when planning a wedding, what parts are okay to skimp money on?

Question

and what parts should i splurge?

Answer 1

Skimp on the fluff. You do not have to have a 10' long train on your wedding dress to look like Princess Diana. You do not need an ice sculpture, signature drinks, personalized napkins, cake knives, champagne glasses, seat covers, wishing well, etc. Your caterer and the bartender will provide standard white napkins. The banquet hall has a cake knife and champagne glasses. You can buy/make a covered box or simply have a very large and attractive gift bag for people to put their cards for you. For the flower girl baskets, you can buy cute white baskets at Easter time for a lot less money than what you'll find in the bridal aisle.



Splurge on core items that touches all of your guests such as the invitations, food and the music. I put invitations on the splurge list because the make your own invitations do not look nearly as nice as the ones you order. The make your own invitations do not have raised embossed lettering and the styles are limited. You don't have to get a hard bound invitation adorned with ribbons.

Answer 2

First, pick your date or at least a time of year. Then, look in the phone book under "wedding." A lot of reception sites, caterers, bakers, florists will be listed there. Otherwise, look up the individual entries of "banquets", "caterers", "florists", etc. Then, call the places and book appointments. Start with the ceremony location and reception site, depending on which one is more important to you (if, for example, you already know where you want the ceremony to be, start there so you can ensure your date). Compare the services of each one, keeping in mind that not everything is equal. Location, appearance, packages, etc. will all vary, and you will have to decide what is most important for you. Then arrange food, photography/videography, dj, transportation, florists, and cake in that order. Florists and bakers can do more than one wedding a day, but photographers can't so they need to be booked first. Once you have the vendors, then focus on the details like programs, favors, centerpieces, etc. The vendor search can be a little overwhelming at first because it's a lot of phone and leg work, but once you get the hang of it you can overlap planning the details with planning the big stuff. The Knot has a lot of wedding planning ideas. They also have a handy checklist that you can customize to feature the things you want to include in your wedding. There is no reason why you need a wedding planner, and they often get you to spend more than you otherwise would want to. If you want any more detail, contact me directly. I loved planning my wedding!

Answer 3

It's okay to skimp on the small stuff, like invitations, save the dates, centerpieces. If you look in crafting/scrapbooking/wedding magazines, you can actually find some very cheap/creative/cute ideas for making these things yourself. For the important stuff, such as the cake, the dress, etc. definitely don't go cheap. Try to keep these in the average range of what you'd pay rather than splurge. I always think it nice to have a nice wedding, but keep money left over for the house/preparing for future/savings/etc. I hope this helped!

Answer 4

Great question. Its the really the key to having an amazing wedding, but still be affordable. I really think it can be done when you prioritize in the right places.



Splurge:

venue, food, drink, music (DJ or band), photographer



Skimp:

flowers, centerpieces, favors, limo, guest book, ring pillow, toasting glasses, cake knife



My thinking is if you splurge on a great venue, you only need to buy bouquets and boutinerres. You wont need to buy any decorations at all, or worry over chair covers and tulle chair bows. Maybe simple centerpieces like candles. Limos are over-rated, and all those extras are just going to waste after the wedding.

Answer 5

Skimp on:

flowers: Go for color, by using napkins, and table cloths with your wedding colors.

wedding favors:Most people just throw these things away.

attire: buying expensive wedding attire, that you will only wear once.

invitations: you can get nice kits a very various places and make your own.



Splurge on:

Food: I personally love good food.

Photography: Pay a good photographer a modest price.

Honeymoon: Definitely make it a memorable one.



Congrats on your up coming wedding.

Answer 6

We cut costs where ever we could.

Here are some areas that you might be able to cut costs.

Cars- you could borrow cars of close friends or family.

Invitation- Make them your self.

Veil- mine cost $18 to make a lot cheaper than $300+ the wedding stores are selling them for.

Champagne- We are getting the cheap stuff for the toast.



Things that we chose not to go skimp on were the dress the flowers and the caterer, rings.



Every wedding is different.

My advice is to shop around and let the shop/retailer/venue know you are shopping around to compare prices they might give you a good deal to beat their competitors.

Answer 7

Every Bride and Groom have their priorities . . and that's what YOU, as a couple, need to determine.



If having a great band is a priority then hire a great band and then just cut back or eliminate something else.



If having "lots of roses" for bouquets and floral centerpieces is a priority then just cut back or eliminate something else.



If having the ceremony in a scenic outdoor garden is a priority then just back or eliminate something else.



I always ask each Bride give me three things that are important to her . . and then I ask each Groom give me three things that are important to him . . and go from there. Both the Bride and Groom should have things that are SPECIAL or IMPORTANT to them included in their wedding.



Here's some things that can be cut back on or eliminated . .



Eliminate all "wedding day" accessories. For example: table favors . . flower girl basket . . ring bearer pillow . . guest book and feather pen . . unity candle sets . . disposable reception table cameras.



Floral bouquets for the church.



Limousine service.



Bridesmaids and Groomsmen. Only have a Maid of Honor and Best Man. You only have to buy one more bouquet and one more boutonniere and two THANK YOU gifts.



Floral centerpieces for the reception tables.



Corsages and boutonnieres for parents and grandparents.



Big bouquets. Ask for three roses with a ribbon tied around them.



Liquor. Wedding guests love FREE liquor and they will drink and drink and drink AT YOUR EXPENSE. Either eliminate the liquor completely or control the flow of liquor by only having the bar open one hour before dinner and one hour after dinner.



Big, pouffy gowns. It takes a lot of fabric to make those big, pouffy gowns.



Your guest list. Everytime you add a name to your guest list the cash register rings and YOU PAY.



If you get married at 1PM or 130PM or 2PM or 230PM you can have a "desserts reception." Your guests have already eaten lunch and its too early for dinner.



If you get married at 7PM or 730PM or 8PM you can have a "desserts reception." Your guests have already eaten dinner/supper.



Answered by: A Certified wedding specialist / A Professional bridal consultant / A Wedding ceremony officiant

Answer 8

. We picked a venue that is a state park reducing our venue cost to about 300 dollars, Some have chairs and tables for rent or you can go to a rental company and they run about a dollar per chair for rental. We chose not to do a full dinner and just doing some "appetizers" and snacks. My dress.. Craigslist.. I bought it for 50 dollars.. Amazing gown. Cake... we are going to do a pretty simple "wedding" cake that probably wont serve everyone but we are going to do a giant costco cake and have it cut up and set out with the real 'wedding cake". Napkins and table settings. You can buy a case of napkins from costco for like 20 bux and they are the good dinner napkins you would find at a restraunt. Foam or chinet plate work just as well as some fine china and you can get those at costco too.. For the guys tux we are doing black slacks and then a vest and a nice white shirt rather that the whole enesemble. Drinks... dont do alcahol. thats where you are going to lose alot of your budget. Stick with a simple punch.. We will do sprite and hawian punch mix. Its really tasty. Do you have any friends who like to do hair?? I will ask a bridesmaid to do my hair and that will be her "duty" for the wedding. Simple is in with weddings and hair. Want to get your nails done? Ask your local beauty school how much they charge as to compared to your normal nail salon you can tend to get them 10 dollars or so cheaper and sometimes better quality! Use your venue for both wedding and reception if possible. You will save on transportation for you and your groom and bridal party. Also u can incorporate the decoration from the ceremony to your reception and save money. If you arent super picky silk flowers are the way to go. If you wish to do real flowers my bridesmaids are only carrying a single stem rose with a ribbon tied around it. Flower girls... go with silk flowers because these are going to be stepped on and mangled if they are real. Go simple for centerpieces. We are doing like a small fish bowl with a small tea light. I have heard a cute suggestion doing candy in your centerpieces and that much less you have to haul home. Music... do you have a stereo of your own at home that you could have say like a brother or best man hook up and just do that for music? I think its better than super booming bass and what not. Photographer.. The ceremony is more important than anything and dont skimp. These are your memories... The Reception I would buy 5 or 10 disposable cameras... (i know they have been on sale thru the knot store for liked 3 dollars a piece) and have your attendees take pictures during the reception and then you will have some cute snapshots! Invitations.. we are doing wiltons create your own a box of 50 runs 17-18 dollars at walmart. Rings... we got my engagement ring at Fred Meyer Jeweler for 300 dollars! Its beautiful... Fred meyers also has a trade in with a ring you buy meaning.. I bought mine for 300 in a year or 2 if i want to upgrade I can go in and find something double what i bought it for 600+ and they will give me 300 dollars towards my purchase of my next ring. Limo.. do you neeeeed a limo? We dont... Just use your own car you already have it why not! Keep it simple when you do favors because alot of the times they end up gettin thrown out. Do a small piece of tulle and some candy and a ribbon tied around it. Simple and they will get eatn. You could probably do without a planner too. Just ask your mom your maid of honor and your bridesmaids to help with whatever you need thats what they are there for.. I use theknot.com budgeter and i typed in how much i want my wedding to be and it estimates what I should spend on each catergory... Sorry if this was really long but i really hope it helps!!!!





also-- if you can plan it on a weekday as you can get most things cheaper cuz its "off peak" we are doing ours on a monday and the place we are renting is typically 1100 on a weekend and 300 during the week.. what a saver!!!

Answer 9

i think you can skimp on the favors, your dress, the alcohol and the table settings (like plates and stuff - no one cares if its super fancy), even the cake doesnt have to be the most expensive!



dont skimp on music, or food

Answer 10

It's okay to skimp on the small stuff

Answer 11

Bouquets. Go silk. Why pay $150-$250 for ONE bouquet that you just throw away. Brilliant sellers out there and yes they look real. Even the groom & groomsmen button holes

Answer 12

check this out. i think they have some good ideas here on how to plan a wedding.

Answer 13

Everything.If you use your head,you can spend very little.I am having a 50 guest wedding and only spending 2500.

Answer 14

First of all,you should ask yourself what is important.Then make a list of it.The first one should be the one that you'll spend more on and the last will be the least.That way you won't go overboard.

Answer 15

I'd skip the whole ceremony, go to a civil servant, and use the money for education or down payment on a house or something that a young couple really needs. You people are reading too many Gothic novels and watching too many soap operas.

Answer 16

Em................ don;t know never have got married soz lol