So the proposal was perfect and now you've got the ring on your finger. You thought that was the hard part, right? Think again! Even if you're the master of coordination, weddings are often insanely expensive to host. Luckily, there are a number of things you can do that will cut costs significantly.
Consider your floral alternatives. To fill an entire church and reception hall with real flowers can be one of the most expensive items in a wedding. As an alternative, consider fake blooms made of silk for the majority of floral splendor. Most people will be seated too far away from the altar to tell the difference if you get good quality fakes, anyway, so you can limit your real blossoms to the boutonnieres, corsages, and bouquets used by the bridal party and immediate family. As an added bonus, if you provide a break between the ceremony and reception, the fake flowers can be transported with greater ease than real blooms and can be set up at the reception site. You'll also be able to keep the fake flowers for future use, or you can put them in individual vases as mementos and give them to the members of the bridal party.
Buy a corset-backed dress with less beading. One of the highest costs of a wedding is always the bride's dress. Even if you find a dress that is perfect in style and is semi-affordable, most of us aren't able to walk down the aisle without having at least minimal alterations done. This can rack up hundreds of extra dollars in alteration fees. To minimize the alteration bite, look for a dress with a corset back. This will let you adjust the circumference of the waistline with extreme ease and eliminate the need for the dress having to be let out or taken in-you won't need to worry about gaining or losing a few pounds. If you buy a dress with lots of beading that needs adjustment, alterations will be more expensive because all the beadwork needs to be taken off and put back on in order for the adjustments to be made.
Print Your Own Invitations. Printing companies can charge up to $300 or more to print invitations. Most department stores and office supply stores sell invitation kits, and Microsoft Word offers a variety of templates and fonts that are suitable for invitation use. Odds are that you can find someone (e.g., the boy next door whose computer seems more of a growth than an appliance) to work out any formatting kinks you may encounter. If you have a good quality laser printer, this is one of the easiest ways to shave a little off your wedding total.
Have a rehearsal breakfast or lunch. Dinner foods are almost always more expensive than breakfast or lunch foods. Having the rehearsal meal earlier in the day will let you take advantage of the cheaper menu while still satisfying everyone's appetites. In addition, you will have the rest of the day to visit with those who've come for the rehearsal, settle last minute details, or take care of final errands. It's easier to book a restaurant or rehearsal site earlier, as well, because most places do most of their business in the evenings.
Use mirrors. Look for a reception site that will allow you to decorate as you wish. (Some, such as most hotels, require that the reception be hosted by their own staff and decorated with whatever the hotel can offer.) Then, use small votive candles inside glass holders-these can be purchased at most department stores at minimal cost. Place the holders on top of small mirrors as table centerpieces. The mirrors and glass will reflect the candlelight elegantly and maximize the amount of illumination you receive for a romantic glow.
Make sure the best man is no more than arm's length away from the ring bearer. Kids are adorable, especially when they are all dolled up for a wedding. Nevertheless, they are still kids, and kids can get hyper at the most inopportune times. To assure that your ring bearer doesn't lose the rings in all the inevitable fidgeting, stitch the rings loosely to the pillow even if the pillow has ribbons with which to tie them down (the ribbons can work loose). The best man can keep a tiny pair of scissors, such as those in small sewing kits, in his tux pocket and give the ring bearer a hand when the time comes. It only takes a few seconds to snip the threads and no one will mind the best man helping out, especially if the ring bearer is very young.
Of course, these pieces of advice are only the tip of the iceberg. You also can save costs by having an outdoor wedding, getting married on a weekday, and limiting the number of people you ask to be in the wedding party. Whatever you do, you can reduce stress by taking things one task at a time; not everything needs to be arranged at once, so leave yourself time to shop around.
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