Budget Crunchers: Things To Avoid

When it comes to wedding planning, it’s incredibly easy just to let loose and forget your budget.  It’s your big day, and you should be able to throw caution to the wind and have everything that you’ve been dreaming of since you were a little girl.

The problem is, your budget might not agree with this and before you know it, if you aren’t exceptionally careful when considering every element of your wedding planning, you may end up using your entire budget before your planning is even complete.

Here are a couple of budget crunchers to avoid:

Budget Cruncher: Invitations And Wedding Favors
Your guests attend your wedding to celebrate your love and witness your special day.  They don’t need to leave with a bottle of wine or a knick-knack that they just don’t really want. While it’s sentimental and thoughtful of you to give your entire guest list a wedding favor, the costs can quickly add up.

Instead, if you really want to hand out favors at your wedding, consider ones that you can create yourself, such as a CD with your favorite music. This is a far more personal gift and won’t cost you all
that much to create. Just buy a pack of CD’s from a bulk store like Costco and you’re in business!

Budget Cruncher: Oversized Wedding Cakes

This is a very common mistake that brides and grooms make when trying to determine an adequate size cake for their wedding. They go over the top and end up with lots of wasted cake that cost them a small fortune.

Do your best to choose a cake size that is reasonable, considering that smaller cakes can be just as beautiful as three or four tiered ones. If you really want an elaborate cake, consider building tiers with false centers or filling it in with roses that match your wedding’s color scheme.

You could also have a “display” cake (the cake featured at your reception) with extra sheet cakes in the kitchen in case you run out. These will cost you far less than your actual wedding cake, and will give you assurance that you have plenty to go around.

Wedding Planning

Saving money on your flowers is not as difficult as you may think. You must have the idea about the type of flowers that are in season, if you want to save the most money possible, or go with perennial flowers that are usually that most affordable option of all.

For saving money on your flowers you can buy them in bulk as they will be used for several purposes on your wedding day, and quite often, you will receive a discount when you purchase a larger quantity of flowers, from a local florist.

Creating the bouquets on your own can be a bit overwhelming, but if you are able to do it, you will save a lot of money in the process. Get your maid of honour and brides maids involved!

When you are buying the flowers from florists you need to explore various shops and ask questions about the varieties, sizes, number and prices.

Unless you are a flower enthusiast, you will want to be sure to ask as many questions regarding potential bouquets and centerpieces, so that you can compare pricing and determine what shop to purchase from.

With flowers such as daisies, roses, lilies and carnations, the price structure remains almost the same whereas with flowers including Hydrangea, Tulips, and Lilacs, the price will fluctuate.

Discuss your ideas with a local florist, ensuring that she or he is aware of your budget.  Be open to suggestions, even if it’s not exactly as you initially envisioned it, there are hundreds of affordable flower types that when mixed together, can create a stunning presentation, so let your florist show you examples of possibilities before you set your mind on a specific flower type.

When discussing your flower arrangements with your florist, be sure to give them a general style and color scheme that you like, as well as any flower types that you simply aren’t interested in.

Tip: Carnations are one of the most affordable flowers out there, and even if you aren’t a fan of carnations, using small amounts as fillers can cut down on costs and still look absolutely beautiful.

For affordable centerpiece creations, you could put left over flowers to good use by carefully peeling off the petals and placing them into colored glass vases or bowls, where they can float with votive candles.

You could also consider melding a handful of roses with cheaper flowers and baby’s breath to give it a full look without the hefty costs involved in pre-created centerpieces. Add in four or five pillar candles for a gorgeous array, at a very little cost.