Money Saving Tips For Weddings

Money saving tips for weddings will help you stick to your wedding budget. Before you plan anything for your wedding, you should work out a budget with your fiance and with your parents if they are going to help you pay for any part of your wedding. Then, make up your minds before you shop that you will stick to your budget and no charging anything on charge cards!

Do not start off your marriage by going into debt. Pay cash. If you cannot afford it, leave it out of your wedding. After the honeymoon, when the bills come, you will be glad that you charged nothing for your wedding.

My first tip is to shop at discount stores, including Wal-Mart and dollar stores. It is okay to go into cheap stores like Dollar Tree and Big Lots and many others. You don't have to broadcast it, but why pay more when you can get an item cheaper at Wal-Mart than at the mall? It just doesn't make sense.

The second of my money saving tips for weddings is to buy plain white shoes at a discount shoe store. They can be heels, flats, sandals, flip-flops, or sneakers but buy them cheap. Make sure they fit you well and they are comfortable. Put gel inserts in them for extra comfort. Then decorate the plain shoes and make them truly yours. Glue on jewels, beads, lace, ribbons, flowers, whatever you choose to make them special for your wedding day.

Buy the ring bearer's pillow, your garter, and the flower girl's basket or little purse at a dollar store.

Candles, thank you notes, and reception napkins can be found in dollar stores as well. Don't waste your money on ordering napkins with your names and wedding date printed on them. They are pretty but most guests will wipe their hands and mouths and toss them into the trash can. There is a good chance that a pile of them will mop up spilled wedding punch, especially if there are children at your wedding. Spend your hard-earned cash on something that will last longer than a napkin.

Money saving tips for weddings can also include printing your own wedding invitations. Buy an invitation kit at Wal-Mart or another discount store. Design the invitations on your computer and print them out.

Make sure your printer is a good one and that you have plenty of ink before you begin. You may need to get the help of someone who has done this before or you will be wasting money if you ruin the invitations.

Sometimes you can get a good deal at a local print shop for printing your wedding invitations. Ask about any specials they may be having on plain wedding invitations.

Another of my money saving tips for weddings is to borrow a nice car from a friend of family member to transport you to and from the church and reception, instead of renting and paying for a limo. Talk the owner of the car into being your chauffeur and be sure and pay for gas!

Consider doing your own hair, makeup and manicure instead of having them done professionally. You probably do these things yourself most days anyway so why not save the cash? If you need help, enlist some of your wedding party and/or your mom to help you on your big day.

A few months prior to your wedding, start experimenting with different hair and makeup looks. Once you find some good ones, practice a lot so you will be able to pull off the new look on your wedding day without a hitch.

Ask your friends and co-workers to share their money saving tips for weddings with you. After your wedding, pay it forward by sharing your tips with other brides-to-be.

Low budget weddings are possible when you cut reception costs. Food takes about 50% of a typical wedding budget.

First, consider having your reception in the fellowship hall of your church. Then you will not have to pay a hall rental fee. Alcohol will not be allowed inside of most churches so that will save a good amount of money.

Most churches already have beautiful table linens for special occasions so you may be able to use them if they go with your wedding decor.

Have a dessert reception for your guests. Serve coffee, iced tea, and a sparkling punch along with some desserts, fresh sliced fruits, and the wedding cake. Low budget weddings do not have to include a full course dinner. A dessert reception is tasty enough so that most won't even miss a full dinner, especially in the warmer months.

You may want to include hors d'oeuvres with the dessert reception. If so, serve several varieties of hors d'oeuvres for the first hour while everyone mingles and then serve the desserts and cut the wedding cake.

If you do decide to serve dinner, forget the caterers. Consider having some of the best cooks in your family along with some of your close friends make their specialty dishes.

Choose music you love and burn several CD's to be played during the reception as background music. This way you do not have to pay for a band or a DJ.

Cheap wedding plans call for inexpensive and original table centerpieces. Instead of real flower centerpieces, make your own silk flower arrangements. Potted houseplants with color coordinated pots and ribbons work great as table centerpieces.

Arrangements of candles look lovely on the table, either pillars, tapers, votives, or floating candles. Just make sure that you group the candles in odd numbers such as three or five.
For some reason, candles look better if there is not an even number.

Tiered trays of desserts or hors d'oeuvres in the center of each table also make great and very practical centerpieces for your hungry guests.

Decorative, small battery-operated fountains placed on each table will look good as well. They do not all have to match. Borrow some from friends and family and place a different fountain on each table.

Cheap wedding plans don't have to look cheap. They just have to be inexpensive.

Clear vases filled with citrus fruit make popular centerpieces now. I have seen them used recently at several weddings. A bowl of fresh fruit for the guests to enjoy also makes a good centerpiece.

Planning a small cheap wedding is not very hard to do. First, keep the guest list to a minimum. This is important because the more guests you have, the more food you will have to buy to serve at the reception.

Cater the wedding yourself, with the help of your family. In lieu of wedding gifts, ask those in your family who are wonderful cooks to make one or more specialty dishes for your wedding reception. This will save you a ton of money. Ask some of your friends and/or family members to serve the food and drinks.

Leave alcohol out of your reception. If you are born again Christians, you probably don't drink anyway and this will save you a ton of money. Use Welch's sparkling white grape juice, which is delicious, for your toasts. Serve iced tea, lemonade, water, and hot coffee. These are all pretty cheap to make.

Have a nonprofessional bake you a wedding cake or just buy a white sheet cake and decorate with some fresh flowers or a pretty bride and groom cake topper.

Use paper plates and cups and paper napkins. Use plastic ware instead of silverware so there will not be much dish washing.

Slice loaves of fresh French bread from Wal-Mart spread with real butter. Bread is cheap and is a great filler so buy extra.

Hold your wedding in a church, preferably the church where you are a member so it will not cost you anything. Some churches charge their members a fee to get married, but most do not. If they do charge you, it will be a minimum fee.

Have your reception in the church fellowship hall so you do not have to pay to rent a hall. They will probably not allow alcohol so you do not have to worry about that expense.

Use the church linens on your tables and just use one or three votive candles as centerpieces on each table. Don't worry about favors.

Have a few friends or family members take wedding photos.

Go to the closest print shop and order cheap, plain invitations. Buy your thank you cards from Dollar Tree or Wal-Mart.

These tips should really help you when planning a small cheap wedding.