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How to Plan the Perfect Wedding on a Budget

6 Ways to Plan the Perfect Wedding on a Budget - from flowers to venue everyone can afford their dream wedding.It’s already mid February and that means spring is just around the corner.  Engaged women all around the country may be busy planning their perfect wedding.  What is perfect anyway?  I think the idea of the perfect day is different for every young girl, teenager and bride-to-be.  Regardless of what we may watch on Bride Wars not everyone can afford the perfect spring wedding in June at The Plaza Hotel in NYC.

So how can you do it?  How can you plan the perfect wedding on a budget?  It’s easy: spend on things that matter and save on those that don’t.  It’s easy to plan a wedding within any price range if you pick and choose what’s important and go from there.

Here are seven tips on how to plan the perfect wedding on a budget:

Location

The location doesn’t have to be ideal, it just has to be convenient for everyone including the bride and groom as well as their guests.  This is why hotels are often popular wedding venues because they offer space for the party, catering for the meal and overnight accommodations for all the guests.

Flowers

A big gorgeous bouquet of flowers is beautiful, but is that really where you want to spend your money?  On something that’s going to last only a few days?  Fake flowers can be the way to go and if you want to save a few bucks skip the bridesmaids bouquets. Holding candles (or the groomsmen) while walking down the aisle is a lot cheaper and looks just as nice.

Decorations

Any space can be spruced up with decorations.  This is why it’s not important to find the perfect venue with gold plated walls and crystal chandeliers.  The bride, the mothers of the bride and groom as well as the wedding party can decorate beautifully and at half the cost of a professional decorator.  Spend a few bucks on bridal magazines or go on Pinterest to get budget friendly wedding decor ideas.  Check out our Weddings on a Budget board.

Centerpieces

I have never really understood table centerpieces.  Yes they look nice, but who wants a bunch of flower petals falling on their plates?  Not me.  Candles seems to set the mood, but they seem like a disaster waiting to happen when they’re in the middle of a table where people are eating and reaching for food and drinks.  I would save on the centerpieces and spend somewhere else.

The dress

I’m definitely not going to tell a bride what to do with her wedding dress because that seems to bring out bridezilla.  However I personally wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on or get into credit card debt over a dress that I was only going to wear once.

Music and food

A wedding is all about the party for me so if I was getting married I would save everywhere else so I could spend on the music and food.  I wouldn’t go overboard with a seven course meal, but I would make sure my guests ate good food and left with their bellies full.  Oh and then there’s the wedding cake.  That has to be delicious with a ton of icing.  After all fancy cake is still cake.

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  • Recently went to 2 overpriced weddings and felt bad for the groom both times. They were choked up, teary-eyed, as their bride was beaming with pride from all the attention she was getting. The bill went to the groom’s family even though the guests were 3/4 the bride’s. The registry gifts were also 3/4 for the bride. The food and venue were expensive despite being subpar “gourmet”.
    None of that for me. A simple lakeside wedding under the stars with guests camping out overnight for three nights. Night one, separate bachelor and bachelorette parties, night two, big pre-wedding party for friends good enough and in good enough health to show up. Night 3 the actual wedding.
    A honeymoon boat to take us to the lake’s island to camp alone. Plenty of fireworks for everybody.
    Morning 4, guests give final greetings as we head out for the real honeymoon.
    Total cost including camping passes, sunscreen, and food, about $3000 US.
    Spending 10x that on a wedding? Couldn’t imagine that at all.

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