Budgety things

So today is my long-awaited (ha!) post about Things to Do to Help Your Wedding Not Cost Millions of Dollars. Basically, I read way too many wedding blogs while I was planning the dang thing, and between the ridiculousness I read on those, and my own experiences, I learned a few things that you can (or shouldn't) do to save yourself a little money on your wedding. Magazines, TV, movies, and books tend to make it seem as if a wedding MUST be expensive. In reality, you can spend exactly as much or as LITTLE as you want to. Anyway. Here are the things that I learned... in list form!

1. First of all, wedding publications and people who "do" weddings for a living will tell you that you need certain things to make it a wedding. You don't. You don't need to buy a special set of expensive tools just to cut your cake. You don't need a veil. You don't need new shoes or expensive jewelry. You don't need letterpress invitations or calligraphy or individual wedding cakes for each guest. Heck, you don't even need wedding cake! Decide what is really meaningful to you and your families, and do those things. Trash all the rest.

2. Don't buy wedding magazines. I did, and they did me absolutely no good except make me want things I knew I couldn't afford. Plus, the magazines themselves are expensive.

3. If you want to save yourself SERIOUS money, have your wedding on any day other than Saturday. Weekdays are even better. Venues can often cost twice as much on a Saturday as they do any other day of the week. If you have to do a Saturday, consider an afternoon wedding. Often rental fees are cheaper for afternoon affairs, and afternoon weddings allow you to have the reception at a time when people won't expect a full meal-- thus saving you on catering costs as well.

4. Similarly, have your wedding in the off-season. The off-season varies sometimes depending on the vendor or event location, but generally it seems to be September to April, except for around Christmas. During these months, everything is cheaper-- we saved money on our photographer because of this, and found many event venues that were charging much less in April than then did during the summer.

5. DIY your flowers. I mentioned this in my last wedding post, but it is not as hard as it seems. It might be more difficult if you don't have a great farmer's market with tons of flowers like we do here (Pike Place!), but I've heard that grocery stores and even Costco have great prices on flowers. Florists can get INCREDIBLY pricey, so unless you want something super elaborate, consider doing them yourself. All it takes is a little floral tape, some wire, and some ribbon, and you're set. If you want basic florals like I did, DIY is the way to go.

6. You will read this all over the internet, but if you have friends with talents, use them. People usually WANT to be involved with your wedding, and it means so much more if your bridesmaids help you with your flowers than if a florist does them. That being said, don't set unrealistic expectations for friends who help with wedding services. If they agree to cater your wedding, remember in all dealings that they are friends first, and the caterer second. And thank them plenty!

7. I didn't take advantage of this, but there are great places out there with pre-owned wedding dresses, and lots of websites where people are selling dresses that might be brand new but never worn. Check those out along with regular stores.

8. Look at non-wedding specific places, because the word "wedding" usually hikes prices WAY up. For example, on websites specializing in "flower girl" dresses, they were very expensive-- like $100! WHY ON EARTH would you pay that money for a fancy dress the kid won't be comfortable in or ever wear again? We found cute white sundresses at The Children's Place for our girls that were about $30, and they were perfect. Try this tactic for bridesmaid dresses too.

9. Find creative options for food. I found a company that brings a pizza oven and cooks pizza for all the guests, and it would have been much cheaper than a traditional caterer would have been.

10. If you do find things in magazines or stores that you like but can't afford, don't be afraid to try and recreate them yourself. This works for a lot of the things in Martha Stewart Weddings, haha.

11. Don't forget about Value Village (or similar thrift stores)-- we got the mason jars for our centerpieces for $.49 a piece there. Places like IKEA are great too. I think our centerpieces cost MAYBE $5 each, thanks to those two places.

12. Last, but not least, remember that you don't have to have any of these things. You can have a backyard barbeque and wear a sundress from Forever 21 if you so desire. The only reason I didn't have a BBQ with lawn games-- my dream wedding-- is that the weather here is far from predictable. But try to broaden your view of what a "wedding" means, and choose something that fits your budget AND who you are as a couple. And check out www.apracticalwedding.com for thoughts along these lines.

I think that's it... I'll let you know if I think of anything else! Any questions???