Skip to main content

Budget Busters

I need to decrease my budget for...

 So, you bought the dress of your dreams, but now you have to cut your budget for flowers! These types of things happen. Budgets can change during your wedding planning process. You may decide to splurge on one aspect of your wedding, but that money has to come from some other part of your budget! Here are ways to cut your budget for certain parts of your wedding so you can keep costs down but still have a beautiful wedding!

 Flowers

 Ok, so the food and your dress went a little over budget...spend a little less on flowers!

 Here are some cost effective ideas...
Try less expensive flowers


Baby's breath is a fairly inexpensive flower that can make a BIG statement. Look at those centerpieces! Baby's breath is great because it creates volume and creates the look of a large, full arrangement! It can also be used for bridesmaid's bouquets...simple but still so cute!

Reuse your bridesmaid's bouquets

Ok, so we have talked about this before. Bridesmaid's bouquets only really get used in the ceremony, why not get more bang for your buck? Put your bridesmaid's bouquets in vases for easy, gorgeous centerpieces!


Less is more

Why not simplify the use of flowers in your wedding? There are so many ways to do this! 

Have your bridesmaids each hold one simple flower tied in a ribbon


Choose centerpieces that have few flowers...or no flowers at all!






Food

A seated dinner is often pricey. Why not do a simple buffet? That way you can save on servers and food in general!


Instead of having a huge cocktail hour buffet, have a few passed appetizers! No need to do anything too fancy- all your guests need is a little snack. Skip the expensive stuff!


Drinks

Having an open bar can be expensive. However, a cash bar is often very inconvenient for your guests. Instead of having a full bar, just serve wine and beer! That way, guests have the option of free alcohol, but you don't have to pay for hard liquor! You could even use a small bottle of wine as a way for guests to find their seat. Put the guests' names on the bottles along with table number, and as they walk into the reception they can grab their bottle. That way, each couple or group has their own wine to drink throughout the night.



Your Gown...Heaven Forbid!

Ok, relax. It's not the worst thing in the world. If you must, there are many boutiques that carry more affordable wedding gowns. 
Still NEED that designer gown? Here's a little secret! 


http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com

Used wedding dresses! Ok it's not as bad as it sounds. Honestly, the dress will only have been worn once for a few hours and most brides will have the dress cleaned before selling it on sites like this. 
Many of the women on this site never even wore the gown! Some gowns were never worn due to a cancelled wedding (ouch), finding another dress, you name it! Also, if someone gets divorced, do they really want to keep that gown? Nope...why not sell it?

The site listed above is great. You can search for gowns by designer so you can find your dream dress! There are so many gowns for sale on here you will definitely be able to find your size too!

Gives a whole new meaning to "something borrowed"! And who is gonna know??


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do I have to do THAT at my wedding?

Fads that are Fading Out T he first thing that you need to understand when you start planning is that it is YOUR wedding! Any question that you have regarding what you can and should do should be answered with a YES! It's your day, and your wedding can be any style you want featuring any traditions you want, and excluding any you don't want! I get a lot of questions regarding traditions or "norms" and whether you HAVE to do them. For many of these questions, the answer is no! Here are some examples of fads and traditions that are fading out, and not necessary to include in YOUR day! THE BOUQUET TOSS The bouquet and garter toss is a tradition that has been going on since Medieval Times! Brides used to toss a piece of their dress to the unmarried women at the wedding as good luck to the next lucky bride. As dresses became more expensive, brides began to toss their bouquets instead. This tradition has fizzled out for many reasons. At many weddings, the femal
Post a Comment
Read more

Centerpieces

Centerpiece secrets...shh! Centerpieces are a huge part of your ceremony. But, they are also a huge part of your budget! There are a lot of ways to budget your centerpieces and a lot of secrets to making a statement without blowing your budget! Secret #1: Less is More Ok, so you want colorful, gorgeous centerpieces, but you want them low cost... Here's a fabulous idea! These are actually from a wedding I helped with last summer. The idea is, you are only paying for 5 flowers (gerbera daisies too which are fairly inexpensive!) but by putting them each in their own vase, you cover a lot more table and have a much larger, statement making centerpiece! You could do all the same color, all different, whatever you want! And I love the larger gerbera in the middle- really gives it some height! Here's another similar centerpiece. This features three different flowers: hydrangea, gerbera daisy, and a few mini roses. We also sprinkled some shells and sea glass on the tabl
Post a Comment
Read more

Celebrity Inspired Wedding Looks

Celebrity Inspired Wedding Gowns (for less!) Ok, so your favorite celebrity fashion icon wore an amazing dress to their wedding, and you totally want to wear it too! But...it's out of your budget. Or unavailable to the public. Here are alternatives to some of the most talked about celebrity wedding gowns of the past few years. Cause we can't all get a custom couture dress, right?? Reese Witherspoon   Actual Dress : Monique Lhuillier (Custom) This dress was probably upwards of $10,000US. It was custom created for Reese, therefore it cannot be purchased. Here are some alternatives!                                                                                                 Same Designer: Love Reese's look? Try "Candy" by Monique Lhuillier. The blush color and slightly fitted skirt mimics Reese's feminine, ethereal look. Try it with a dark pink satin ribbon as a belt! (Retail: Around $7,000US). Monique makes many gowns in this gor
Post a Comment
Read more