How to have a beautiful wedding on a small budget

Today's wedding costs are going up and up and the tradition of the bride's family footing the bill has long gone. Here are some easy tips to keep your costs down and still have a beautiful day!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Try to have a long engagement. Not only will this give you time to put money away for the wedding, but shopping for your vendors and negotiating as soon as possible means you will have a better chance of booking the people you like as well as lock in a great price for their services. A good photographer or caterer will often book as much as a year in advance, so start interviewing right away.
   
   Also remember that vendor services are negotiable. If they show you a price list, don't always assume that these numbers are written in stone. If a vendor knows you are shopping around for the best services at the best price, they will most likely trim a bit off of their usual fee to get your business.
2. Consider having your wedding at an "off" time. June is the most popular month for weddings. Have a wedding on a Saturday evening in June, and your costs have already skyrocketed. Vendors know this is a popular month, and can therefore charge you higher rates.
   
   Avoiding dates close around Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentines Day will save you money at the florist.
   
   To save a substantial amount of money, consider having your wedding on a Friday or Sunday. Photographers, DJs, and venues will often have discounted rates if you don't book your wedding on a Saturday.
3. Become a Do-It-Yourself Guru! Who says you have to pay $10 for each invitation from a large printing company? Who says you have to have vellum overlays and fancy flaps all over your invitations? Are your guests really going to keep and cherish them forever? (Okay, maybe you are, but most likely they will just throw them away)
   
   There are so many templates and programs to help you design your own invitation, and really make them a true reflection of you. Scrapbooking is such a huge hobby now, that craft stores are overflowing with specialty paper and embellishments. You can honestly have a professional looking invitation that will impress your guests at around $1 each - but you have to be willing to take the time to make them, which brings us back to Step #1.
   
   You can also save money by making your own programs, favors, and centerpieces. A popular DIY favor is a compilation cd of the newlywed's favorite love songs. Centerpieces can be as simple as a floating candle in a small vase.
4. Use the internet! You are the only person who will know how much you paid for items, so why not bargain shop for them? Ebay has a ton of sellers that specialize in wedding supplies, and many of them can even custom make items for you for much less than you would pay at a wedding specialty store.
   
   There are also other sites that allow future brides and grooms to post helpful information to other people on public message boards (www.theknot.com, www.weddingchannel.com...). Take advantage of these message boards, especially when you are researching vendors. Hearing first hand experience from another customer can be very valuable! This is also a great opportunity to get ideas and cost saving advice. You may even find newly married people looking to unload some of the items they used at their wedding that they no longer need.
5. Stay organized! You don't need to spend a lot of money on a fancy wedding planning book that will just end up collecting dust on a shelf once the big day is over. You will need some kind of file to keep all of your receipts, pictures, and notes organized and in one central location. An expanding file with labeled tabs (guest list, catering, photography...) should do the trick!
6. Keep your guest list scaled down. Do you really need to invite your 3rd cousin that you haven't seen since you were 2? Do you need to invite your entire office? Of course this is a time for celebration, but there is no need to go overboard and invite everyone you have ever met.
   
   Once you have decided how much your budget is per person, consider making and "A" and "B" list of guests. Send out invitations to list "A" with an early RSVP date. These are the must-have people at your wedding. After those RSVP's have come back, start mailing out invitations to your "B" guests, the people who you don't have to have attend, but you would still like to invite.
   
   Let's face it - and invitation (in many cases) is a request for a gift. You don't want to invite everyone you know solely to receive a lot of gifts. Maybe consider sending out a wedding announcement after the big day, if gifts are your main motivation.
7. Consider doing things a little differently than most weddings. You can still have a great reception without a full sit down dinner. Heavy hor'dourves can be just as filling, and it motivates your guests to mingle.
   
   Are you not a big drinker? If not, then consider having a cash bar. Or - yes, I'm saying it - no bar at all. The reception should be a reflection of the newlyweds, not what everyone else wants. The alcohol bill can be the most expensive part of your reception, and you can save a ton of money by eliminating it altogether. However, if you do like to drink freely, then be sure you budget plenty of money for this one!
8. If you have close friends that are also wedding vendors, see if they would like to offer services at a discount. Do you have an uncle that is a photographer or a cousin that DJ's on the weekends? See if they can perform the services at a discount or maybe even for free and call it a wedding gift.
9. Remember that this is your wedding, and you don't have to conform to what everyone else wants. As long as you are happy with the decisions you have made in your planning process, that is all that matters. Times are always changing, and formal wedding etiquette is not what it used to be. Have fun with it!