Planning a wedding can end up being an very costly experience if the prospective bride & groom do not prepare & follow a reasonable budget. To do so, the couple must first agree on what their priorities will be. For instance, they must decide whether it’s more important to spend the most money on catering & less on the decorations, or if they prefer to splurge on a band & drinks. In order to have a dream wedding but still stick to a prepared budget, you must ‘cut corners’ in every way possible. Below are some great ideas on how to save money during the wedding planning process as well as on the wedding day.

Choose a small wedding party ? Think about it?you will to buy more gifts if you have a large number of bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, flower girls, & ring bearers. You’ll also have to spend more on catering, bouquets, & boutonnieres for the ceremony.

Do some things yourself – For instance, you can save yourself the extra cost of having your invitations professionally addressed if you do it yourself. Have your bridesmaids help you & turn it into a girl’s night. You can also create your own party favors or purchase all the alcohol ahead of time. Another thing that you can handle yourself would be to print the ceremony programs.

Choose typography instead of engraving ? The most formal as well as expensive invitation printing process is engraving, but there is another process that looks almost like engraving but costs a lot less ? typography. The only way to tell if an invitation is engraved is by the raised letters on the back of the invitation. Many people will not take the time to examine the invitation so closely.

Choose a naturally beautiful place for your ceremony or reception, or both – This will save you immensely on the cost of decorations & flowers. By example, select a beautiful park, flower garden, or ornately designed church for your ceremony or reception.

Talk to your florist about which flowers are ‘in season’ – If you have your heart set on hydrangeas, but you’re getting married in a winter month, you’ll have to have the hydrangeas shipped from another state or even country. As you can imagine, the cost of shipping special flowers can get exorbitant, so stick with flowers that are readily available in your area.

Budgeting is a natural, & necessary part of planning a wedding. With a little ‘nipping & tucking’ of details you can plan the wedding of your dreams on that budget.

Erin Sharplin Love is a Certified Wedding Coordinator. For lots more information about Erin’s services check out http://www.panachebyerin.com