Wedding on a Budget

The idea of walking down the aisle, in a flowing white gown, with flowers and lights all around is the dream of millions of young women.  The wedding that was pictured as a young girl was, undoubtedly, an extravagant affair, with the best flowers, carved arches, gorgeous backdrops, and a large crowd of friends and family.  However, when it comes time to plan the actual affair, many brides-to-be are disappointed to find that the budget will not allow for such extravagance.

That is the bad news.  The good news, though, is that you can still have a wedding worthy of your inner child’s dreams.  You simply have to know where to cut costs in order to produce the biggest, best bash on the smallest budget.

Begin with Dessert While most women are, at first, worried about the wedding dress, the maids of honor, and the venue, the cake is generally overlooked until further along in the planning process.  If this is a piece of the wedding that you are less concerned with, then you might want to consider skipping it all together.  The truth is that a wedding cake will generally be priced per serving, and that can add up very quickly if you have invited two hundred of your closest friends.  At eight dollars per slice, that can amount to a $1600 cake.  You can greatly reduce the portion of the budget allotted to this by serving alternative desserts.  Consider an ice cream bar, cupcakes, or a variety of options on a dessert table.  These can be gorgeously arranged to attract the eye, just as a wedding cake would, but without the massive price tag attached.

Serve Platters Instead of Having it Catered Catering is also a huge budget killer for many brides.  Instead of going all out with a three course meal served on silver trays, opt for a simple meal.  You can order beautiful food platters from local grocery stores and hire local restaurants just to serve the main meats, for instance.  This can save you thousands of dollars.

Flowers Many brides-to-be greatly underestimate the cost of purchasing flowers for a wedding.  Bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces and additional accent pieces can quickly add up to an abundance of blooms, and a very shock-worthy price tag.  Cut the cost by harvesting some of your own flowers.  Ask local gardeners (particularly friends and family) to donate some from their garden, or choose a bloom that grows in abundance in your area, so the cost will be lower.