Have the Perfect Wedding Without Breaking the Bank

It is very easy to get carried away when planning your wedding. Your wedding is the one occasion when it is easy to go overboard. If you're not careful you can plow through thousands of dollars, money that could be spent on the down payment on a house or to pay off your school loans. Anything a bride-to-be can imagine is available to be purchased somewhere, with the wedding industry worth billions of dollars every year. But, that doesn't mean that you have to spend a fortune to have a fabulous wedding.

Think Small

You've got your notepad and pen, and you've started listing names. After writing down the names of your immediate family and closest friends, you should stop. But you don't. After about ten pages you're trying to remember the name of the girl who sat next to you in third grade. It isn't that you really want to invite her, of course. But you've already written down her next door neighbor, and you would hate for her to be offended.

The invitation list is the first place to trim when you are planning a wedding on a budget. If you don't invite everyone that you know, don't worry. They won't be insulted. The majority of people will understand that you are simply watching your expenses, and will wish you all the best. And they may be happy not to be invited. A wedding is expensive for guests as well, with new clothes, presents and babysitters to organize. If, for some reason, someone does feel offended at not being included, don't worry too much. Either they'll come to understand and get over it, or you were better off without them anyway.

Clip Coupons

An easy way to save is to shop around, and buy discounted items. You may find a wedding dress and your other formal clothing available at reduced prices at a discount store. It may have always been your dream to walk into an exclusive boutique and have a bevy of seamstresses draping you in layers of satin and lace. However this is a dream that very few of us can afford.

Buying discount doesn't mean that you need to sacrifice your dream completely. You can still find a dress that will make you feel like a princess on your big day. When you save so much money on purchasing your dress, you can pay to have it altered or tailored to your needs. And the money that you've saved can be spent on more important things. You can keep the discount theme going when it comes to shoes, hair, makeup, flowers, and everything else on your list. Let other people pay retail.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

By thinking green, you can also cut down on your expenses. Although the world of organic veggies and recycled materials is often more expensive just because they are popular, reclaimed or up-cycled items may be just the thing to keep your white wedding in the black. Your dress, for example, may be sitting in the attic of one of your friends or family members, waiting for the chance to be worn a second time. Particularly in cases where the current owner has had more than one wedding, there is a good chance that she will be happy to pass it on. If the dress has been in storage for a while, chances are that the current owner won't have any sentimental feelings about it either. An old dress can be refashioned by a good tailor for a minimal investment, and made to look like it was designed with you in mind.

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