Planning How to Save Money on Weddings

Whether you are a bride planning your own wedding, or the father of the bride, one concern you may have is how to save money on the wedding.  The financial burden of a big wedding can produce a great deal of stress and friction between the bride and her parents.  This can often spill over into friction with the groom, as well.  As a result, if you are the bride it is important to realize that it is in everyone’s best interest if you can come up with a reasonably priced wedding budget that will allow you to have the wedding you want, while still staying within the limits that make your parents and your fiancé feel comfortable.

One of the best places to start is by writing down a budget that will cover everything you consider essential.  Regardless of what you have available to spend, you may want to start by reading the short article, “Budget for a $3000 Wedding with 50 Guests.”  By reading this article, you will see how it is possible to cover all your essential expenses, including a wedding dress and food for 50 guests, while still sticking with a $3000 budget.  Once you have seen that a nice wedding is possible, even at the very reasonable price of $3,000, you can gradually edge the amount up by adding any extras you can afford and may want … extra guests, a more expensive dress, tux rental for the groom, etc.  Once you have reached 90% of the maximum amount of money that is available to you, you will feel confident that you have budgeted enough to cover all the essentials.  This is a much easier approach than starting with an expensive budget and trying to pare it down.  One word of caution, however, is to try to only budget about 90% of the maximum you think you can afford.  In this way, if you have an unexpected expense, it won’t be a disaster.  In other words, if you can afford $5,000, plan a budget using $4,500 as your goal.  Then, if you need to spend a little extra for food or gratuities, you are prepared.

Other than food and alcohol for the guests, one of the more expensive purchases that a bride will make for her wedding day is when she selects her wedding dress.  Lovely dresses are available for as little as $100 to as much as $5000 - $10,000.  Of course, if you purchase a dress at the high end of that range, it can totally destroy your wedding budget.  In order to find the best wedding dresses possible for the money you have available, you will want to read, “Buy Discount Wedding Dresses.”  This article will give you a number a resources for wedding dresses at reasonable prices.  This article also has links to articles on Discount Wedding Favors, Groomsmen Gifts and Bridesmaid Gifts.  Finding discounts on these items can help you stick with your budget.

With a little planning, it is quite reasonable to be able to have a nice wedding that will not cause either you and your fiancé, or your parents to have to go into debt.  Sit down for a calm discussion, print out all the information you can find on money saving wedding ideas, and plan out all the details for your wedding.  Put together a notebook, so you can keep all this information organized.  Then, shop around and get the best price possible for every item that you need to purchase.  The article for a $3,000 wedding, for example, gives you a list of all the items that you absolutely will need for the wedding, as well as a reasonable price to pay.  With a little patience, maturity, and good humor, you can plan to save money and still have a lovely wedding!