Every item related to your wedding can be expensive. As a result, some brides and grooms will need to find ways to spend less. However, it is also true that the wedding is the most important day in our life. I bet that every couple will want to make it wonderful and perfect. It seems that the ideas of money saving and making the wedding unique are contradicting. I will say that it is not always true. Let us see how we can save money without jeopardizing the uniqueness of your big day.
Wedding Date
Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danmoyle/6796366063/
Picking the wedding date is the first step of wedding planning. You should know about this point. Do not choose a date during the peak wedding season. This is the way to save money. You can make the wedding less expensive when you choose a day in the off-peak season. In fact, the date will not affect the event much if you are not going to have a seasonal themed party. If you can put the efforts on the decorations, you will make your big day unique.
Catering
Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyc_xmas/4741168447/
Usually, brides and grooms will spend about 30% of the budget on catering. Even if I do not tell you, you will know that it will be a good idea to find ways to cut the cost of this part. The first thing you need to consider is the time you host your party or reception. Remember, caterers will usually charge more for a dinner. The menu for a dinner is going to be more expensive.
So, I will suggest you to host your wedding party in the morning. Preparing a breakfast is certainly less expensive. Alternatively, a buffet lunch will also help. This idea will considerably lower your total budget on catering.
Now, I am going to tell you that you can easily make your morning wedding party unique. Choose a beautiful restaurant with a covered outdoor space is the key. It is always perfect and wonderful to say I DO in an outdoor space such as a beautiful garden. The party will be stunning in such a restaurant. Having an afternoon picnic can also be full of fun. They are something unique but not expensive.
Oh! Right! Some of us will still prefer to have a dinner for their wedding. In this case, it is still possible to save money. If you are crazy enough, prepare the foods yourself. Of course it is something difficult. If this is not really an option, consider the idea of BYOB. Yes, go and ask your guests to bring their own bottles! Such a party can be full of fun!
Wedding Favors and Invitations
Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45688285@N00/2169887032/
Saving money on the invitations and favors is not difficult. You can go for the idea of DIY! I always suggest the brides and grooms to do this if they have limited budget. Though I am an invitation designer, I strongly believe that DIY cards and favors will be the most unique. Of course you will need to spend the time and put the efforts to create them. Make some DIY chocolates and they can be unique wedding favors. If most of your guests do not love chocolates, you can make some cookies instead. For the invitations, you can try to download some free templates on the web. With these templates, you can make your own invitation cards without any difficulties. What is even better is that you can make every card unique since you will be printing them one by one.
Bridal Dress
Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emerycophoto/2374581281/
You need a really perfect gown if you want to be the most beautiful bride in the world. This is why most brides will not mind spending a bit more on this part. So, what can we do if we want to save money? A simple answer to this question is to rent the gown instead of buying it. If you insist on purchasing a new dress, you can try to search for it on ebay.com or taobao.com (the biggest auction site in China; with Google translation, it is possible for you to perform your research on this site). Many couples report that they can find inexpensive and stunning dress on these auction sites.
In fact, the above are only some of the ideas of money saving. Remember, these ideas are meant to be helping you in a way that you can make your wedding unique while saving money. Here, I will also tell you one more (common) way to save money. It is to ask for discounts before you sign the contract. Well, this may be the wisest way to save money at the end of the day!
About the author: This is a guest post contributed by Jerry Leung, who works as a wedding invitation designer in 983wedding.com.