You might remember back when weddings were just something done at church on Saturday afternoons...with nuts and mints...and if you were being really extravagant...a cake. What was celebrated wasn't the wedding...it was the marriage.
We've come a long way since then. Yes, weddings are more personable than ever, and are able to be designed to fit exactly who the couple is, but many times that means more expensive than ever.
The question of doing it on a dime seems like a lost phrase when it comes to weddings. However, even though they have become wonderful celebrations filled with personality and glamour, there are still ways to save.
Just because you can do more than ever these days, doesn't mean you have to. It will still be beautiful...and it will still be your wedding.
I think sometimes, the biggest hump to get over is feeling this obligation to please the people coming to your wedding. I hear all the time people say,
"But, will it be nice enough?"
Not to rant, but if people are coming to your wedding to judge whether or not it's nice enough, they probably shouldn't be there to begin with.
The permission to cut back, is yours to take hold of, and more worthwhile than you might realize. At the end of the day, you will be married...and you don't want to start your marriage with thousands of dollars in debt just because you wanted to show your friends a good time.
Hear me clearly, I'm not saying to just forget about hiring professionals. I'm saying, choose wisely where you put your money. I still stand behind my principles to have people who know what they're doing be in charge of your day. Even the most economical weddings that I have done, have had families that say over and over again, how thankful they are to have someone else in charge of the details of the day. That's a must. You still want good photos to capture the day, and you still want to love the celebration...but this doesn't mean you have to spend your life savings to make that happen.
Choosing the things that are most important to you are key with knowing where to save. If you want to skimp on flowers because they're not that important to you, that's ok. Or, if you absolutely love photography, and you want to spend a bigger part of your budget on that, you can choose to do so. Spend time thinking about the things you care most about, and prioritize those things within your budget. That way, you will know how to proceed with other decisions. The choice is yours...just remember to choose wisely.
picture credit: http://aweddingrunsthroughit.blogspot.com/2010/03/old-timey-tuesday-recessional-and.html , http://www.fashion-era.com/Weddings/1927-old-wedding-photos.htm
this is great advice, Melissa. We planned our daughter's wedding and did it all ourselves. It was amazing, but I'll never do it all again! (I don't have another daughter, but you know what I mean.) Some of my favorite weddings are those with small budgets.
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