Money Saving Tips
Wedding Attire
· Buy your wedding dress on sale or rent your gown
· Shop early to avoid rush charges
· Buy a gown from a resale shop or from a cancelled wedding
· Have the dress you like made in a less expensive fabric
· Borrow your accessories or make your own
· Order bridemaids' dresses from ready to wear designers
Invitations
· Order thermography instead of engraved invitations
· Use standard size invitations or ones that will only require one stamp
· Order 25 more invitations in the initial order
· Include reception information in the ceremony invitation
Receptions
· Reduce the size of your guest list
· Have a morning or afternoon wedding or have it on a Friday night or Sunday night
· Have the reception and the ceremony in the same location
· Serve punch and cake or cocktails and hors d'oeuvres instead of lunch or dinner
· Try to limit the amount of alcohol served or limit the cocktail hour
· Avoid the expensive menu items
· Limit the reception time to three hours instead of the usual four
· Have an at-home reception and hire students from a nearby culinary school to make the food
· Serve carafes of wine, they are less expensive than bottles
· Don't serve a champagne toast
· Skip the favors
Cake
· Keep the decorations simple, use fresh flowers instead of gumpaste of sugar flowers
· Order less cake
· Don't have a groom's cake
· Don't save the top layer of the cake
Flowers and Decorations
· Carry a smaller bouquet or one flower and have the attendants do the same
· Do your own floral arrangements
· Use candles as centerpieces instead of flowers
· Carry wildflowers, which are cheaper
· Decorate the reception with flowers from the ceremony
· Share ceremony flowers costs with another bride having her ceremony that same day
· Use more greenery or potted plants
· Choose flowers that are in season
Music
· Hire musicians from your church or synagogue
· Compare the cost of a DJ verses a live band
· When hiring a band choose three or four musicians rather than a larger group
Photography
This is probably the one place that you really want to spend the money and get a quality photographer. When it is all said and done, your photographs will be the only things that you have left, aside from your love. Some money-saving tips would be to opt for a less popular time, order a smaller package or limit the number of hours that photographer works.