Wedding planning: Making the most out of your budget.

So he has finally popped the question! Congratulations! You and the family are extremely excited, but very overwhelmed at how to start planning a wedding. Especially with a tight budget. What should you tackle first? The photographer, DJ, flowers, venue, invitations etc. There are so many options to juggle. First you must pick a date. Your date may depend on what dates are still available at the church or wedding venue of choice. Have a couple different dates in mind as well as ceremony and reception sites. Not only to have a better chance at the date you had in mind, but to compare prices as well. Keep in mind, getting married in the "off season" for example fall and winter, as opposed to summer and spring, may save you money in the long run. When looking into a reception hall, try to find a place that cooks the food for you, instead of having a caterer hired to come in. A separate caterer can cost more.

Once the date and places have been decided upon it is time to think of engagement announcements and save the dates. You can combine the two saving both time and money. For example when I was at this stage in the planning process we had my mom take mine and my fiance's picture outside infront of some pretty backyard flowers and then had wallets made of our favorite pose. Then I bought blank, white card stock, and a "wedding themed" stamp and silver stamp pad. I stamped the front of each card. I then bought pretty printer paper. I used again a silver/grey color. (silver/grey and pink accent, were my wedding colors.) Then I typed a small paragraph on my computer in the cursive phont.

i.e.

Mr. & Mrs. (your parents name here)

would like to announce the engagement

of their daughter

(bride's name here)

to

(groom's name here)

Please save the date : (wedding date here)

I copied and pasted four of these on one blank page on the computer. For example, one on every corner so that when I printed out the announcements, I could make the most of my paper and cut them out with pretty scissors. Next, I used a hole punch and silver ribbon to secure my "announcement" in the card. Place your wallet sized photo from walmart, CVS or favorite photo store, inside the card and send! This method is both inexpensive and pretty.

I bought my dress when we were six months out from the wedding. I wasn't trying to lose or gain weight but in case i did, I wanted to make sure there were no drastic differences. I opted to go to a secondhand bridal boutique. This may not seem ideal for most brides but I wanted a beautiful dress with a beautiful price to go with it. If you do not want to do that, there are many 99$ dollar dress sales but you may not find the exact cut, material, style etc. you were dreaming of at such a low price. My dress was only $125. This was almost five years ago now, but you can still find a good deal on a gently used dress. I assure you no one, including my husband, knew my dress was not brand spanking new. Only my mom and I knew up until recently. I was very fortunate that I did not have to make any alterations except for taking out some cups in the bust, and having my grandmother add a decorative bow to help the bustling look more natural.

As for the invitations, they can be done on the computer as well. They sell invitation kits at Michael's craft store. This store also frequently puts 40% off coupons in the Saturday paper. I used my 40% off coupon and took my kit home to my computer to do the rest. There are specific directions and examples to use inside the kit. If you have a printer , you are in business!

Flowers can be one of the most expensive wedding accessories. I could not afford the real ones and decided to make my own arrangements for the Chapel, as well as my own bouquets and boutonnieres. I picked the roses in my colors and added baby breathe and floral tape to secure bottom of flowers together in the groups I had arranged for both the bouquets and boutonnieres. For the bouquets I also added ribbon which I tied down the entire section of bare stems, ending with a bow. For the boutonnieres I used a decorative floral pin for the men to secure them in place on their lapel. I also had two vases with silk flowers on either side of the steps where my husband and I said our vows. Another simple addition I decided upon to eliminate the need for more flowers was to have decorative bows on the ends of each pew. I found the ribbon for these bows at the dollar store. I combined both white and silver.

 When in search for a wedding cake it is best to have a style in mind.  Browse around through some magazines and call your local baker to set up an appointment to look through their album.  One interesting tidbit I found out when ordering our wedding cake was that it is cheaper to make a round cake than square.  Therefore we went with the round style.  If you do not have a local baker available you may try your grocery store bakery.  They have some surprisingly nice selections in a very achievable price range.

The table settings are also a fun way to amp up the wedding decor yourself.  I went for the glass bowls with glass beads in the bottom, filled half way with water and a floating candle placed on top.  The glass bowl was placed in the middle of a mirrored tile, square where I sprinkled wedding confetti and pink and white rose pedals all around.  Keep in mind this was for an evening wedding, the candle light made for a good look.  You may also fill your glass globes with sand and seashells if having a summer day wedding.  Get creative and pick a theme that suits you and your future spouse.  All of the items I mentioned above were bought at the dollar store and Michaels craft store.

The place settings can also be made by hand.  I used the same pretty printer paper from my engagement announcements and cut out one small rectangle to represent each guest.  I then folded it in half once, gluing it together with a craft glue stick.  Next I folded it in half once more in order to give it "legs" to stand on a table.  Then I stamped a silver wedding ring stamp on the left side of each place card and later used a silver gel pen to hand write each guests name.  On the back I wrote the table number correspond with each guests table.  I used this same idea to make the table number cards, only they were a bit larger in size.

When it comes to your DJ and Photographer remember to shop around and ask your friends and family for referrals.  Chances are you know someone who has recently gotten married.  Compare prices and stick to your original budget.  It is a huge task to plan a wedding and pay for it, let's not be paying for it for the rest or your marriage.  Most of all take time to plan your marriage.  Don't let the stress of one day add tension between you and your fiance and family.  Also, something, even the slightest detail will most likely go awry, but don't fret, keep your cool and have fun.