Save Thousands of Dollars-Four Things You Can Live Without

Are you a budget-savvy bride who wouldn’t mind saving thousands of dollars on your magazine-quality blowout, but don’t want to look like you scrimped, cut corners or suddenly became Madame Cheapo?

Well, if you are-you are in luck!

Here are four things you can live without on your Big Day that are guaranteed to trim thousands off of your big budget’s bottom line! And let's be honest. What bride doesn’t want a trimmer bottom for her wedding day?

1. Guest List

Slicing and dicing your guest list is the number one way couples can control the costs of their wedding. It is also the number one most painful thing they’ll do. And think about it. You are happy. Your future hubby is happy. You want everyone you know to share in that happiness. I get that!

But did you know that cutting just 10 people from your guest list can save you at least $1,000? It can!

Consider this!
Ten people on your guest list each have a “plus one,” bringing the actual guest total you have to serve up to 20 people. Now, let’s underestimate and assume you will spend $35.00 per person for food and beverage, tax and grats …That is $700! Add in the extra two tables you will need to seat 20 people, including the cost of centerpieces, menu cards, chair covers, etc and you will save at least $200. Consider a $50 savings on cake and another $60 on favors. Don’t forget the extra money you will save on invitations, thank you cards, RSVP cards, stamps and programs … at least another $50. That is already over $1,000.

Adds up doesn’t it?

You can also trim your guest list by omitting the “plus one” for single guests and not including an invite for the kiddos.

2. Favors

Party favors are fun and everyone likes to take something home with them as a reminder of the wedding event. That being said … they are far from essential. I’ve actually been to more weddings that didn’t have favors than wedding that did and more often than not, your guests won’t even notice! You can easily save several hundred dollars on your wedding by forgoing the favors.



3. Cakes and Desserts

Did you know wedding cakes can range from just a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars? Scary, huh? By diligently searching out the best value bakers in your area, you can skim hundreds off of your wedding budget.

Looking for ways to save even more? Forget about the Groom’s Cake. Wedding cakes today are often created in a variety of flavors, so by omitting the Groom’s Cake altogether, you can expect to save a few hundred dollars. You could also serve the wedding cake as your only dessert. Many caterers will urge you to serve dessert or offer a dessert bar, then serve cake. Talk about overkill.

4. Expensive Stationary

I know everywhere you look you see designer stationary that costs upward of $5.00 or $6.00 an invite. They are sassy. They are feminine. They are precious. But you can do them yourself. Consider creating your own invitations online at American Greetings (or other site of your choice), then adding your own embellishments. You will save hundreds of dollars and you can create a tailored look unique to your wedding.

What other things do you think couples can skip when trying not to bust their budgets?

Photo courtesy of prettydaisies

Four Places to Find Your Wedding Dress for Less

Let me guess. You have ransacked magazines, pounded the Internet and hit every bridal shop in town trying to find a less-expensive version of your dream wedding dress. Right?

Well if not. You should.

Did you know that buying your wedding dress online can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars? Seriously. Thousands. I mean, think about it ... what could you do with an extra, oh, let’s say $1500 for your wedding?

Wow, huh?

But where would you start? Should you just pick a website at random and order your wedding dress without ever seeing it? Trying it on? Knowing your exact size?

Uhm. No.

What you should do is find your ideal dress. Try it on. Fall in love with it. Then, go somewhere else to buy it.

I know it sounds mean, but bridal shops prey on inexperienced brides who don’t know their options and prices for the same dress-even from one bridal shop to the next-can vary hundreds of dollars. I know. I did the research on my own dress.


But I’ll save you some time. Here are four websites where you can find your dream dress-for less!

Bride Couture
Vera Wang? Carolina Herrera? Jim Hjelm? Those are some pretty impressive names in the bridal biz and Bride Couture is selling them on their website for 50-75% off the normal retail price. You can make a private appointment at their store in San Diego or order two, three, even four dresses, try them on at your house, then return the ones you don’t choose. You will only pay shipping.

Bride Power
Featuring the same designer names as Bride Couture, Bride Power goes one step further and offers a gown-locator service. For $50, they will search for your exact dress and guarantee it for 40% off the retail price. If they can’t find it, you get your $50 back. You can also sign up for their Gown Notifier service where they will call or email you if your gown arrives (although this option isn’t guaranteed).

Perfect Bridal
Perfect Bridal is the sister company of Brides of California and is an authorized dealer for all of the dresses they sell. In addition to wedding gowns, they sell bridesmaid dresses, mother-of-the-bride dresses and accessories.

Pre-Owned Wedding Dresses
All of the dresses on this site are previously worn and sold directly by the brides who wore them. Many sellers offer a return policy and prices run around 50% off the original price of the dress.

This is also a good way to sell your dress-thereby recouping some of your investment-after your wedding. I know I’m selling mine-and in fact, I think I’ll list it with this site.

With any Internet company, you should do extensive research (in addition to the information I’ve provided you), look them up on the Better Business Bureau and ask for recommendations. I asked for recs from one company I considered using, and although they sent me a list of four or five brides to email, I could tell from the tone of the emails and the unnatural English writing that all of the emails were answered by the same person. I ran-fast. You should, too.

You should also read the fine print and follow-up with the company. You could save hundreds-or thousands-on your dress, but if it doesn’t arrive on time or you choose an unethical company, your dream dress could cause you wedding nightmares.

A Simple Wedding

I attended a very simple, low-budget wedding last Friday that still had many of the elements associated with a more expensive and upscale affair.

This brings me to an important point: it's not how much you spend, it's how you spend it.

The wedding invitations were sent out, email and snail mail, 6 weeks before so we all knew the date was June 6. The location was a town hall in a small, central Ohio town with a reception to follow at the groom’s family's home.

Despite all the myths and stories about June weddings, the reality is that here in Ohio, you never know what to expect - especially weather-wise.

On June 1st, we had to turn the heat on and on Friday June 6th, it was over 90 degrees! So, of course the town hall where the wedding ceremony was held did not have air conditioning!

As we entered the hall, where the town mayor was going to officiate, two little girls handed out wedding programs. (The programs ended up serving dual purposes: they gave information about the party AND became handy fans!)

Luckily, there was a breeze – even if it did manage to set one of the candle arrangements on fire. Fortunately, there were some quick-thinking members of the groom’s motorcycle club who were able to stamp it out and avoid any of the other candles from catching the shades on fire as well.

After that excitement, as the acrid smell of smoke wafted all around us, my cousin and I worked out escape routes where we could grab his 94-year-old grandmother and exit the building! But that speculation ended once the processional and ceremony started.

I did feel for the poor bride though. Even though the sleeves of her wedding dress were short it was a heavy satin gown with a long train. It didn't bustle so she had to carry it on her wrist the entire evening too.

The bridesmaid’s dresses at least had spaghetti straps on them so they weren’t quite as warm as the groomsmen who were wearing black tuxedos, heavy satin vests, and leather hats! By the time the pictures at the hall were over, all the guys were down to shirtsleeves.

After a 30-minute drive through some lovely countryside, we arrived at the wedding reception site. There was a huge tent with tables and chairs set beneath it, and in the family barn/garage, there were wedding decorations – bells, flowers, small white lights, - and a buffet table with a nice simple meal and two ladies serving it.

A cake table held a wedding cake that carried out the motorcycle theme and there were three different flavors of cake available to everyone. There was a drinks area with cold drinks that were especially popular on such a hot day!

Even though the affair was simple, it had all the elements that make a wedding a memorable event and this wedding had its share of memories – the small fire at the hall, the bride’s dance with her father, the cake ceremony. So even on a small budget you CAN have a successful wedding.