How to Have a Debt-Free Wedding

Money is the number one cause of fights in a marriage and the number one cause of divorce. More and more people are realizing the importantance of starting a marriage off on a solid financial foundation. In this article, I will address ways that you can save money and still have a beautiful wedding. You may have to do things a little different than most people, but it can be well worth it.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A planned wedding somewhere in the future
• The desire to do it debt-free.

1. The first thing you need to do is start planning as early as possible. This will ensure you don't have to make impulse decisions. You need to decide the size of the wedding you want to have and start figuring out basics such as location, number of guests, reception location, etc.
   
   Unless you're totally fixed on a certain location, try checking with several. My husband and I checked with the church we were attending while in college--they let us rent out the church, provided a wedding organizer and sound engineer, and gave us access to their lobby for a reception. Total cost--$150. We couldn't believe it. All you have to do sometimes is just ask.
2. For us, my dress was the most expensive single purchase of the wedding. I found the perfect one at a bridal shop, and not knowing any better I just thought it would be fine to get my accessories there as well. I knew the dress was pretty expensive, and I was honestly caught up in the moment when they rang everything up.
   
   By the time we got home and looked at the receipt, I realized that over 1/3 of the total price had been for a pair of shoes and a veil (basically consisting of thin mesh with a few sparkles thrown in)! We went back to the store, which said "sorry, no cash refunds--only trade credit." Fortunately we were able to use the money to get an entire dress for one of my bridesmaids. I later ended up getting nearly the same items for about 10% of the bridal shop accessories.
   
   My husband decided to rent his tux, and the company we went through gave us a package deal where he got his free because we had 3 groomsmen and a ring bearer. They were really reasonable on everything.
   
   I liked my dress, but I wouldn't have considered it wrong to rent one either. I was originally going to sell mine afterwards, but the market is saturated with a lot of women trying to do the same thing. I later decided to keep it.
3. Consider ordering some of your things online directly from manufacturers. I mainly mean your invitations, party favors, cake decorations, cake cutting utensils, glasses, etc. If you save money on these items, it gives you more room to splurge on other areas.
   
   Do some shopping around with your rings, photography, flowers, and catering. Music can be done live or on a CD mix that can be ran through most speaker systems. Talk with friends and family and get recommendations from them. This is why it's so important to give yourself plenty of time.
4. Have fun with the process. We actually enjoyed being involved more in the process as opposed to having everything done for us. On the day of the wedding, we were the least stressed-out of everyone in the church. We had a beautiful wedding. Everyone thought we'd spent a lot more than what we actually did, and more importantly everyone had fun.
   
   As a general bit of last advice, make it about each other and the event. Keep it simple. The less distractions you have, the better the wedding will go for you.
   
   I wish you the best in your marriage and in life!

Tips & Warnings

• Check with your local college's broadcasting or media department. You may be able to get some students to do your wedding as a project to film and edit. Something that would cost you thousands from a production company can be done for a couple of hundred that way. It's a win-win situation for everyone. The same can happen with still photography as well.
• Don't let people pressure you into spending more than you've planned. It's the hardest thing to resist in this whole process.