Advice for Planning on a Budget

It’s quickly becoming clear to me that my disability is not as much of an obstacle in planning this wedding as much as I thought it would be. My bank account however, is another matter altogether. I can’t believe what some people are charging for things like veils, invitations, and bridal jewelry.

One thing is clear. Weddings are big money. Businesses know that this is potentially one of the biggest days of your life and count on the fact that you will pay big money to get exactly what you want. They have no shame either. When I was shopping for DJs some blatantly advertised a price that was double their normal rate to book a wedding and most did not include any extra services under that new price.

So how do you avoid going bankrupt while still having the wedding you always wanted? One way that I have discovered, mostly by doing lots of research, is not to go with the most obvious choice.

Instead of looking at hotels or country clubs, I booked my reception at the local community fairgrounds. This may sound a bit funny but the space they rent out for events is nice, it holds 200 people, has its own kitchen, areas for the wedding party to get ready, a bar and accessible bathrooms and the tables and chairs are included. Total cost? Under $400; that’s less than $2 per guest. Plus we were able to book the day before for the rehearsal dinner and to get a head start on decorations at no additional cost.

I also saved a lot of money by ordering my save-the-dates from an online printing company called Vista Print instead of ordering from a catalog or a company that specializes in wedding invitations. They usually specialize in marketing and promotional products for businesses, but because you can upload all your own information you can order just about anything. I was able to purchase 150 postcards, magnets and envelopes for under $60.00 including shipping. I plan to use the same site for my invitations.

Another thing you can do to save money is ask your crafty friends to make things. I have one friend designing my veil and another who has done all the work on my save-the-dates and will be designing my invites as well. Although, I do plan to pay these lovely people for their services, I won’t have to pay the inflated prices that I’ve seen in stores and catalogs.

Lastly, if you really want to save some cash you can do that by making things yourself. I have recruited friends and family to help create my table center pieces and my favors so that we don’t have to spend unnecessary funds to purchase these items.

Being on a budget when planning your wedding is difficult, but if you are willing to do a little extra work you can often get exactly what you are looking for at a pretty reasonable cost. The earlier you start, the more time you have to shop around and find what you are looking for at a price that you can afford.