Wedding can be one of the biggest expenses. No wonder wedding services is a multi-billion industry in the United States.
That's why if you want to have a wedding of your dreams and keep the cost much lower than average wedding cost you need to pay close attention to the wedding planning process, especially the budget planning.
There is number of expenses involved in every wedding. By cutting the cost for each one you can save considerable amount of money. So here is the list of expenses and how you can make the cost lower for each of them.
Reception Venue
If you plan ahead what type of reception site you want then it can save you money and effort. There are number of options that can allow you have a reception for very low cost.
a) Reception in the Park. You don't have to worry about the decorations. It's already beautiful. The things to consider are time of the year and weather.
b) Backyard of your (or someone else's) home. This option the cheapest one especially if the food is prepared by you and/or by the family members. Things that need to be planed are renting tables, chairs and silverware.
c) In the church. It can be convenient to have a reception at the same church. Many churches are quite spacious to accept many guests. You will need to think about the decorations to make the feel of your wedding nicer.
Food
There are also numbers of options for food at the reception that will cost you much less. First of all you need to decide on the time of the day for reception. These are some general guidelines:
a) Morning wedding (before 11 am) - Breakfast of Breakfast buffet
b) Midday weeding (11 am to 1 pm) - Luncheon buffet
c) Afternoon wedding (1 to 4 pm) - Cake and punch.
d) Early evening wedding(4 to 7 pm) - Dinner buffet
f) Evening wedding (after 7 pm) - Cake and punch.
It is obvious that Afternoon and evening weddings will require much less than others for reception food.
Wedding Attire
Bride's suit is among the highest expenses in the wedding budget. Therefore it should be considered carefully before buying. Do not go ahead and buy it immediately after you got engaged. Some patience can save you a lot of money. These are some options for you to consider.
a) Buy discount. It is a huge market. Discount market even includes factory outlets. Such factory outlets like The Gunne Sax have even a separate building for wedding attire.
b) Buy Prom or Special Occasion dress. If you look at such dresses you will see that with some little alterations you can convert it into a nice wedding dress.
c) Bridesmaid's dress in white. You probably will be surprised that sometimes bridal salon staff may sell you bridesmaid's dress in white or ivory as a wedding dress. It even has a train but if you want you can make a longer train.