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

When it comes to saving money on your wedding invitations, there are very simple options available that will save you hundreds of dollars in costs.  To start, you need to spend some time researching the different options from local stationary stores, as well as investigating online wedding shops where you can purchase invitations from wholesalers at cost.

Another great option is to simply create them yourself, with online websites featuring  down loadable templates that you can type in and print out, including envelopes and pre-printed labels.  While engraved wedding invitations are absolutely stunning, they will take a lot from your budget, unnecessarily.  Invitations are often thrown in the trash after the guest RSVP’s, remember, and so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend a large portion of your budget on them.

Get creative!   If you are a crafty person, you could purchase scrapbook elements from your local craft store and offer hand-created, personalized scrapbook style invitations.  This is a great way to show your creative side while injecting your own personality and style, plus you’ll save a ton of money in the process.

You should also stick with standard size invitations, to save on postage costs and rather than include a return envelope with a stamp, set up a free email account exclusively for people to respond to, indicating whether they can attend or not.  This is an easy to save a couple of hundred dollars on postage costs while staying organized with a guest list that you can manage directly in your email.

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.

You have finally said, “Yes.” This is the start of your life as a couple. And prior to that much-awaited big day, you, both the bride and groom have so many decisions to make and wedding-related tasks to complete.

Preparing for your wedding day need not be stressful. On the other had, it should be fun and memorable. And to do this, start off by putting together a wedding timetable.

A short list of wedding-related tasks as well as a rough estimate of when the activities should be done follows. It presents tips and guidelines to keep you organized and help you think of all the matters that you must take into consideration in the course of planning for your big day. Of course, these are mere suggestions. All activities and schedule are still up to the couple to decide on depending on their priorities.

At the Time of the Engagement
- You must tell your parents the happy news as soon as possible that is if they don’t already know. If you were having an engagement party, it would be good to keep your close friends and relatives in the know, too.

- An organizer would be best to have in handy. This will help you keep track of all the appointments, payments and other wedding-related activities that you must attend to.
- Have your engagement photo taken. This would be nice to have as a keepsake of this wonderful occasion.

6 to 12 Months In Advance Before the Big Day

- The couple should have already picked and decided on the wedding date. Do the reservation for the venue where the ceremony and reception is to be held.
- Set an appointment with the wedding officiant.
- Establish a budget for the wedding, and try as much as possible to stick to it.
- Prepare a wedding guest list. You wouldn’t want to leave somebody uninvited unintentionally.

- Look around for a photographer, florists, musicians, and a caterer. Obtain estimates for these services.

- Register at the bridal gift registry.
- Pick a wedding dress and accessories to go with it. If you are having a seamstress make you one, this is the time to have it arranged. Several fittings may be required for this.
- For the bride, select your bridesmaids. Set a date for ordering dresses for them.

4 to 6 Months In Advance Before the Big Day
- Have the invitations, stationeries, and thank you notes ordered.
- The photographer, florist, musician, and caterer should have already been chosen. Go over details with each of these services to make sure that everything is as agreed upon.
- For the groom, select attire.
- Honeymoon reservations should be made already at this point.
- Confirm the delivery of the bridal gown.

2 Months In Advance Before the Big Day
- Plan your rehearsal dinner.
- If you are having out-of-town attendants, arrange for their lodging.
- Make an appointment with your chosen photographer for the shooting of the bridal portrait.

- Order the wedding cake.

1 Month In Advance Before the Big Day
- The couple should decide on a wedding band set.
- Mail the invitations.
- Check the apparel for the wedding party.
- The couple attends showers.

2 Weeks Before the Wedding.
- It is time to apply for marriage license and attend to other legal matters, especially for the bride – name and address changes on bank accounts and other official documents.
- Plan a wedding hairstyle and make-up with your stylist.
- Check with the caterer and the reception venue for last minute changes.

1 Week Before the Wedding
- Do your honeymoon packing.
- Wrap gifts for the groom and attendants.
- Schedule the wedding rehearsal.
- Remind the wedding party of the exact time and place for the occasion.

On Wedding Day
- Take breakfast! Fainting on the aisle wouldn’t be cool.
- Have your hair and make-up done.
- Shake off all your wedding details worries and enjoy your day.

There are two ways you can go for the music for your wedding.  You can either have live music, or you can have recorded music.  Traditionally live music has been the music of choice, but recorded music is becoming more popular.

Live music has often been preferred because it seems more traditional and romantic.  It may be seen as “cheap” to have recorded music at a wedding ceremony, and live music is often expected.

But sometimes the couple may not enjoy live music.  They may have very specific taste in music that would be better suited to recorded music.  In this case, the wedding will often hire a DJ to play instead of a live group.

If you’re going to hire live music, you should find an artist or group that can perform the kind of music the two of you both enjoy.  If you both hate classical music, don’t hire an orchestra!  It may seem like the “classy” thing to do, but the two of you should really enjoy the music at your wedding!  If you are both crazy for heavy metal music, go ahead and hire that wild thrash metal band!  It’s your wedding!  You can always have some recorded music thrown into the mix.

If you decide on recorded music, you can discuss the songs you want played with the DJ well before the wedding.  You might want to choose mostly romantic songs, or you might prefer having a few fun dance songs played to liven up the party.  Remember, it’s your wedding, so choose the music the two of you enjoy.  If you have to buck tradition, go ahead and do so!

I do recommend choosing at least one slow song for the first dance.  It’s traditional that the bride and groom share the first dance, and it may be videotaped for posterity.  You will probably want to give the guests that one dance to a slow, romantic song at the very least.  Then again, if you both hate mushy music with a passion, go for what you like!  It’s your wedding, after all!

Budget Wedding Planning Tips

It is estimated that the average wedding in the United States and
Canada costs over $31,000.00, with the honeymoon costing an
additional $5-10,000.00 on top of this cost. It’s no wonder that
countless couples end up frustrated when attempting to plan their
wedding with a limited buget in place.
Considering that newly wedded couples would likely want to put a
down payment on a new home, invest in their future and start their
new life together without the strain of such a hefty debt to deal with,
learning how to plan your wedding on a shoestring budget so that you
are able to save money with every element and feature is critical.
Wedding costs can spiral out of control if a budget is not determined
early on, so it’s important to sit down together, analyze your finances
and what you can afford to spend.
Thankfully, there are countless ways to save thousands of dollars on
your wedding and this report will highlight just a few of those options.

Music

Invitations

Flowers