Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Wedding Planning: How to Save Money

With today's economy, everyone is worried about job security and how they are going to live, never mind planning a wedding... Well, I am here to tell you, planning a wedding can still be done!

There are so many money saving tips when it comes to wedding planning, in fact I don't see how couples are still spending so much, when everywhere you look there is a money saving way to do everything you need to, when it comes to planning a wedding! So here are our top 5 money saving tips.


1. Venue & Meal
While every couple wants the perfect wedding day, venue & meal you might just need to compromise a bit. If you want the elaborate venue, cut back on the meal a bit. Guests just don't eat like they used to. Today, everyone is watching their weight and overall health so they just don't eat as much, so use this to your advantage. Try a menu something like this:

  • antipasto
  • soup or pasta
  • chicken or beef or fish with rice, veggies & potatoes
  • salad
  • dessert (pastries or ice cream or wedding cake)small sweet table at 11pm with just fruit & pastries
(By European standards this is a very small meal...trust me!) Or you can remove the sweet table all together or omit dessert & offer it at 11pm sweet table.

2. Wedding Invitations
While wedding invitations are a very large part of the planning process, as the invitations give your guests a feel as to what style wedding you are having. For example, more simple invitations give the feel of a more relaxed & simple reception, while a more elaborately decorated invitation with a cursive font tells guests that your wedding will be a formal one. So you will need to decide what type of wedding you will want to have & choose your invitations accordingly.

The biggest piece of advice that I can give you & will stress over & over again is the number one way to save money on the cost of your invitations is on QUANTITY! I cannot stress this enough! I have been helping couples for over 7 years & almost 90% of couples think they need as many invitations as the number of people on their guest list! WRONG! Aunt Joan & Uncle Bob are married to each other & require only 1 invitation! Yes, they are 2 people for the meal & for the number of chairs you will need, but they are only 1 invitation! So a quick rule of thumb, take your guest list & cut the number in half, as that is usually the number of invitations you need. Of course you should go through the list as sometimes there are a few singles in there so you may need a few extra.

The other piece of advice I can't stress enough is to always order a few extra! I know you are trying to save money on wedding invitations, but believe me, when you are ordering invitations look at how much an extra 10 or 25 invites cost...Not as much as you think! Sometimes an extra 25 invites can cost as little as $2 - $5. Yup, that's it, so order them at the time you place your order, if you don't, I promise you will kick yourself if you need the extra. An extra 25 can cost you close to your original order, because now the press needs to be set up again, proofs need to be done again, shipping...you get the picture. So always order a few extra wedding invitations! Mistakes happen when addressing, spelling or even drinks get spilled...believe me things happen! I had a bride order wedding invitations from me very early since she was trying to spread out her purchases so her bank account wouldn't feel so crushed as it got close to the wedding. Anyway, she stored them in the basement & in the spring there was leak in her basement & her invitations were ruined! You guessed it! New ones needed to be ordered!

Also, DIY (Do It Yourself) is huge and there are tones of styles to choose from, but there are more cost effective ways to purchase wedding invitations without having to do all the work yourself! Check out http://www.finallythebride.com/ for invitations that start as low as $36.90 for 100 quantity as well as a 20% site discount on all invitation orders!

3. Wedding Favors
A wedding favor is a small token of thanks that your guests will take home as a remembrance of your wedding. Keep these things in mind when choosing a wedding favor:
  • usefulness
  • ease of transport
As many couples think that a favor should be a useless trinket or an edible delight, think about your guests and what they would or could use. Useful favors are always a hit! If it were you receiving the favor, what would you like better? A thoughtless bag of almond candy or a set of useful coasters or a pizza cutter?

Do these options sound expensive? WRONG! They're not! You just need to know where to shop! There are many website out there that are dedicated to saving couples money in wedding planning. Take our site http://www.finallythebride.com/, where that is all we do! We find the most reputable suppliers & the best prices & pass the saving on to you. Check out the hundreds of favors we carry at http://www.finallythebride.com/wedding-favors.


4. Wedding Accessories
Wedding accessories are things like wedding garters, wedding guest books & pens, wedding toasting glasses, ring bearer pillows, flower girl baskets, wedding unity candles... you get the idea. Well, you can save here too! You need:
Everything else is optional. If you don't have a flower girl or ring bearer, then you just saved on those 2 items. Not having a unity ceremony, then don't get the candles or the sand glasses, you know where I am going with this. You can save on all of these items, just get what you absolutely need!

5. Tiaras, Veils & Jewellery
Every bride wants to be a princess on their wedding day but most of us don't have the "princess bank account"! Be smart! Shop smart! Buy the dress of your dreams but don't let them sell you on the $200 tiara, $300 veil and $600 jewellery. You can find the same items for sooooo much less! Look online at http://www.finallythebride.com/! Wedding Tiaras from $28.99, Wedding Veils from $28.00 and Wedding Jewellery sets from $18.99!


Well there you have it! Five simple ways to save you money while planning a wedding! If you have any questions or need advice, contact us, that's what we're here for & we welcome it!

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