Your wedding day is one of the most anticipated days of your life, and if you’re not careful, you could end up spending so much more than you ever thought possible and very well break the bank.
Luckily, there are lots of ways to save money when planning your wedding. The wise couple uses as many as they can while pocketing their savings for a down payment on their first home.
Nuptials
- If opting for a church wedding, you can save on decorations by having a simple candle-lit ceremony.
- Church weddings coinciding with religious holidays offer the benefit of a beautifully decorated church, at no cost.
- Consider the great outdoors. Each different season provides a completely unique feel, and arrangements can be made for inclement weather.
- Think about having the wedding and reception in the same place. Some venues have nice gazebos that would be a perfect backdrop.
- Do not discount the idea of artificial flowers. Some of the newest ones are so life-like it is all but impossible to tell the difference.
Reception Ideas
- Look for a free place to have your wedding. Do the parents of the bride or groom have a big house, or a big yard? A huge white tent lit with hundreds of tiny white lights will be perfect for the reception.
- Decide whether to serve alcohol during the entire reception, or only for an hour or two. Another idea is to offer only beer and wine. It is possible to have a wedding without alcohol, though some people do not believe it.
- Nicely decorate an otherwise bland hall and find some family members to do all of the cooking the day before. Then pay a few servers to bring out the food and clean up afterwards.
- Tap the baking skills of a beloved aunt or a friend to bake your wedding cake. A simple cake with natural decorations can be elegant, and should always be presented on its own table.
- Be sure to do a money dance. If done nicely, it is fun and you will talk to people, you haven’t had a chance to all night. People pay to dance with you, and you get spending money for the honeymoon.
- Look for nice buildings and pavilions in government-owned parks. Typically, only a nominal fee is charged and they can be dressed up beautifully.
- Be creative and make your own candle centerpieces for each table.
- When having a large reception, you can ask for a display cake with slices for 100 people, and buy less expensive sheet cakes to round out. Keep them in back and no one will know but the servers.
Honeymoon Ideas
- Lots of places near the Gulf of Mexico have not been physically affected by the epic oil spill, but they are hurting for business and rates are up to 40% less than usual. You might find a non-oily beachfront spot for way less than you’d expect.
- Cruise lines have been hit hard by the economy; they are offering dirt cheap cruise prices in efforts to fill up those big ships.
- Pick a location not too far from home and take a road trip. Use the money saved on flights to upgrade to a Jacuzzi room.
This article was written exclusively for STL Weddings by Denise Gabbard for discountvouchers.org, where you can find discounts for Flying Flowers.
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- Wedding Flowers FAQs
