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Archive for the ‘Wedding planning on a budget’ Category

my fiance an i are trying to have a wedding here with in the ned few months an we don’t really no where to go. We don’t want to get married in the court house we no that. but we would like to have a nice small wedding an a reception. but don’t no where to go that we are not going to spend a fortune. any ideas PLEASE HELP. we live in tucson az an need a nice inexpensive place.

You can definitely do a wedding on a budget. Like mentioned, you can always do a cute ceremony in a park, but then you have the risk of unwanted observers. You could also see if you can rent out a local country club. At some, weddings are very uncommon. My friend was able to rent one in North Scottsdale for only $200, and she had a beautiful wedding. You could also check out local nicer hotels.

Depending on how large your wedding party is, you can always do a dinner preceding the wedding at a nice restaurant, then you would just have to pay a set amount a person. Or, you can supply your own catering with bulk foods. Flowers are very expensive too, so I would definitely recommend decorating with fake flowers and saving the real ones for your bouquet. Maybe have each of the bridesmaids carry a single flower down the aisle.

My fiance and I are planning our wedding on our own. We plan on having an outdoor wedding by the summer of 2011 with a budget of give or take 10K and a guest list of about 125. If anyone has any advice on how to do this without losing our mind, it would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve looked at many articles online, but I wanted to hear some genuine advice from real people. Thanks!

We are doing ours for about that. The main thing is to decide what’s important to you and what’s not. Cut back in the areas that aren’t priority. Also, I signed up for lots of mailing lists and don’t think I’ve purchased anything at full price!

We got engaged last September and had planned on getting married a year later but after we both lost our jobs, we postponed. Now we’re trying to go ahead with this September and I’m wondering how I’m going to plan a (hopefully outdoor) wedding in just 6 months with a very tight budget. Any ideas or suggestions?

First things first, if it rains you will have to have a backup location or use umbrellas, I love outdoor weddings, but, my luck it would rain. If you attend church, most churches have a social hall available for weddings. I am going to list several sites below that give you from a year to the time of your wedding. You can print these off and decide what you do and do not want off of them and then make a master checklist.
First thing, decide on your budget. Second, how many to invite and what kind of reception do you want to have. Good ole’ finger foods are cheaper, old standbys with some twists, mom and rest of family can help make, but you will need two people to preside over tables and keep trays/dishes/punch bowl full. A no alcohol reception will be much cheaper. People that want to party and get drunk can go buy their own, unless you feel differently.
Then, your dress and bridesmaids, go online for cheap bridesmaids gowns, but it being only six months, think I would shop locally and can have alterations done if needed by a good local store. Big department stores like Macys, Dillards and Belks usually have bridal departments and are very willing to help because so many go to bridal shops or shop online.
Sites for checklists:

http://www.frugalbride.com/weddingplanningchecklist.html

http://www.wedding-planning-guide.net/wedding_planning_checklist.html

The following one you can put in the date of your wedding and it gives you a month by month checklist right up until the wedding date.
http://www.weddingwire.com/wedding/usermyckecklist

good luck, stay cool and don’t panic and don’t listen to every Jim, Jane and Jill, unless their opinions are ones you rely on. There will be more opinions coming at you than you will know what to do with. Answer nicely, thank you and then do what you want. Don’t let it get to you, be prepared. Remember this is YOUR DAY!!!!!

When it comes to your wedding invitations, you probably know about how much of your wedding budget you have allowed for them. What if you could save some money without sacrificing style and quality?

Efforts to spend less on your wedding invitations do not have to be huge to be cost effective. In fact, sometimes just planning ahead can save you both dollars and stress.

Of course, the obvious step would be to trim down your guest list resulting in fewer invitations ordered and mailed. But that is not always practical when you have lots of family and friends with whom to celebrate your special day.

There are also many other suggestions for easing your wedding invitation budget:

1. Shop around to find that perfect style that fits your budget. The Internet provides an abundance of wedding invitation printers. It is so convenient to shop from your computer when it fits YOUR schedule.
2. Order early to prevent paying more for faster shipping methods. Having plenty of time to assemble and address your invitations will also eliminate last-minute pressure.
3. Be sure to order some extra invitations to allow for last-minute guests and to save a few as keepsakes. Itâ??s definitely cheaper to order more initially than to place an order later for only a few more. Typically, the more invitations you order, the lower the per-piece cost.
4. Select a simple wedding invitation style such as a single-panel card which tends to cost less, especially when ordered in quantity.
5. Consider a seal and send wedding invitation. This economical all-in-one design folds up and seals into its own self-mailing piece. Without the double mailing envelopes, this style tends to cost less per invitation and eliminates the extra cost of response cards with return envelopes. Instead, a response postcard is attached as part of the invitation. It is easily removed and mailed back by your guests. Another benefit to this style is the postage savings since your guests are mailing back a postcard.
6. Buy your thank you cards at the same time you order your wedding invitations to save on shipping costs. Most often you will find thank you cards are available to match your invitation style.
7. Choose black ink which is normally included in the invitation price. There is an additional per-item-ordered cost for colored inks. This means a separate ink charge for the invitations, response cards, reception cards, return address printing, etc., which can add up.
8. Pass on the option of having a colored lining on your inner envelopes which is an additional cost. It can be a nice touch but most guests will be paying more attention to the invitation itself.
9. Include your reception information right on your invitation to eliminate a separate reception card (having less weight in the envelope might even save you from affixing extra postage). If space allows, your dinner and reception details can be added on as extra lines aligned with the rest of your verse printing. Some invitation styles allow the option of a corner copy â?? 3-4 lines that appear in the bottom left or right corner usually in a smaller sized font. There may be a small extra charge for these lines. Corner copy is not recommended for narrow or tea length styles.
10. Be sure the size and shape of your wedding invitation will only need a regular first class stamp. Sometimes a note indicating that extra postage will be required is posted online for those unique designs. Another suggestion is to purchase a sample so you can check with the Post Office if you are unsure. Keep in mind the envelopes and any extra enclosures will add to the final mailing weight possibly increasing the required postage.

I hope you find some of these suggestions helpful if you are looking for ways to save a little money on your wedding invitations since every little bit helps. Everyone has their own idea of how their invitations will look and only you know what you are willing to compromise on in fulfilling your dream. Just remember that your invitations will provide your guests with their first glance of your wedding.

Sara Haese
http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/10-ideas-for-saving-some-money-on-your-wedding-invitations-728960.html

Selecting the right wedding dress is one of the most important decisions you will make in planning your wedding. It can be more than a little daunting, as you know all eyes are going to be on you - and your dress - on the big day and you want to make sure that you are looking your best. It’s enough to drive some brides to despair. But with a little pre-planning it’s easy to get organized and on the right track to finding “the one”. Here are 6 top tips to help you find the perfect wedding dress for you:

1. Look for what you like - Some of us girls even have pictures of dresses saved from before we got our proposal! Looking in wedding magazines is always the useful first step to getting an idea of what you want - it’s fun too. Also use the internet as a resource. Keep these clippings and bookmark sites in your web browser. Top Tip: Use Google’s Image Search function to quickly browse through pictures of dresses (go to the Google homepage and click on the text that says ‘Images’ in the top left hand corner. Then search as normal for ‘wedding dresses’ - the results will be images instead of text).

2. Look early - This means looking at around 9 months ahead if possible. Say you have a proposal, set a date - ideally you can start looking then. If you are ordering a custom dress then this can take months to make and if you need alterations - as the majority of women do - this will also take time. A good seamstress is often booked up far in advance, so getting in early is essential.

3. Set a budget - Why does there have to be a budget?! Well, it’s way too easy to go overboard with the dress - but it is unfair to spend a huge proportion of the budget on a dress if it means your guests have to eat bread rolls all night! It’s important to strike a balance and setting a budget in advance can help you focus. And remember you can find stunning gowns for a few hundred pounds if you know where to look (check out our site below for more on this). Also remember alterations could cost a few hundred pounds, although some boutiques will do the alterations in store for you, if you negotiate with them.

4. How to pay - Instead of using a cash deposit, use a credit card. Why? To protect your purchase in case something goes wrong. This happened to my sister-in-Law… the dress shop went out of business a few weeks before her wedding day. Thankfully it was covered by the credit card company.

5. Set deadlines - From the point you buy your dress you need to give the seamstress specific deadlines for delivering the required alterations. It’s probably a good idea to allow for a bit of leeway and set deadlines that have a 1 - 2 week contingency built in.

6. Take a friend - Or someone you trust. Someone who has a style you like - this may not be your mum and it may not be your best friend. As much as you may like the look of a dress, a good second opinion is an essential sanity check. Remember to keep things appropriate - a grand wedding probably calls for a classic wedding dress and not a short white number. A semi-formal ceremony means you can wear a coloured dress or even something more modern and funky.

Karen White
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/top-6-tips-for-finding-your-perfect-wedding-dress-670486.html

In this terrible time of financial uncertainty, wheather you are directly influenced by this crisis or are still intact, you should be more careful about your cash flow from now on.

Since young people still have to get married, you have to give a good thought about how to save money and have a budget but still perfect wedding.

Budget wedding starts from renting a wedding dress. Renting is less expensive than buying. Men have been renting tuxedos for years, why not wedding dress rental for women? This isn’t as far fetched as it may sound. In addition to buying a wedding dress, most brides have to contend with preserving and storing the wedding dress. With a wedding dress rental, all the bride has to do is choose the dress, wear it, and return in within the allotted time period. She doesn’t even have to worry about the dry cleaning.

With careful planning, costs can be kept under control and a stylish wedding achieved for a fraction of this figure. Here are some more tips.

1. Rings
Ask yourself if you really need to spend thousands on something some people lose or which wears out and becomes unusable.

2. Food
Think about making the food yourself, or at least the puddings and starters. Ask at local catering colleges if they provide a service; you might still get quality but at half the price. Alternatively, ask everyone to bring a dish!
The wedding cake neednÃ?â??t be expensive either. Think about making it yourself, or go for a simple sponge. A current trend is to serve small individual Ã?â??cup-cakesÃ?â??, which aren’t expensive but still look nice.

3. Photography
If you do go for a professional photographer, ensure youÃ?â??re certain of the number and type of prints you want and ask yourself how many you really need.
Alternatively, ask a friend who has an interest in photography, but make sure they have a good camera.

4. Honeymoon
Do you really need a villa in the Seychelles with every conceivable luxury? Honeymoons can add thousands to wedding costs. Think of hiring a romantic cottage somewhere in the UK instead. Or take advantage of low-cost flights to a European city and try to negotiate a good hotel deal (especially if you intend to go out of high season).
Alternatively, ask around among friends and family and see if anyone has a second home you could borrow, or at least rent cheaply, in the UK or abroad.

Bargain, bargain, bargain. You can negotiate for everything, from flowers to the band to the venue. Katie says she got a deal on her dress and the bridesmaid dresses by purchasing them from the same shop. Cut back on things that guests won’t notice. Carley suggests eliminating a couple of courses from the dinner, limiting the bar by featuring a special cocktail, or only buying flowers that are in season. Don’t lose sight of the purpose. The wedding is to celebrate your relationship, so focus on creating a memorable time as opposed to simply a lavish one.

Janey Yang
http://www.articlesbase.com/clothing-articles/budget-weddings-in-a-time-of-financial-uncertainty-714686.html

Wedding planners of today rule over weddings. They are to be commended on jobs well done. Many wedding planners work well with the bride and work hard to see that the end result for the bride and groom are what they want. However there are few ladies out there that are more on a strict budget. These ladies have worked hard and find joy in planning their wedding and make their own decorations for the tables. Many take pride in making the decorations and shopping for their shower and wedding.

There are many aspects of the wedding to take into consideration, one being the shower. Although the matron of honor usually plans this, the bride still has some things to say. A shower for the bride to be is just the gateway of planning for the wedding.

While planning for the wedding is hard, the shower can be much easier on the bride and matron of honor. At the shower the bride and matron of honor either make or buy items to give to the people who attend. If the wedding is being planned and items are being made by the matron and bride, then buying items for the shower is the better choice.

There are items that you buy for the shower, like bath fizzes or bath caviars. These items still look like they are hand made. They are all wrapped and given a bow with a color of choice. For all the ladies that attend the shower. The bath fizz is similar to aromatherapies they have for baths. The bath caviar is similar to bath salts. Both of these bath items are perfect gift for the ladies.

In choosing either bath fizzes or bath caviars, leaves precious time for the bride and matron of honor to work together on the wedding. These shower gifts are small but yet they are a reminder of a shower and a beautiful wedding.

Michele Rogers
http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/gift-basket-gifts-for-wedding-showers-115808.html

We have just passed the 3rd of the top three most popular days to get engaged, Valentines Day and with that, the wedding season officially kicks off. Brides everywhere are working on creating that special day that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Here are some interesting facts:

â?¢ The average U.S. Bride will spend $27,134 on her wedding. That does not include the engagement ring or honeymoon.

â?¢ 85% of Brides will plan some or all of their wedding on the Internet

â?¢ The average age of todayâ??s Bride is 27

â?¢ 80% of U.S. Brides are getting married for the first time

Of the 2.5 million weddings (Which makes the Wedding Industry an almost $68 Billion Dollar industry in the U.S. alone), the average Bride is faced with making large dollar decisions and purchases which she has never made before. In fact she is usually spending someone elseâ??s (Her Mom & Dadâ??s, fiancéâ??s, or other close relativeâ??s) money. This can unnerve most of us. (can you think back to the time when you had to buy a dress that cost around $2-4,000 that you would only wear one day, or when you spent a similar amount of money on photography for just you or your family?)

Here are some tips and pointers to help out that Bride and keep her â??Wedding Planning Stressâ? to a minimum:

1. Decide what is important and what is not up front. By doing this, you will not waste time on the trivial and spend you efforts where they are most needed.

2. Communicate up front with your fiancé and those closest to you that you are facing one of the 5 most stressful events in your life and if you snap at them, or have a breakdown, itâ??s the stress, not them.

3. Set down and understand up front what your wedding budget is. This step will help you to Budget the important to the top of the list as well as help you to not create further stress in anyone who is helping fund your wedding.

4. Plan for â??time-outsâ? during the engagement. Have a couple of week ends off or plan a quick get away where you decompress. Plan on not planning for a period of two or more days. This will help to relaxing your â??wedding planningâ? muscles and get you to be able to focus better.

5. Use the internet as much as you can to save travel time, communication time as well as finding the best vendors possible. Emails spend less time than phone calls and are not as urgent.

Keep your eye on the prize-you are marrying the person you love and want to spend the rest of your life together. The most important thing is having the two of you show up and say â??I Doâ?. Everything else is icing on the cake!

Rick Brewer
http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/the-2007-wedding-season-has-officially-begun-112271.html

Weddings these days can really cost a fortune, so you might immediately think of all possible ideas on how to save money on your wedding. Fortunately, there are many ways on how to trim down some of your wedding expenditures. One great idea is to think about cheap wedding favors. However, this doesn’t mean you will be giving out unappealing favors at your wedding, making your special day less memorable. Rather with a bit of creativity, you can definitely have great wedding favors that doesn’t cost you a fortune.

You might not mind of what style of wedding you are having, the important thing is you have the wedding favors for all your guests. Since rarely does someone show up without a gift for the newlyweds, it is in good taste to show your taste by having wedding favors. If you have a large number of guests in your guests list, your wedding favor expenditure can be easily out of control. As a result, many brides and grooms make use of the advantages that are in cheap wedding favors.

It is very important to determine the budget before you start to organize your wedding. Within the planning process of determining your budget, you will wish to decide how much money you are willing to spend on each detail of your wedding celebration. So after you have decided, then you will know whether you want to continue with relatively cheap wedding favors or really cheap wedding favors.

The presentation of wedding favors is also one of the most important thing you need to consider. If your creative enough to make the cheap favors look great, nobody will notice that they were not bought expensively. For instance, tiny candies, mints and chocolates can make affordable edible favors, you can make them look great by placing in small fancy favor boxes. You can find a bunch of small cheap wedding favor fold up boxes, put a few tiny treats in them and with just a bit of touch, you have created fancy and elegant wedding memorabilia at a fraction of cost.

Another great affordable option to keep in mind in having cheap wedding favors is to avoid wedding favors that have a wedding subject to them. For instance, purchasing a small box shaped like a wedding cake will be more expensive than other really adorable cute boxes. Aside from these boxes filled with tiny treats, you may also consider cheap favors like candles and soap. These days, many people are crazy on candles, and therefore, candles are perfect for favors thinking how cheap they can be. You you want, and you have plenty of time left, you can make your own candle or soap favors. There are many craft store that offer DIY soap kits, candle kits and others. You can work with yourself alone, or you can bring together a manpower to have a fun bonding while making homemade wedding favors.

Cheap wedding favors are indeed a great help to save money on your wedding. And if you are really on a tight budget, you can always cut cost on some details of your wedding. Why not give inexpensive bridesmaids gifts to your female attendants, instead of giving luxurious wedding gifts that they will most likely display during special events only? You can do the same idea also when it comes to groomsmen gifts. To have a cheap wedding ideas doesn’t mean compromising what you really have desired for your wedding day. Rather, it’s just a matter of giving extra effort to make the ”cheap idea” look fantastic to make your special day worth to be remembered.

Janet R.
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/saving-money-with-cheap-wedding-favors-672352.html

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