I recently read an article about Budget Weddings in a magazine. Their research indicated that an average wedding and reception has a price tag of approximately $35,000. The article gave several examples of how to manage the available wedding money. I’m thinking that’s a good hunk of money for wedding bliss.
Although I was married decades ago, I think I still have a few cost saving hints regarding wedding planning.
At the time, I was probably much older than the average bride, so I saved up some money. There was no way I was going to ask anyone to pay for a wedding or to help with wedding costs. I paid for the whole wedding myself.
I, also, had a very small wedding about 55 people, so that kept things in check.
Wedding Dresses
Initially I thought I was going to elope to Vegas, but those plans fell through rather quickly. I was told there would be a wedding. OK, I could figure something out with this.
My first thought was to find something to wear. Initially, I thought I would buy a white skirted suit, but I couldn’t find anything I liked. After I thought about it, I didn’t like that idea.
I didn’t want to spend thousands on a wedding dress, so I didn’t even try on any wedding dresses. I found a very plain white bridesmaid dress for about $150 and ordered that. To make things a little fancy, I had them sew on a beaded small heart on the front of the dress. In thinking back, I think it would have looked better without that embellishment.
Now, they have discount bridal stores for cheaper dresses but there was nothing like that when I went shopping. Nor did I have a dress my mom could pass down. Initially she wore a pink dress in a non-church wedding.
I also borrowed my mom’s good pearls on my wedding day. Unfortunately, as things go, the string of pearls broke right before the wedding as I was getting dressed. My sister was able to pull the strings back together and I wore them anyway.
I ordered plain white shoes with a heel and added a matching bow clip to the front of the shoe.
A relative sent me a short wedding veil and told me to make my own veil. OK, I was crafty and could do this. In fact, someone asked me where I got it from. I had to be careful not to prick my finger with the needle as some of the veil fabric I was working with was hard to push a needle through. I think my wedding veil turned out nicely.
Wedding Flowers
Then, I ordered a bride’s bouquet and three smaller bouquets for the bride maids from a local florist. When I found out my wedding bouquet was to cost more than my dress, I asked them to make it a little less pricy. The were nice about things. So, the floral shop removed some of the pink roses and added cheaper pink mum flowers. It still looked very nice.
When I went on my honeymoon, my sister tossed the bouquet in a sink full of water and the ivy began to grow. That ivy grew for many years until a severe frost came and killed it to the roots.
A relative said she would make the flowers for the church out of silk flowers. I wanted two vases of flowers, but she came with only one huge vase, so that was placed upfront. I found some small white flowers on the sales tale in the craft store and bought those, added a small ribbon and placed them on the first couple of pews. Hum . . . when I was walking down the aisle, I noticed that they were a little small for the pews.
After the blue bridesmaids’ dresses were ordered, I found some hair clips and matching blue roses. I wired them on to the hair clips for the bridesmaids to wear. Their shoes were also dyed by the store to match the dresses. One bride maid complained of her shoes not matching, but to my eye’s the shoes and the dress were a perfect match.
At the reception, I used dried hydrangeas in small baskets for the table decoration. In thinking back, I really didn’t like the dried flower look, I probably should have gone with silk flowers. Or the restaurant suggested using candles on the tables.
Tossing Rice
A good friend made beautiful needle point small “rice” bags to hold the rice for tossing after we walked out of the church. However, the church did not allow the use of rice. I think they thought it was wasteful when hungry people were out there. But they told us that birdseed was OK to toss. At the reception, this person also made bunches of cherry cookies for the reception tables.
Needs Vs. Wants
I guess the main thing with a wedding is to decide what you need and what you want. Put both of them together and see what you come up with.
Everyone knows what they absolutely want on their special day. They have been thinking about it all their lives. On the other hand, can anything be deleted in the “want” section?
Also, if anyone offers to help out with something, let them. It makes the wedding so much more special to you.
Ending Notes of Budget Weddings
Some of my economical tips may not be for everyone. But if you need to save some money, they might give you a few ideas. I was glad I didn’t spend that much money on my wedding.
There is always a need for money for life’s vital necessities. Right before the wedding I purchased four new tires and the brake shoes. Note, this was a big repair bill, but it was definitely a need.
So, after I got married, in three years I became a mom and purchased a new single-family home on a large lot. I needed a bunch of money for both. Guess where all the money came from? Yes, that’s what I really wanted!
It’s the old opportunity costs principle going on here–what I gave up purchasing for something else.
Resource Site: AARP Magazine.
PS – The flowers for today’s blog were a gift from a neighbor.