Wedding Trends in a Slow Economy

There are several trends in weddings these days that are reflective of the economic unrest that has gripped the United States and the world. Weddings are expensive and time-consuming, but they are also the fulfillment of many a young woman's dreams, so in order to accommodate both the shrinking dollar and the dream, many wedding couples are making sacrifices.

According to "The Wedding Report" there several trends that wedding couples are following in this era of high prices and shrinking funds. Here are the first four (the rest next time!):

Holding weddings on off-peak days, times and months is more common.

Holding a wedding ceremony and wedding reception on a Thursday or Friday evening, a Sunday brunch wedding reception, or an early afternoon wedding ceremony and short afternoon wedding reception are becoming more popular - and cost effective. By choosing to have the wedding on less common days, many wedding couples are getting discounted rates. Off season weddings, such as winter weddings are also growing in popularity since vendors need to fill their own calendars to break even.

Wedding budgets are shrinking and couples are looking for bargains.

Wedding couples are seeking more bargains, comparing vendor prices and generally seeking discounts or extras for their hard earned dollars. Smaller guest lists equal less money for food, wedding favors, and other accouterments of a wedding reception. Even small wedding cakes with one or two layers for the ceremonial cake-cutting are a growing trend, with sheet cakes for dessert being used behind the scenes as the wedding dessert.

All-inclusive wedding packages are also currently popular, which save couples money, as well as time on wedding planning.

The average wedding costs $27,000. Think what you could do with that kind of money if you cut costs and planned accordingly!

Do-it-yourself projects are replacing wedding products and services.

Couple can save oodles of money by using printable wedding invitations and printable wedding programs and other stationery. This does not mean that the invitations are printed on notebook paper, but with good card stock or handmade papers, they can give an impression of elegance without breaking the wedding budget. Wedding evites and save-the-date cards are also becoming popular to save on postage and paper.

Couples are choosing to tackle weddings projects themselves, such as creating their own wedding reception decorations, wedding flower arrangements,wedding favors, and desserts.

Using iPods and mp3 players for music is trendy.

With a little bit of creativity and a sense of fun, wedding couples can create their own wedding play lists and save money by using iPods, other mp3 players, and laptops to play music during their wedding reception instead of hiring a traditional band or DJ.

My uncle used to MC for family weddings and arranged the play list for the band or DJ. He knew the family names and any ethnic music needed for wedding dances etc. If he could do it in the pre-iPod days, there has to be someone in the family who can do it now! In today's technology driven world, ask someone who is good with electronics and play lists to take over this task for the wedding itself.

These and the remainder of the wedding trends are all on a course to save the wedding couple money. It’s not how much you spend, but where you spend it that defines the simple and elegant style of your wedding. Keep that in mind.