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If you're married, then you know how much fun the months leading up to the big day can be. From planning the menu and the seating, to what colors the bride and groom will wear, it can be very daunting and even confusing. And with the mounting costs and stress levels you can quickly find yourself snapping at your bride or husband to be. But there are many ways that you can plan inexpensive weddings without looking cheap.
A quick word here about the difference between inexpensive and cheap. Inexpensive is is getting $ 2 dollars off your great new haircut via a coupon. Cheap is cutting your hair yourself. And usually making a mess of it.
With that said, there are a few things you can do to keep within the budget you have set and still make it your perfect day. The largest expense that a newlywed couple incurs during a wedding is NOT the actual ceremony, but the reception afterwards. This has mainly to do with two factors: the amount of guests and the type of food served.
One way that you can keep the cost manageable here is by being very selective about whom you invite. With our wedding we invited only those family members and friends that we saw on a regular basis. Sure it can be gratifying to say that you had 400+ people at your wedding, but at the end of the night will you have seen them all?
As for the food, do you really need to have the most expensive dinners package available? Obviously you want to be able to try to please your guests but this does not mean getting the package with the rack of lamb, cognac and three mile high cake. Think simpler – a buffet for instance. Another thing to consider is WHERE you want to have the reception. If you want to keep to your set budget, you do not need to have the reception in a swanky hotel. Instead you can have it at a local club. It will be cozier and just as much fun if not more.
Another area you should consider is the DJ as this can get very expensive very quickly. When my wife and I looked around, some of the base starting packages were $ 800- $ 1000! The trick is to look for someone who DJs part time. The one that we chose was $ 250 and he was a firefighter by day. The key is not to get dazzled by smooth talk or lots of graphics. At the end of the night it is about the music.
Another area with the potential to get expensive is photography. One option here is to have each table set with disposable cameras. Everyone takes pictures and at the end of the night you collect the cameras and develop the film. And if you have a family friend that is a good photographer, they will probably do it for the cost of film.
Finally, there is one more thing that should not be overlooked when planning inexpensive weddings: INVITATIONS! This can get quite expensive, depending on the package and so forth. A way around this is to simply find stationery that you like and do it yourself. The biggest hurdle here may be ensuring that everything lines up when it comes time to print.
Planning inexpensive weddings need not be time consuming or difficult, but you should always seek help before you get overwhelmed and just one or two simple yet effective tips can save you hundreds of dollars.
