Planning a wedding on a budget is an important consideration, especially for today’s young couples. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a lot of dollars to have a beautiful ceremony.
Perhaps the first step to planning a wedding on a budget is, naturally, to formulate a budget. The bride and groom need to sit down with their parents and determine just how much they can afford to spend on the entire wedding; not just the ceremony, but the reception, the rehearsal dinner, the bridal shower, bachelor and bachelorette parties (if, that is, the family is planning them, and not the couple’s friends), and the honeymoon.
Then set about determining the cash that should be spent on each individual purchase associated with the wedding. These could include the bride’s dress, the groom’s tuxedo, the wedding cake and reception meals, all decorations for the wedding and reception halls, the rental fees for those halls, the booking of an officiator for the wedding and live entertainment for the reception, etc.
Sure, everyone wants a beautiful wedding; but when planning a wedding on a budget, the bride and groom must learn to cut corners and make compromises. They may want to serve a lavish steak dinner at the reception; most guests, though, would be perfectly happy with cake and a cheese tray. They may want to hire Celine Dion or Michael Buble to serenade them at their wedding; they may have to settle for the local wedding singer, or for cousin Bessie who sings lead with her church choir. They may want to unleash live swans on the grounds of a lavish outdoor ceremony; but for this wedding, the discrete placement of some paper mache swans, or maybe the release of some pretty ducks, may have to do. The bride might want a Vera Wang gown, but a dress designed by Vera McAllister—her best friend from high school and a senior at the local design institute—would suffice.
In planning a wedding on a budget, a couple can seek help from a professional wedding planner (though of course his/her salary will have to be figured in to this same budget!), a bridal guide or magazine, or a wedding website. They also can rely on their own common sense, and the advice of trusted friends and family members.
An inexpensive wedding can still be beautiful and memorable; and by planning a wedding on a budget, a couple can begin their lives together with no big debts or money woes. Plan your wedding on a budget today!