Are you planning a wedding on a small budget? You will find it is probably not as difficult as you expect. Weddings are notoriously expensive but if you keep a check on your expenditure, it is possible to save a lot of money.
This means that the first rule of planning a wedding on a small budget is to keep a note of everything you spend or plan to spend. You may want to set up a spreadsheet on your computer with all the different headings on the left, followed by a ballpark budget figure for each one that you can set right now, and then a closer estimate of the actual cost when you have information from caterers etc.
When you are planning a wedding on a small budget, remember that the only essential expense for a wedding is the marriage license. Anything more than that is what you choose to spend. It is matter of setting your priorities and deciding what is important to you.
Of course, most people will have at least a few wedding guests and provide them with a meal. If you are on a very tight budget, this could be done at somebody’s house. But you will probably have it catered by professionals.
By all means shop around to find who can provide a good tasty meal for a low cost, but remember that with catering you often get what you pay for. Explain to the caterers that you are on a strict budget and ask for less expensive menu options. Consider limiting the choice of alcoholic drinks, for example by offering only wine and beer instead of a full bar.
Be ruthless with your guest list because this is the biggest cost of most weddings. Do not feel obligated to invite everybody. In fact as a general rule, the fewer people you invite, the less you will hurt anybody’s feelings. If you cannot invite all of your work colleagues it may be best to invite none of them.
The wedding dress can be an expensive item so this is another thing that you need to consider when you are planning a wedding on a small budget. Does the dress have to be new? Would you consider hiring?
How about asking mothers, aunts and grandmothers whether anybody has an heirloom dress from their own wedding that could be tailored to fit the younger generation bride? An original 1950s, 60s or 70s dress could be beautiful, and you can theme the wedding around it.
Many other costs can be cut or avoided. Most people probably have twice as many flowers as they need at weddings, for example. You do not need to provide expensive wedding favors, centerpieces or have heavy printed invitations. You can make many of these things yourself or have them made by friends when you are planning a wedding on a small budget.
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