WEDDING NOTES™ – Budget Ideas

We know that if a bride isn’t careful, the budget for her wedding can be blown in an afternoon.

Our consultants are experts at helping brides create the wedding of their dreams without the nightmares that come with being over-budget. Here are some practical ideas that we know can help avoid the budget crunch. 

• The guest list. Look at your wedding realistically. You are inviting friends and relatives to help you celebrate this important day in your lives. Others on the list are likely to be friends of both sets of parents. A conversation with each of them about the number of guests is necessary unless you and/or your parents can afford to pay for everything and everyone.

• Big floral arrangements (as seen on TV portrayals of “must have” accessories) are likely to be beyond your budget and are certainly not necessary. Take a good look at the church sanctuary and see if you really need all those flowers. Most do not. They are stand-alone places. Instead of floral overloads, we suggest renting some greenery if you have large places to fill. Use the money to enliven reception spaces if necessary.

• If you have a friend or relative who was recently married, it may be possible to borrow some things – gloves, shoes, veils or headpieces, jewelry. It will not only save you money but satisfied your need for “something borrowed”.

• When you place your order for wedding invitations, order all your wedding stationery needs at one time (including a few more than you think you will need.) Set up charges for hew extras later can be very expensive.

• While today’s invitations offer a wide variety of paper style, colors, fonts and trims. The current trend toward memorable and unique invitations may be exactly what you wanted, but be ready to spend a significant portion of your budget on that aspect of the wedding plans. A simple elegant statement can be made with ivory vellum and an interesting font choice.