How to Plan The Wedding of Your Dreams on a Tight Budget

You always see the hundred-thousand dollar weddings on TV, you know the ones where the parents and bride and groom are all made of money.  They make it look easy to just hand someone 50k to go make magic happen.  Realistically, 8 out of 10 viewers watching these shows are probably just wishing and hoping that the money fairy is going to deliver them enough money to have a celebrity wedding of their own.  

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the money fairy, and I know this will be quite the let down for some of you. However, before you grab your tissue box and start falling into your daily re-occurring nightmare of having your dream wedding at the local McDonalds, start thinking more about how you can make your dreams come true with the power, money and creativity you already have.

We all know the necessities of the perfect wedding; Location, Flowers, Food, Invitations, Favors, Cake, Music, Photographer and the Dress.  There are some easy ways of getting everything you need for as little as you want.

Here are 5 easy steps to planning your low budget dream wedding:

1. Don’t Settle, Negotiate! -  You have your eye on this cute little reception hall in the next town over, but their prices are sky high and way out of your budget.  Everyone is trying to either make money or save money, and you can either be an easy sale (what you see on TV), you can make it a challenge.  Most reception halls, disc jockeys, bands, florists and photographers are willing to bargain.  The most important place to try this method is the reception hall, the most expensive part of your wedding.  Most reception halls will start by handing you their menu with a list of wedding packages.  Wedding packages can be quite a deal, except for the price.  Here’s the trick;  if you like wedding package “A”, which includes, invitations, disc jockey, videographer, cake, bottles of wine (per table), hor dourves, appetizers, and a chicken dinner, think about what you don’t need. You have plans to make your own invitations or you have a friend or family member who is a disc jockey and another who’s a videographer.  You can actually negotiate a rebate on those items that you wouldn’t be using in that package.  Make the package your own and customize it to your needs, not theirs.  By doing this, you can cut out thousands!

2. Be Creative - Start with creating your own invitations.  Make them custom to you and your spouse to be.  You can create your own invitations online, and bring them to a print shop for a quarter of the price of ordering them from that fancy invitation shop down the street.   Once you’ve mastered your creative skills on your invitations, move onto the next project of designing the wedding favors.  Go to your local arts & crafts store and put together a favor that’s going to go with your wedding theme.    While you’re on the creative track, create your own centerpieces, wedding programs, card box, and guest sign in book.  After you’ve down all these fun tasks, you’ve saved yourself probably a couple thousand dollars.

3. The Dress - Not too many brides are willing to make sacrifices when it comes to “The Dress.”  However, waiting for a sale, or even negotiating a discount for having your bride’s maids purchase their dresses at the same store can help big time.   You’ll want to skip getting your dress tailored at the large bridal gown store, the prices will sure to be twice as much as the small family tailor shop down the street.

4. Dig Up Some Old Friends – Remember that friend you had back in high school, the one who had dreams of being a disc jockey, or a photographer?  There’s a good chance their still trying to get their big break, so why not see if they’re interested in helping you out for a couple of hundred dollars.  Finding a past friend, rather than a money hungry stranger could save you quite the wad of cash.

5. Improvise - You had your heart set on those orchids you saw in the window of your local florist shop.  You can actually envision yourself walking down the aisle surrounded by millions of flowers.  Well, sorry to say, but if you hire a local florist to make this dream come true, you can throw your budget right out the window!  Go to your local farm stand, or any where you can buy independent flowers.  Gather some friends the day before your wedding, buy the flowers of your dreams and wrap them with a ribbon.  Place them in a refrigerator overnight, and you’re dream display of flowers will be waiting for you in the morning.  This will save you almost half of the cost that a florist will charge to do the same thing you and your friends could have a blast doing.  

Anything is possible when you put your heart into it.  We all know brides can have that secret aggressive personality waiting to come out at times like these, so use it to get what you want for the price you deserve, and you’ll be sure to have the wedding you’ve always dreamed of.