Winter Wonderland For $30 a Head

“An event planner delivers a winter wonderland from the 99-cent store…”

The headline in last week’s New York Times caught my eye.

Sure enough, David Monn, a celebrated event planner from New York City who typically plans parties for guests like Gwyneth Paltrow and Sean “Diddy” Combs, pulled it off.  Read the article, “We’re Going To Party Like It’s 1929.”

Big deal, right?  He’s an expert planner who pulled off a winter wonderland dinner party for under $30 per person.  What does that have to do with planning your wedding?

EVERYTHING.

Mr. Monn followed the same principles that YOU need to use to plan your wedding inexpensive and keep wedding costs affordable.  Here’s what I mean:

1)  Budget Before You Buy. Mr. Monn was given a set budget, in this case, a modest $30 per head.  Without knowing his budget, he wouldn’t know what he had to work with.  Even an expert can blow a budget if they don’t know what it is!

2)  Think: Big Impact For Little Money. He chose a theme (in this case “winter wonderland”) not only because it was elegant and chic, but because it is white and white is CHEAP.  Select your wedding theme, colors, flowers and wedding dress that deliver the impact of simple elegance for less.

3)  Simplify the Menu. This guy managed to impress sophisticated New York guests with a main dish of POTATOES and a dressed up $4 angel food cake.  Learn from his example: streamline your menu choices and simplify your wedding cake.

Words of wisdom from the expert,

“…The recession…allows you to strip away all the stuff that’s not important and focus on what is: friends, family, togetherness.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.  (Well, maybe.)

That’s what planning your dream wedding inexpensive is all about.