Every woman has fantasized about her wedding day from the time she was a little girl. It’s supposed to be the best day of your life. But when you’re young, your fantasy was most likely far greater than what you can afford on your current budget. It’s no fun when reality hits. But just because you can’t afford to fly your entire family to the Caribbean doesn’t mean you still can’t have a beautiful, memorable wedding while working within a tight budget. You’re just going to have to get creative and think outside the box a bit. The average wedding in 2012 cost just shy of $27,000. Don’t have that kind of money? Let’s get to business.
Make the Hard Choices
Remember your great aunt Claudette that you met one time when you were seven years old? She’s probably not going to be able to go to the wedding. The biggest contributor to out of control wedding costs is the guest list. Remember, for every person that goes you need to provide food and drinks. They also contribute to the headcount that you’ll need to take into consideration when renting a hall. The bigger the hall, the bigger the cost. It’s best to resign yourself now to the idea that you’re going to have to make some tough choices when deciding the final guest list. Invite the people most close to you.
Buy an iPod
With DJ costs being what they are, it makes sense to just program a playlist and have one of your friends keep an eye on the iPod if changes need to be made. Honestly, you’d save yourself a ton of money if you opted not to hire someone to encourage all of your guests to form a conga line. Let them form their own conga line. Besides, don’t you want all of the music to be what you and your spouse like?
Give Your Mailman a Break
By all means, find a business that can set you up with creative “save the dates” that you can send out to your guests. Let them really display your personality. But then, that’s it. There’s no need to follow up with an elaborate invitation. They cost money and people already know when the wedding is. If you break tradition on this one, you’ll save yourself some cash. Save the dates are much more modern and they can break the style rules when it comes to sending an invitation.
Those are just some tips to follow for having a great, cheap wedding. Food and drink are a major expense, so your best bet is to just shop around. See if a local restaurant that you like will do it for cheap. With some research and some footwork, you’ll have a memorable wedding that doesn’t break the bank.
