Wedding Savings

THREE TRADITIONAL THEMES 

          A budget may be the first thing a wedding coordinator will want to go over with you.  But, a wedding theme is the second.  You don’t have to have one, however a wedding theme can give you some direction with your planning.  For instance, I recently attended a theme wedding where the couple played out Cinderella complete with glass slipper and horse drawn buggy.  None of the bridesmaids could fit the glass slipper.  It was really cute.  Take a look at these themes and let me know what you think!  

Rose Riches
          As it’s name suggests, roses, roses and more roses make up the theme to this wedding.  The idea is to buy as many as you can afford, then fill in the gaps with lots of greenery.  I’ve known people to beg, borrow and steal from relatives to get the potted plants out of homes and backyards.  You’ll save a lot of money that way.  You can also use ribbons in the color scheme that you’re using to tie around the plants.  You can even add silk plants in with the live ones to add a dramatic effect.  You can add wrought iron benches to create the garden affect as well.

 In The Park
This theme is as its name suggests.  You can pick a park to get married in and ship in more and flowers as needed.  I’ve known couples that added everything from candle towers to portable streetlights at night to create the desired affect.

 Hearts Mixed With Flowers
You’ll want to use lots of hearts all over the place with this theme.  You can buy many different kinds of heart shaped items in your local party store. If you’re really looking to save money, you can make your own.  I know a couple that made hearts out of construction materials like poster boards.  My favorite hearts shaped items are thrown on tables for decoration.  The pink, red, gold and silver like hearts are about the size of a flat pea.  You throw them on the table and they sparkle.   

EIGHT NONTRADITIONAL THEMES 

Non-traditional theme weddings often have one thing in common.  Elaborate costuming and dramatic effects.  Let’s take a look at eight of the most common nontraditional weddings. 

All Hallow’ Eve

Halloween is a favorite event for a lot of people including kids.  It’s not odd that once your grow up that you’d want to get married on one of your most favorite occasions, right?  Halloween weddings include costumes and a masquerade ball type of event.  You can downplay the harsh orange and black colors of Halloween by mixing in other colors like grays, silvers and white.  I’ve also seen people use pumpkins with smiley faces as table decorations.  Orange and black candles also create a lively affect. 

Balloons

 Balloons can create the same dramatic affect that flowers cans.  You can hang them in the doorway to the reception or wedding hall.  You can tie them to chairs.  You can even use the bouquets on the tables as centerpieces.   You can take your pick, cover the ceiling with a helium blown balloon or cover the floor with a hot air blown balloon.  The idea is to have balloons everywhere!  This is a very cost effective theme.

 Celtic 

Celtic weddings are booming right now!  They are similar to renaissance weddings in that you’ll need an old castle or outdoor setting in order to pull it off.  The bride wears an ivory satin gown and a flowered wreath.  The groom wears plaid tartans, kilts and kneed high white socks. 

 Country ‘N Western 

Get your blue jeans and line dancing shoes ready.  You’re in for a foot stomping, hand clapping good time.  The food for the day is barbeque and potato salad.  The reception hall is lined with red and white-checkered tablecloths.  You can pull this theme off on a real life ranch or outside in a big backyard.  Let your imagination run wild as far as decorations is concerned.  You can use anything from cowboy hats to red bandanas.  Let’s move from the old west to the south of the border.

 Fiesta 

Have fun planning a Mexican fiesta!  This theme is for people who enjoy the culture and the people.  You can enjoy authentic Mexican food including tacos and burritos.  You can also have fun decorating using piñatas and paper crepe flowers.   Perhaps the warmth of Mexico isn’t your only option.  Try a wedding them that takes you across the Pacific.

 Polynesian 

Okay, so you may not be able to duplicate the Pacific Ocean for a Polynesian wedding.  Any body of water will do!  All you need are authentic music, tiki torches, flower leis and crepe paper flowers to get you in the mood here.  The food is relatively inexpensive including from roast pork to fresh fruit.

 Renaissance

          Renaissance weddings are similar to a Celtic wedding in that you’ll need elaborate costuming.  They also take place outside or on the grounds of an old castle.  The bride wears a heavy gown similar to what they use to wear in the 14^th century.  It has bell shaped sleeves and a V back line.  The groom and his groomsmen wear velvet doublets and shirts with billowing sleeves.  A feathered hat and sword tops off the man of the hour’s wardrobe.

 The Ole South

This is another wedding theme that takes place mainly outdoors.  You’ll need a beautiful mansion or plantation to help pull this theme off.  The bride wears a southern belle wedding dress complete with parasol.  The bridesmaid’s dresses are also ball gowns.  The groom and his groomsmen wear white dinner jackets and black pants.  I hope you have some idea of the kind of theme wedding you’d like to have now that we’ve run through the most popular ones. 

10  ETHNIC RITUALS

 

          Once you decide what theme you want, it will become easier to plan some events around that theme.  Did you know that some themes reflect your ethnic heritage?  Well it does.   Let’s take a quick look at how ethnicity is connected to us.  

1. African American couples celebrate what’s called a “jumping of the broom.”  This happens immediately after the “I do’s. 
2. Chinese couples drink wine from goblets that are tied together with a red ribbon. 
3. East Indian grooms get a turmeric paste rubbed all over their face to keep the bad spirits away. 
4. German brides carry salted bread in their pocket and the groom carries grain to bring wealth into the household 
5. Egyptian brides get their right wrist tied to the grooms left wrist. 
6. English brides get a live or imitation spider placed in their gown by their guests. 
7. French couples drink wind from a two cup that has two handles. 
8. Greek brides receive money pinned to their gowns while dancing with her new husband during the reception. 
9. Italian grooms get their ties cut into small pieces.  The pieces are sold to the guests.
   10.Korean couples feed their guests noodle soup to symbolize a happy life together.

 

 These are just some of the rituals that are performed based on ethnicity.  Did you recognize any of them?   Do you want to include any of them as part of your wedding celebration?  You can really make your wedding unique by incorporating a ritual.  Hmmmm, just something to think about.

The budget is important for obvious reasons.   You don’t want to end up spending yourself into a divorce before you’re even married do you?  A budget gives you strict guidelines to follow.  Overspending will not necessarily give you the wedding of your dreams.  The idea is to do it well without emptying out your pockets.  

This gives you and idea of what your budget should look like percentage wise.  Take a look at it. 

1     Reception                                   50% 

2     Bride’s Dress, Shoes, Garter     15% 

3     Videographer/Photographer       10% 

4     Music                                          10% 

5     Flowers                                       10%

6     Decorations                                  2%

7     Invitations/thank you cards           2%

8     Postage                                        1%  

                                                             100% 

I know what you’re thinking.  So many decisions, so little time.  You’ll need some help along the way.  Solicit any and everybody you care about to help you.  There are several things you’ll need to do right away.  Here they are. 

1     Meet with parents

2     Pick a date

3     Reserve the ceremony and reception locations

4     Pick your wedding party

5     Meet with minister or rabbi

6     Choose a color theme and scheme

7     Begin guest list

8     Select a wedding dress, mother’s dresses and bridesmaid dresses

 There are a lot of decisions to be made right.  Aren’t you glad that you’re soliciting the help from the people close to you?  One decision you’ll also have to make is whether you’ll need a wedding consultant.  You can SAVE a few hundred dollars if you can work this out without a consultant.  But, I’ll tell you; I have seen very few people who can.  However, it is not impossible.

Your plans should be the best-case scenario. You’ve heard the old saying what the mind can conceive and believe; it can achieve?  Bet you didn’t know the author of that was talking about wedding planning.  Well, maybe he wasn’t, but I can assure you, he could’ve been.   

 Get a pen and paper ready.  I want you to sit back, relax and envision what the perfect U-wedding would look like.  Go through every detail from the colors that your attendants are wearing to the time of day it is.  Imagine what your dress will look like and where the reception will be.  Imagine for about fifteen minutes, and then come back to me. 

Now, you’re ready to begin the exciting process of wedding planning.  You’ll need a three ring binder, loose-leaf writing paper and notebook dividers with tabs.  You’ll proceed to organize all of the information you’ll gather in the coming weeks and months ahead in this notebook.  

Here’s the headings you’ll need for every section in your notebook. 

1     Calendar

2     Budget

3     Clothing

4     Ceremony

5     Flowers

6     Decorations

7     Reception

8     Food

9     Videography/Photography

10 Guest/gift list 

I’ll give you my Four Month Calendar Guide a little later in Chapter 7.  I’ll show you what to do when.  If you follow my calendar guide, you’ll end up right on schedule.  Let’s talk for a moment about the budget.

I’m often asked, “Do I need a wedding consultant.  My response is usually, I don’t know, do you?”   A wedding consultant is responsible for helping to plan the wedding from the beginning to the very end.   Theoretically, you can do this yourself.  Some people save money by having a wedding consultant only on the day of the wedding.  I believe this is a good way to save money as well.  

A lot of times a church, reception hall, hotel and other venues will provide you with a wedding consultant on the day of the wedding as part of your package.  Some other wedding consultants charge as much as 15% of the total money spent on the wedding.  It’s a good idea to go with a wedding consultant who is affiliated with a professional wedding organization.  I list some of these organizations at the back of the book. 

You’re in for the thrill of your life if you decide to coordinate your own wedding!  I’m going to show you how to do it coming up next so get ready!  One of the first things you’ll want to do is sit down and plan out a budget for your wedding.  I always suggest creating your dream wedding.

I’ve determined that there are eight areas where you can save the most on wedding costs.  Here they are. 

1. Food
2. Bar
3. Wedding Attire
4. Flowers
5. Photography & Videography
6. Music
7. Honeymoon
8. Guest List

 Look at these areas and start thinking in the cost saving mode.  Food and bar costs are one of the biggest expenses you’ll have.  You may decide to have a buffet or cater the reception yourself.  You may decide to have an open bar for an hour or not to serve alcohol at all.  These are all cost saving measures that you will want to think about.   

The location where you’re going to have the reception is also a big expense.  Parks, forest preserves and a home backyard are all viable options for you.  You’ll see that I added wedding attire to the list of the areas where you can save the most money.  As we go through the wedding planning process, you’ll want to keep an eye out for discounted wedding attire.  

You can also find some great deals on flowers if you know how to look and what you’re looking for.  I’ve put together a list of more than 250 flowers and plants to help you decide.   A wedding wouldn’t be a wedding without the romantic mood that only flowers can provide. 

I had to add the photographer and videographer to the list of biggest expenses.  You will have to pay for a good one there’s really no way around that!  But, there are ways to skimp without missing out on the memories.  You have to capture the moment of your wedding as only these two professionals can do. 

Everyone who is anyone will want to attend your wedding!  It’s inevitable that someone is going to be disappointed because they were not invited.  However, keeping a tight lid on your guest list is very important to living within a budget.   A good rule of thumb is not to invite more guests then you can spend a minute with.

Wedding Savings Trend#1

(Couples are choosing to get married on Thursday, Friday or Sunday nights.  Those days are less expensive than Saturday weddings.)

 Can you believe Weddings Savings Trend #1?  Saturdays have been the wedding day of choice for years.  But a new day is dawning.  Folks have figured out that it’s cheaper to get married on Thursdays, Fridays and Sunday nights.  Sunday nights before a long holiday weekend is the most popular.  The Fourth of July is also a big choice.  Hmmmm, that’s really something to think about, now isn’t it? 

THE PRE-PLANNING STAGE (LA-DE-DAH)

 We started out with this wedding trend because I wanted you to start thinking about what day you want to get married on.  It’s cheaper to get married on any other day EXCEPT Saturday.  You’ll have to make the decision if any other day will work for you.  I can understand if you’re hell bent on getting married on a Saturday because it has been historically the most common wedding day. 

 We’ll just figure out another way to save you money if you decide to get married on a Saturday.  Don’t fret!    We have a whole array of cost saving measures throughout this ebook.  Don’t try to decide on a day just yet.  I just want to get you to thinking in the cost saving mode.  We’ll come back to planning the exact time, day and location of your wedding a little later in the ebook, but, for right now, let’s talk about the pre-planning wedding stage or what I call the “la di dah stage.”  

 If you haven’t done so already, you’ll want to spread the news to all of your loved ones.   I understand that.  In fact, you may want to tell everyone you come in contact with today that you’re in love and you’re getting married.  Rest assured, this is all very normal. The pre-planning stage is the most important part of wedding planning. 

 You decide on a wedding budget during this stage of the planning process.  You’ll decide on what you can afford and what you can’t.   You’ll decide on the things you must have versus the things you can live without.  You may not be able to afford all the lavish things you want for your wedding, but I’ll show you ways to make some things affordable. 

 That’s it in a nutshell.  The key to planning a wedding on a budget is deciding on what you want to spend a whole lot on.  You have to decide what things you won’t skimp on.  I’ve found a lot of couples have one thing in common when it comes to wedding planning.  They all want a memorable event.  We’ll look at ways you can do that as well.

 Planning a wedding is a huge undertaking.  I have determined that there are several areas that will need your concentration if you’re going to SAVE BIG MONEY on your wedding costs.  You’ll need to have what I call a sit down heart to heart with your fiancé.  This heart to heart will help you to determine what is a priority for you as a couple.

  You’ll need to determine if there are certain things specific to the wedding that you must have.  It could be that you want a certain band to play or a certain color to wear.  It could be a certain location for the wedding or reception.  I know a bride who was hell bent on having her wedding at an exclusive resort.  The wedding chapel was in the midst of a garden beyond belief.  While they spent a ton on money reserving the location, they saved money because they didn’t have to buy flowers.  Once you determine your must haves, you can then begin to incorporate them into your wedding.