How to plan a Wedding on a Budget

First off let me say congratulations. You are about to spend the rest of your life with the person of your dreams. Weddings can be expensive, but they don't have to be. Follow my directions and you will have the perfect day and it won't break the bank!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Phone book
• Patience
• Your fablous self!

1. Location, Location, Location. You always want to start off with picking where you want to have your wedding. In order to keep your cost down, look at places like community centers, parks, family homes. These places will be free or a lot cheaper than a hotel or event hall. Hold both your ceremony and reception on the same place.
2. Time of day: When choosing when to start the ceremony and the reception, try to pick odd hours that will force guests to eat before the wedding. 10 am, 2pm, 8pm. When you pick these times it will lower your costs on catering.
3. Time of year: When picking the time of year, always remember that peak seasons will be the most expensive. Spring, summer and fall! Stay away from those. Winter and early spring the prices will be lower in all aspects of the planning proces. Companies are also willing to negotiate on their prices to get the sale during their slow months.
4. Once you have the Location and time of year nailed down you are in to the really fun stuff!! You need to have your colors for your wedding nailed down. Picking a classic color for your accent color will minimize costs as specialty colors are more expensive in linen and bridemades dresses.
5. Flowers: When picking out your flowers try to pick out the flowers that are in season for the time of your wedding. Picking something that is exotic will add additional costs.
   Find places like Whole foods where you can purchase the flowers in bulk and then they will arrange them for you. All you need to do is bring them the vases,(which you can buy in bulk for low cost at a Joannes Fabric or Costco) pick out the flowers you would like in the center of your tables and in your boquets and they will arrange them for free!
6. Catering: When looking for catering the most expensive part is the staff. If you can find people to pay under the table to work the event or do a buffet, it is much cheaper. Since you are doing your wedding during non peak season, catering companies are willing to negotiate to get the sale.
7. Catering: When picking the type of food to serve, you don't need to have that much food because your wedding will be at an off time that your guests will eat before you wedding. Hors d'vours, salad, fruit, and deli trays are great options for the food at your wedding.
8. Invitations: You make your own. Please see my article on How to make wedding invitations!
9. DJ: Djs can be expensive. You have a few options on this one to save extra money. You can rent the speakers and soundsystem, download all the songs you want on your ipod and hook it up to the speakers. This way everything you want to be played at your wedding will be. You will need someone to man the table during your wedding. You can hire a newer dj and give him directions on what you specifically want. New Djs will generally not charge as much. The other option is that you can hire a local cover band. They won't charge as much and you can give them certain songs you would like to hear at your wedding.
10. Table Gifts: You don't need to do something huge. Most people don't take the gifts anyway. I recommend putting bird seed in a small piece of cloth with a ribbon tied around the top. That makes for a pretty table gift and will be used later for your exit!
11. Honey Moon: Enter in as many drawings as possible!!! When you go to the wedding expos, your chances are high of winning since a lot of brides don't enter.

Tips & Warnings

• The most important thing is to have fun while planning your wedding. Get creative. There are so many things you can do to cut cost but still plan the wedding of your dreams!