In today's economic climate, more and more couples are looking for creative ways to have elegant weddings without spending a huge sum of money. There are many creative ways to cut down on the cost of having a wedding while still maintaining its elegance. Eliciting support from your family, friends and community members is one of the primary ways to cut down on your wedding costs. Taking care of various aspects of planning and organizing your wedding yourself will also help to lower your overall costs.
Create Your Own Wedding Invitations
In an attempt to reduce costs, many couples are creating their own wedding invitations. Couples are also designing their own floral centerpieces for the reception tables. In addition, brides are looking at wedding venues that have beautiful vistas and settings and do not require any additional decorating to make a wonderful setting for their wedding.
Ask a Friend To Be Your Photographer
Wedding photography is another area where couples are cutting costs. It is a great idea to ask a family member or a friend who is a photographer to take your wedding photos. With today's technology, couples can save their wedding pictures on a CD and print them out at a later time, rather than have the photographer print them out for you. Certainly, if you are able to ask a friend, family member or community member to take video footage of your wedding, that's great!
Choose Local In Season Flowers
Another way couples have to scale down costs is to choose wedding flowers that are local and in season, rather than importing them. A bride can price the cost of various sizes of bouquets, both for herself and her bridesmaids. A small change in the size of the wedding bouquets may make a substantial, financial difference overall. It may also be possible to register at a floral shop and ask some of your guests to consider giving you a floral gift for your wedding.
Ask A Friend or Family Member To Officiate
You may also want to consider asking a friend or family member to officiate at your wedding. There are many organizations that ordain universal ministers. You might be surprised to find out that several of your wedding guests may be ordained ministers and are licensed to officiate weddings. Also, in certain states like Massachusetts, an individual is allowed to officiate one wedding without actually being an ordained minister or priest. If you check with your state, you may find out that any of your wedding guests may be able to officiate at your wedding!
Choose A Non-Traditional Time To Get Married
Finally, one of the biggest trends in lowering wedding costs is choosing a non-traditional time for the event. For instance, Saturdays are popular days to hold weddings. You may be able to choose to hold your wedding on a Friday evening or even a Sunday afternoon, if your out-of-town guests are able to attend on these alternative days. You may also be able to cut down on the cost of a reception hall, if you book the hall during the afternoon instead of the evening. Another alternative is to hold the reception at a beautiful public park and ask your guests to bring sumptuous dishes to share.
