... sometimes they're not so bad.
I was bored and looking through my (million) bookmarks today and rediscovered theknot.com ...
Usually I disagree with about 75% of everything on that site but the article that caught my interest first was probably one of the best I've seen from them in a while (not to bash them, it's a great and very user friendly site and I had spent whole days doing nothing but surfing through it's seas of wedding porn when that oh so pretty ring first touched my hand but quickly noticed that theknot.com is just not geared toward couples with a budget less than 1/4 of what they make *yearly*). And thus I give you:
30 Ways To Save $ On Your Wedding and the
things i agree with:1. Cut the guest list. This will slash your catering costs and save on invitations and even the number of centerpieces. While painfully obvious this is a biggie. When we (I) made our first guest list I almost feinted when I counted: 300 people. Since then, we've gone after that list with a machete, a grenade or two, a pair of scissors and a couple hundred clicks of a mouse. And now we are down to about 130, much better huh? :-D
2. Think off-peak season and save thousands! Kevin proposed to me in May. To wait till warmer weather we would have had to wait almost a year or more. We didn't think we could wait those extra 4 months. So with the help of
this book, the $ it would save us, my love of winter but most our own love we decided that we would get married in 8 months in January and on a Sunday (!!!!!! I know, it shocked me too!). Our biggest problems with this decision: the COLD! (i have yet to find a jacket or shawl I like enough to wear with my wedding dress), the (possible) snow and road conditions, the lack of time even if its the way we wanted it, the limited range of ideas (you would be amazed how little wedding porn is from a winter wedding!) and of course, the almost universal looks of "what-the-heck-are-they-thinking". But I promise, if its what you want, it's worth it.
3. Hold your ceremony and reception in one spot -- it will cut travel time for vendors you pay by the hour. We're doing this one too! As a very involved member of our church I asked our pastor if we could hold our reception in the church hall and with the simple guidelines that there must be no (or very little - still working that out)booze, no overtly sexual music, that we make sure to stay within fire safety's guides for how many people in the hall and pay the set fee, the church is totally with us and even quite a few of the members will be receiving invitations (when we actually get around to that)!
4. Skip the Saturday wedding. Having a Sunday wedding was a big deal to us and has been the basis of MANY discussions. We go to this church every Sunday almost and to not do so on our wedding day seemed wrong. Honestly, I'm pretty sure that while during the sermon Kevin will be fidgety and nervous and crazed with all the things on our to-do list, I will love the normality and tradition of it and hopefully so will he. Usually service ends at noon at our church with most everyone being gone by 1:30. Our wedding is set to begin at 3. It will not be easy but I am sure that we will love every moment of that day :)
15. Serve comfort foods like barbecue chicken, mac and cheese, and corn. It's fun and often cheaper. OH yes! We're going full blast with that idea asking our family and friends to each bring a dish for a "family style" (yeah, okay, pot luck) early dinner. We're thinking build your own tacos, ham, turkey, pizza, pasta, pork chops, all the deliciousness of home!
16. Skip the champagne toast. Even though we bought a cake cutting/ champagne flute set, neither of us like that kind of bubbly hehe, we may use soda or water or whatever we have on hand actually!
22. Get single-page invites to save on postage. We're planning on printing our invites on a single sheet of (shock i know!) cardstock that has been cut down to size (thanks Dad!) to save on paper and $. I've never really seen a point to using a whole other sheet behind the invite simply for added color - with no info on it! - anyway :) plus we have these awesome stamps to use on the invitations!
There is so much you missed theknot.com! Couples today are getting so crafty! You could make your own bouquet from flowers from the grocery store or bought in bulk online. Or make your own cup cake wedding cake. Or buy a super cheap wedding dress (I know of women- yeah online haha- that have spent $70, $40, $10, even $5 for their wedding dresses!).
It can be done people!
*holds imaginary champagne glass full of imaginary caffeine free coke up in a toast*
To all the couples daring to be different and cheap with their weddings: good luck, happy days and lots of love♥
and then there's this great buy! Honestly, aside from the shape they're not that similar but this looks like a beautiful dress and the price is fantastic $89! Hurry, it's 50% off over at Chadwicks.
