider employing a less formal approach. You can still look stunning by selecting wedding attire that doesnâ??t cost a fortune. Custom made dresses are often expensive and if you do some research you can often find a discount designer dress at a greatly reduced price.

Flowers:
Select flowers that are stunning in appearance but not as expensive as high end alternatives. There are also other ways to employ decorations that can minimize your investment in flowers. By having one main centerpiece and using other decorations you can greatly reduce the money you need to allocate towards floral arrangements.

Photography & Videography:
This is a major cost and is something you will need to carefully consider. Having a professional do the job is essential because it is something you will cherish for years to come. If you are investigating cost cutting in this area you need to make sure that the person you employ has the necessary professional expertise and experience to be able to deliver a high quality reproduction of the event. You can go for a student to reduce costs but you need to make sure they will be able to handle the job.

Music:
If you are going to hire someone to provide the music this will add additional expense. You can save in this area by using prerecorded music or by hiring a person who is musically talented but doesnâ??t charge professional rates. Asking friends can often produce someone who is talented and can be booked at a greatly reduced cost.

Honeymoon:
Saving money on your honeymoon depends on a number of factors including the time of the year, duration and the honeymoon destination. You will have to be prepared to do extensive online research to find bargains. You can often get a great deal by traveling at the end of the season. Making use of any frequent flyer miles can also help reduce your honeymoon costs.

Guest List:
Keeping the numbers down will greatly reduce your costs. If you have a large guest list then you will need to find an approach that reduces the cost per head. You can also save on your wedding invitations by creating your own. If you add humor to the occasion you can often create memorable invitations that will really strike a chord with your friends for very little outlay.

The above represents some basic guidelines to plan a cheap wedding. The more you research the more creative solutions you will find. It just takes time and a little effort. Creating a memorable wedding that doesnâ??t cost a fortune is attainable for everyone provided you are prepared to do a little leg work.

Claire Edwards
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/how-to-plan-a-cheap-wedding-8-essential-areas-to-focus-on-755410.html

While some couples can make their luxurious dream wedding come true, you and the rest of on-a-budget couples should be contented with a small event. However, you don’t have to feel sorry for yourself because there are plenty of ways and resources that will help you plan and prepare a memorable wedding inexpensively.

Planning to shop inexpensive wedding supplies is probably one of the first thing that comes into your mind if you will be having a wedding on a budget. After you have figured out your wedding budget, you may now think of all the possible ways and ideas on how you can stick to it. Consider a realistic budget and be able to pursue it; this alone can make a tremendous help in planning your wedding. Ask help from relatives and friends, and ideas from online resources. There are some great deals awaits you if you just look in the right places.

The Internet can provide you with extensive affordable wedding ideas. There are thousands of online wedding stores where you can find plenty of inexpensive wedding supplies. They often offer excellent deals on wedding gifts, favors, decorations, invitations, centerpieces, and more. You can also look for coupons or special deals, especially during holidays. Usually, whole sellers will list coupons on their website to get you to buy, this will be a great advantage to customers because they were there to buy something anyways.

If you want to save money on your wedding supplies, you can also think about buying in bulk. This is the most cost-cutting technique when buying wedding supplies, especially when purchasing wedding favors and similar decorations. If you opt for something unique and personal, there are also great web stores that offer personalization for free.

For a wedding that is on a budget, you may consider buying inexpensive wedding essentials. For instance, the bride may choose to rent a wedding gown or purchase a used gown. If she can make her own dress, the better. For the wedding reception, which can be very expensive if will not be given proper attention, you can ask help again from your relatives and friends who have a good taste when it comes to cooking and serving delightful foods. Or perhaps, you will consider a pot-lock wedding reception; ask guests to bring their own menu. An outdoor setting is a money-saving option as well. The nature is a beautiful backdrop of your wedding, which doesn’t need too many decorations. You can spend the money you have saved from decorations to the other wedding details.

Whatever wedding you will have, you will surely give and receive wedding gifts. The help and effort that have shared by your bridesmaids and groomsmen are enough to make a priceless gift for you. In return, you should thank and appreciate them by giving gifts, too. However, this shouldn’t cost you a fortune. You can always give inexpensive bridesmaids gifts and groomsmen gifts instead of spending too much for elegant gifts. You can also give affordable gifts to your guests, consider cheap wedding favors such as candles, soap and edible wedding favors. So stick to your budget, plan ahead and do some research online to make your dream wedding come true at a price you can afford.

Janet R.
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/shopping-inexpensive-wedding-supplies-697229.html

While most of the couple today are thinking of preparing a fortune to spend for wedding day, some might find it hard to believe that planning a low-cost wedding is quite easy to do. Just like planning other kinds of wedding, planning a wedding on a budget is also a great and fun experience, and can be really unique and creative, as well! So if you are one of many couples who opt to have a cheap wedding without compromising what you have been dreaming to have for your wedding, there are several areas in your wedding where you can save money, such as your wedding location, reception and decorations.

One way to trim down your wedding expenditures is by planning of having a cheap wedding location. Planning to have this cheap idea is not impossible to do. In fact, you can have your wedding ceremony in some locations where you don’t have to pay any charges. Consider to have your wedding at a local park, for example. With local parks, you don’t have to worry about the renting fee and they don’t usually require any permit.. just consider checking it with the local city authorities before anything else.

Other great alternatives are beaches, a friend or a family member’s home, and at your own backyard. These are free places where you can held your wedding that will help reduce your wedding expenses drastically. If you and your partner are a nature-lover, a local zoo, nature reserve, or even at flower conservatory may be a free or inexpensive wedding location idea.

Another area where you can save some money is your wedding reception. If you are on a tight budget, you can always go with cheap wedding reception, and believe or not this is not too difficult to do either. One of the most popular cheap reception is idea is to have a pot luck meal. You can ask each of your guests to bring their own dish. But if you’d rather not ask guests to bring food for your wedding reception, then perhaps asking a few family members to get together and cook food as a wedding gift for you can lighten the burden.

Wedding decorations are not only fun to deal with, but they can also cut down your wedding expenses.

You can’t basically proceed without them completely done, though, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a big amount of dollars, rather you just need to use your creativity and imagination. Example, buy only few fresh flowers for the flower arrangement, just finish it by inserting silk flowers. Or, you can make your own decorations such as streamers and decorative balloons. Purchase a few spools of ribbon at your nearest craft store. Grab few balloons and tie them together using the strips of the ribbon and make a bow.

Other ways where you can save money on your wedding is to purchase cheap wedding favors, inexpensive bridesmaids gifts, and discount groomsmen gifts. Giving wedding gifts to your guests and attendants doesn’t give you any reason to overspend your budget. After all, it is not the cost that is being valued, rather the thought behind it.

Janet R.
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/wise-and-budgetfriendly-wedding-ideas-725693.html

You will have to think about your wedding theme once you have decided to get married. In fact, this is not the only issue you have to consider. Yet it will be beneficial if you can make decision on your theme earlier. This is because you will need the theme to guide your wedding planning. It will be a lot easier for you to plan for your big day if you can have a theme.

You may wonder how you should choose the wedding theme. If you try to search for it on the internet, you will probably be able to find lots of information. And there are a lot of choices you may consider.

In fact, you can first of all consider your own preference. Are you someone who love being in outdoor spaces? If your answer a YES, you can consider choosing an outdoor wedding. You can host your wedding on a beach, in a park and so on. You have to always remember that you should be able to enjoy your event. This is why you should try to make the decision based on your preference and interest.

You will also need to consider whether you would like to go for a formal or an informal wedding theme. The style of your event is very important. Of course you can also make the decision based on your preference. You may not want to go for an informal event if you are the kind of person who loves formal events.

In fact, the choice between a formal and an informal event will affect your wedding planning a lot. If you are going to have a formal wedding theme, you will be going to make everything more formal. On the contrary, you may want to make your wedding items informal if you choose to have an informal event. This is why you have decided on this in advance.

You may also consider the preference of your parents when you are making the decision. This is because they may also want to invite some guests and they may have their own considerations when they are inviting these guests. Yet, it is very important for you to remember that it is your wedding and you will be making the final decision. Of course you have to consider the opinions of your parents but you are not dictated by their opinions.

Your wedding theme may also be affected by your wedding date. For example, you will not be able to have a summer beach wedding if you are going to have it in winter. As a result, you will need to consider your theme with the wedding date together. On the contrary, if the date of your event is fixed, you may need to think about how your theme can fit into it!

The considerations may also be different if you are going to have a destination wedding. If you are going to have your event in places like Bali, you will usually go for a summer beach wedding. In this case you will also need to think about your theme together with the location and destination of your wedding.

TM Lung
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/choose-your-wedding-theme-issues-to-consider-741852.html

My fiance and I have been planning our wedding for some time now and my future mother in law says I need to mail out engagement announcements. I have a book and it doesn’t mention mailing out anything. All it says is that we should personally let our family members know and then announce it in the paper. I am planning our wedding announcement for the paper and we have already alerted our relatives but, she still says I need to mail out announcements so people can plan on the date. She said doing this can also "test drive" the addresses I have for everyone. If this is the case, I guess I need to finalize the wedding list sooner. (AHHH!) She thinks the book I have is out of date but, I don’t think it is. Maybe I’m wrong though.
Do I have to send out engagement announcements? If so, can I just send out save the date cards? I really don’t want to go about this the wrong way but, the whole thing seems silly to me.

That does sound kind of silly. I got engaged in October and our wedding is this coming November. We originally wanted to do an announcement in the paper, but decided instead to register our own website and do an announcement there. We sent out save-the-dates to our attendees, which had the website on them. It’s a much more personal touch, and has the whole story of how we got engaged, and photos and everything. I think you should just tell your close family and friends in person. Plus, if you do a website, you can later add wedding and travel information on there, not to mention that doing an ad in the paper that will run on one day only, probably without a photo, will cost more than registering and hosting a site for a whole year. Check out www.lunarpages.com.

While most of the couple today are thinking of preparing a fortune to spend for one of their most memorable day - wedding, some might find this hard to believe that planning a cheap wedding is quite easy to do. Just like planning for an extravagant wedding celebration, cheap wedding ideas are also great and fun, and can be really unique and creative, too! So if you are one of many couples who opt to have a cheap wedding without compromising what you have desired to be in your special day, consider saving money on your wedding location, reception and decorations.

One way to trim down your wedding expenditures is by planning of having a cheap wedding location. Planning to have this cheap idea is not impossible to do. In fact, you can have your wedding ceremony in a variety of locations that are completely free. A great example could be a local park. Usually, going to a local public parks doesn’t require any fees, and so planning a cheap wedding ceremony there doesn’t give you any cost. They don’t usually require any permits of other fees too. However, just make sure you have double checked it with your local city authorities before anything else.

Beaches are also a free place where you can held your wedding. Other ideas may include: having your wedding at a family member’s home, or having it in your own backyard. If you and your partner loves nature, it may be free or very inexpensive to have your ceremony at a local zoo, nature reserve, or even at flower conservatory also.

Another area where you can save some money is your wedding reception. If you are on a tight budget, you can always go with cheap wedding reception, and believe or not this is not too difficult either. One of the most popular cheap reception is idea is to make a pot luck meal. You can ask each of your guests to bring their own dish. But if you’d rather not ask guests to bring food for your wedding reception, then perhaps asking a few family members to get together and cook food as a wedding gift for you can lighten your burden.

Planning a cheap wedding receptions should also involve choosing cheap location for the reception too. Example, if you’d like to have your wedding ceremony in the gazebo at the park, then perhaps the best reception option could be a barbecue or picnic style in that same park. Another easy and cheap option is of course, having your wedding ceremony in your own home. Then you can have your reception in your home as well, or out in the backyard if the weather agreed.

Wedding decorations are not only fun to deal with, but they can also cut down your wedding expenses.

You don’t have to go without them completely though, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a big amount of dollars, rather you just need to improvise. Example, instead of buying expensive flowers for instance, try decorating with balloons and streamers instead. You may purchase a few spools of pretty ribbon at the nearest craft store or fabric store. Grab few balloons and tie them together using the strips of the ribbon. Also tie the ribbons into bows themselves, then tape the ribbon bows around for decorations by themselves.

Other ways where you can save money on your wedding is to purchase cheap wedding favors, inexpensive bridesmaids gifts, and discount groomsmen gifts. Giving wedding gifts to your guests and attendants doesn’t give you any reason to overspend your budget. After all, it is not the cost that is being valued, rather the thought behind it.

Janet R.
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/cheap-wedding-ideas-saving-money-on-location-reception-and-decorations-673444.html

If you are one of the many couples who became engaged between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, congratulations!  And while the uncertain economy will probably not stop you from tying the knot, it may affect your wedding budget and how much is spent on your wedding dress.  Here are some ideas on how to get that dream wedding dress for your big day without breaking the bank.

Set a budget.  Look at all the expenses for your wedding and decide if there are some adjustments you are willing to make in certain expenses (such as food or reception hall) so that more money can be allocated for your wedding dress.

Style of wedding ceremony.  Depending on the type of wedding ceremony you choose to have (traditional, informal, indoors, outdoors) you may want a wedding dress that reflects the style of the ceremony.  If that ceremony is short, simple and informal, you won’t need to spend a lot of money on a couture, high-fashion wedding dress.  Of course, the wedding should reflect your personal style, so choose your wedding dress and ceremony to match your style and whatever makes you feel comfortable.

Be a smart shopper.  Do your research online and off-line to find the best deals in wedding attire and accessories.  Researching online to find discount and affordable wedding dresses will give you an idea of what types of wedding dresses are available and price ranges.  You can then take that information and look for a local bridal store that can offer comparable prices for wedding dresses as well as various deals and discounts on additional wedding products and services.  Purchasing your wedding dress locally from a reputable bridal store at a good price would be the best option.  You are able to try on the dress and be fitted at the store and if there were problems, you could handle them in person at the shop.  If you are not able to find a bridal store to purchase your wedding dress locally, then you may want to consider ordering it from one of the many  online discount and wholesale bridal stores.  But remember to give yourself enough lead time when ordering your wedding dress online in the event you need to have  it altered.

Remember that details add to the cost of your wedding dress.  Exquisite craftsmanship in a wedding dress adds to its value and price.  Things such as hand embellishments, the bustier, luxurious lining, rich fabric, detailed finishing and machine stitch work all add to the beauty and cost of a wedding dress.

Consider going vintage.  If vintage is your style, you may find your dream wedding dress in a second-hand store at an affordable price.  Or better yet, you may find it in a relative’s attic who would be more than willing to let you have the wedding dress for you to wear on your big day.

Rent it.  Many “green” brides are starting to consider the idea of “reusing” their wedding dress by renting it instead of purchasing a gown.  When you consider what you are really spending your money on (a once-in-a-lifetime dream dress) that will only be used once and then be placed somewhere in a box never to be taken out again, renting your dream wedding dress becomes more affordable.

The most important thing to remember when looking for your wedding dress is don’t compromise your style for your budget.   The key is to find a gown that fits both your budget and style preference.  With a little work and planning, you can have the wedding dress of your dreams without breaking the bank.

Sandra Hishinuma
http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/how-to-have-your-dream-wedding-dress-without-breaking-the-bank-747023.html

Also I am going to cook the food for my reception what kind of foods would you recommend and do u have a recipe for bulk?
I need tips for music, flowers, centerpieces, dresses for bridesmaids, where to get a cheap tux and pretty much everything without breaking the bank?
Also our pastor is doing some pre marital counseling and what exactly is all that and how much should I pay him? Because he told us to pay him whatever we think is fair.
Thank you for all the answers I need all the help I can get.

well on the food side.. just a bufay of food would be good.. like.. a trifle that you can make yourself.. keash < i dnt no how u spell that LOL some sweet stuff.. like diff types of cakes and things for the kids.. little snacks.. like sum sandwiches cut into triangles .. just cheap little snacks.. people would prefure to eat these.. and the children will love it! im assuming the after party the adults will want to have a drink to celebrate.. maybe some none alcoholic punch for the children.. its easy to make.. and looks nice in a bowl on your food table..

the bridesmaid dresses.. maybe you could buy the material.. and make them up yourself get sumones help and have fun doing it.. my nanan isnt very good at making dresses and all that but she once made ma a Halloween costume.. otherwise.. have a shop around on some online stores maybe second hand?

you can get a cheap suit online.. or try second hand shops.. mens cloths shops thats got 50% off.. thers alot of sales going on now..

i think cheap weddings are best.. because shows you’r not snobby and you can have a fun time.. without money.. im sure you’ll have a great day, that you’ll remember for the rest of you’r life..

hope my answer helped as its taken me ages :L

wish you well x

My fiancee and I decided not to have a wedding list as we don’t need anything else apart from the big things - and we can hardly ask for a sofa can we? So we thought money would be more pratical. Only that people in Britain are a bit funny about that sometimes Is the following phrase ok or is it to straight forward? Wasn’t sure if the word "contributions" only relates to money…??On the other hand we don’t mind receiving more personal gifts if somebody is short of money or a secon hand sofa - but I don’t want to write an essay and it won’t apply to most of them..so what do you think?

Please do not feel obliged to buy a gift! Your presence at our wedding is more important to us. However, if you wish, contributions towards the bigger things for our new home would be greatly appreciated.

The etiquette way would be NOT to say anything in the wedding invitation envelope. You don’t want to call attention to gifts, money or pitching in for a gift. However, we all know it’s been done many times.
If you choose to include something, I would have a little card printed up that is sent in with your invitations & enclosure. The 1st two sentences you noted above is perfect. I think it would be best to take the last sentence off entirely…because it’s basically stating that you will take money. It’s contradicting what you said in the 1st two sentences.

You could change the copy to say "Monetary Gifts Only Please." This would clearly tell guests that you will take money towards a bigger item.
Good luck & Happy Planning!
Rexcraft