101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding – Part 1: Planning

101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding – Part 1: Wedding Planning

With the cost of weddings spiraling upwards of $27,000 (depending on where you plan to have your wedding), and the unstable economy, many engaged couples are looking for ways to save money on their wedding.  Over the next few days, We, at Completely Weddings,  will share with you 101 ways to cut your wedding cost and thereby saving you money to use somewhere else such as your honeymoon or savings for your first home.  As we publish each part, we will add a link at the end of this article to enable you to have a complete list of our 101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding.

WEDDING PLANNING

1.    Set a budget.   Before you begin shopping and planning, set a goal for yourself of how much you want to spend.  You would not want to start your married life with debt, so do not over spend.  Use cash, if you can.  But, if you are going to use a credit card, get or use one that charges the lowest interest you can find.  Pay the loan as soon as possible.  To give you an idea of a wedding budget, download our “Wedding Expenses Table“. The percentage are not set in stone.  They are merely suggestions and you can change them depending on our priorities (see #2 below). Once you determined the percentages,  download our “Wedding Expense Record” to keep track of who pays for what and how much does it cost per item.  Make an effort to keep your costs in your budget, and remember that any additional money you save can go towards your honeymoon or your first home together.  Here is a “Planning Calendar Checklist” to keep your wedding planning activities in a timely manner.

2.    Determine your priorities.  Sit down with your fiancé and determine which area are most important to you.  Do you both value traditions or could you do without a lot of them? Is a DJ the most important thing to have at your reception, or is it a full meal?  Chose where you want to cut costs and what things are too important to you to skimp on.

3.    Make your own traditions and ditch the old ones.  If there are certain traditions that you don’t enjoy, such as throwing the garter and the bouquet (especially difficult if you have a very small wedding), don’t feel obligated to include them.  You can create traditions all your own.

4.    Don’t hire a wedding planner.  If you are planning a small event especially, you don’t need a wedding planner.  Invest in an accordion file and a wedding planning book from a bookstore and do it yourself.

5.    Keep your eye out for bridal shows.  Bridal shows are a great place to get freebies, gather information, and enter contests.  The least you’ll walk away with is a better idea of what you want in your wedding, so find your next local bridal show and mark your calendar!

6.    Order online.  For everything from dresses to flowers to favors, you can get some great deals when you shop online.  Do your homework before you make a purchase at any store and see if you can’t find the same thing cheaper on Amazon, EBay, or Overstock.com.

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101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding – Part 3: Flowers

101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding- Part 3: Flowers

Here are 5 ways (Saving Ways numbers 20 to 24) to save money on your wedding flowers – from your own bridal bouquet to your bridesmaids and flower girl’s  flowers, is to do them yourself.  There is no need to panic even if you have not done a single flower arrangement before.  Read on and find out how you, too, can make these beautiful bouquet with a little bit of practice and step-by-step instructions.

WEDDING FLOWERS

20. Make your own bouquets. You can purchase a wide variety of silk flowers at any craft store. These won’t wilt so you can take your time creating the perfect bouquets. Time your purchase during sale months, usually after Christmas or in January when craft stores want to get rid of their older stock to make room for their new ones.  If  you want to use fresh flowers, visit farmers’ markets or  grocery stores that offer floral products.  Their fresh cut flowers will cost much less than what your florist will charge. You can also save money by buying flowers wholesale.

If you are not sure you can make  pretty flower bouquet for you and your bridesmaids, here is a book I recommend: Creative Wedding Florals You Can Make by Terry Rye.

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Planning Your Bridal Bouquet

I have been talking about bridal bouquet in several posts, but I think flowers for your wedding are such an important part of the occasion that I decided to write a new post about planning and selecting your bridal bouquet.  Before you start browsing, take a few things into consideration to make sure that you’re headed in the right direction.

1. How formal is your wedding? The formality of the event is first and foremost in selecting the right bouquet. If you are planning a very informal wedding you may want to go with a playful selection of daisies, while a formal event might call for roses or other large, elegant flowers. If you are planning a tropical wedding, consider appropriately themed flowers, such as hibiscus. [Read more]

Topiary Wedding Centerpiece

Wedding Reception Decoration

No doubt, your wedding reception centerpiece adds ambiance to your special day.  You can spent several hundred dollars for the centerpieces or save money by making them yourself.  One of the floral arrangements that can be easily made by almost anyone is the Topiary.  You can experiment with an infinite number of combination or adapt them to the seasons or theme of your wedding before choosing a final design.  Another plus to making topiary is that they can be made several months in advance and all you need is to ask someone to bring them to the reception venue.   The images above are pre-made topiaries that we have included in this post to give you inspiration in designing your own topiary or, if you’d rather buy than make them, follow these links: [Read more]

The Bridal Bouquet: Choosing the Right Accessory

Throughout time, flowers have been used to communicate feelings.  Did you know, for example, that when you receive an orange or lemon blossom, it means fidelity?  Receiving a peach blossom is a different thing altogether.  In flower symbolism, it means “I am your captive.”  Even roses have different meanings depending on their color: red= passion, white=purity, pink=happiness.

Traditionally, brides’ bouquets were simply made with white flowers.

• White roses meant purity
• White calla lilies, magnificent beauty; and
• White daisies, innocence and loyal love. [Read more]

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