Category — Wedding Ideas On A Budget

Destination weddings outside the U.S. can be a great way to plan a dream wedding on a tight budget.  The only problem: complications of destination wedding travel with legal requirements for marrying in another country.

You can imagine…after going through all the trouble with birth certificates, visas, and paperwork, it would be a real bummer to head back to the States only to find out that your wedding wasn’t legal and binding.

Well, planning Mexico destination weddings in Cozumel just got easier.

The gorgeous Caribbean island of Cozumel, Mexico used to require a birth certificate in a sealed envelope in order to perform a legally binding marriage ceremony.  But they’ve recently dropped this requirement.  Now you only need 3 things to get hitched in Cozumel: your passport, a tourist visa, and a blood test for you and your fiance.

The cost of a marriage license is $350 performed by a judge, and it’s recommended that you have your blood test taken in Mexico.  Click this link for Cozumel marriage requirements.  Many hotels and resorts in Cozumel also offer destination wedding services and will help coordinate everything for you.

(If you’re uncertain whether your marriage would be valid in the United States, visit the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website.)

Cozumel travel agencies also offer enticing destination wedding packages, like the “InterContinental Mayan,” which includes an authentic shaman to perform a beach ceremony, a wedding coordinator, and a photographer.  You can even get your wedding ceremony FREE from El Cozumeleno Resort if you reserve 12 ocean view rooms for your guests for a 4 night minimum stay.

If you’re considering a destination wedding to Mexico, take advantage of the phenomenal deals available right now.

Have you considered a destination wedding?  Leave me a comment.

Cash in twenties, tens and change

There are many ways to secure a discount on products and services for your wedding.  Without doing any price shopping or bargain hunting, you can nail discounts on the stuff you would have been buying anyway.

Don’t believe me?  Download my free report on how to get a wedding discount from any vendor and check out my eBook for proof.

One of my favorite sneaky ways to get a wedding discount is so easy and simple that it’s shocking.  Are you ready for it?

Ask for a discount if you PAY IN CASH.

Most wedding vendors…even the ones who swear they never negotiate…are willing to offer a discount for services and products purchased for cash.

Why?  Well, I’m not saying it has anything to do with certain annual payments to the government or anything.  And don’t take this as legal advice if you happen to own your own business; just do whatever your accountant says…BUT for some strange reason *wink* businesses like getting paid in cash.  And more often than not, they’re willing to offer you a discount for the privilege of holding those crisp bills in their hand.

So offering to pay in cash is good for you because you get a discount, and it’s good for them.  I don’t know about you, but I LOVE those Win-Win scenarios.

The cash discount is one of the easiest ways to plan an affordable wedding, and it’s a well known insider secret that isn’t talked about.  Take advantage of it!  You’ll easily save hundreds, and possibly thousands, on your wedding.

If you’re ready to learn MORE of the insider secrets that let you get a wedding discount and reduce your wedding cost, download this free report.  It will be the best 15 minutes you spend when it comes to saving on your wedding.

Photo by Arnold Gatilao

I don’t know about you…but I LOVE food.  We spend years of our lives preparing and consuming food; it’s no wonder we’re obsessed with it!

Unfortunately, just like everything else slapped with the label “wedding,” good wedding food can be EXPENSIVE.

But it doesn’t have to be!

If you’re serious about saving money on your dream wedding…and I mean SERIOUS…the first thing you’ve got to do is banish this phrase and all variations of it from your vocabulary:

“That’s what I’m supposed to do…”  “But I have to have this…”  “Everyone expects me to do this…”  “This is just the way it’s done…”

It’s your wedding.  And you get to make up the rules.  There is no “supposed to” or “have to” unless YOU say so.

Once you’ve embraced this idea, a whole new world of delicious (and money saving) possibilities opens up for your wedding.

Such as…

A Cocktail Reception – I attended a wedding recently where the bride served guests passed hors d’ouevres and a crudite table for cocktail hour.  Then she had the caterer serve hot and cold appetizers and a mashed potato martini bar.  The food was outstanding, the presentation was impressive…and she saved a ton of money by not having a traditional sit down dinner.  Believe me, no one left hungry.

Lightening Up the Cocktail Hour – I’ve been to hundreds of weddings and frankly…most cocktail hour food SUCKS.  How much food do your guests need to eat, anyway?  It’s perfectly okay to trim down to a veggie platter, cheese and crackers.

Cut Down Or Combine the Meal – If you do have a sit down dinner, limit the number of courses or combine appetizer courses for simplicity and cost savings.

Check out Nina Callaway’s Cheap Wedding Fridays tips to save on wedding food here.

Remember: you can ALWAYS negotiate.  Don’t be afraid to customize your menu to your specific needs…and make sure the caterer discounts the price for what you trim out.

For more tips on hot to get the best deals for your wedding, check out my eBook.  And don’t forget to download your free special report where I teach you my method for getting killer discounts from your wedding vendors.

I LOVE exploring new ideas to make your wedding unique and personal.  It’s what takes an elegant, fun wedding and transforms it into something that is totally new and different…totally “you.”

But watch out for some of the recommendations on websites and bridal magazines.  They’re out to make money for their advertisers…which means most of the “personalized” ideas they recommend come with a hefty price tag.

Rather than getting personalized (which usually entails monograms, engraving, and costly customization)…I recommend getting personal.

Adding personal touches to your wedding means including details, history, and stories about you and your interests.  Personal touches cost little or no money.  Personalized touches can blow your wedding budget before you even begin.

I’ve sifted out the expensive “personalized” suggestions to leave behind some of my favorite cheap and more meaningful ways to make your wedding unique:

A Touch of Family – Displaying your parents and grandparents wedding photos is a way to pay tribute to your family and share your history with your guests.  It’s especially elegant if you display black and white or sepia-toned photos.  You might even hang family photos in the bathrooms or name your tables after a decade and print a photo from that time on the card.

A Dash of Culture – Incorporate your ethnic traditions into your wedding day.  Turn to flower meanings to spread a symbolic message; for example, ivy is the symbol of eternal love in Greek culture.  You might propose a farewell toast with a dark beer like Guinness in tribute to our Irish heritage.

Your Favorite Food – Tweak your menu to reflect your personal taste.  If you love milkshakes, serve them with dessert.  Or include your favorite childhood candies as favors.  One of our couples even served hamburgers and hot dogs at their wedding to go with a diner theme.

Remember Your Roots – Pay a tribute to your home state.  Ask your entertainer to play a few songs that mention your state in a musical homage.  You might print up the recipe for your Grandma’s favorite chocolate chip cookies and give it to your guests when you serve them at the end of the night.

These are just a few ideas to inspire you with ways to make your wedding unique.  For dozens more suggestions and a step by step guide to deciding which ideas for wedding personalization that ALSO stretch your budget, check out my eBook on planning a wedding on a budget.

Photo by William Hoiles

When you’re planning your dream wedding on a budget, CREATIVITY and FLEXIBILITY are key.  Saving on your wedding professional photography is no exception.

CAUTION: There is no one solution that will fit everyone.  You’ve got to weigh the pros and cons and decide what’s important to you…then make your choice.  Everybody’s going to have an opinion on this one: wedding event photographers will tell you you simply MUST hire them or you’ll regret it forever; your parents will demand an album; guests will push you to let them take photos instead.  Only YOU know what’s right for your wedding day.

Now it’s time to get creative…

If you have your heart set on gorgeous, once in a lifetime wedding photography…but you just can’t make it work for your budget…try this idea on for size.  This is courtesy of Nina Callaway’s blog on About.Weddings.com.

The “Day After Session” – Save on photography the day of your wedding by hiring a budget photographer or asking your friends and family to take photographs on your wedding day.  Then, either before or after your actual wedding day, hire a more expensive wedding professional to shoot your portraits.

PROS: You’ll get a second chance to wear “the dress,” you’ll be relaxed and unhurried when you shoot your formals another day.  AND most wedding photographers will charge a much smaller, per hour fee…easily less than 20% their regular rate.  (If you use my wedding savings techniques, you can get a discount of up to 50%!)

CONS: You won’t have those same gorgeous photos of your actual wedding day.  A budget or amateur photographer may or may not catch those great moments on your special day.

Remember to figure in the additional cost of hair, makeup, and dress cleaning for a “Day After Session” when you decide if this option works for you.  But this could be a creative way to get the wedding photography of your dreams at prices that fit your budget.

To learn the 3 big, easy ways to save on wedding photography…and many other ways to save on your budget wedding, check out my eBook.  And don’t forget to download my FREE special report!  Reading it will be the most important 15 minutes you could possibly spend when it comes to saving on your dream wedding.

If you haven’t been following Nina Callaway’s new series of posts…Cheap Wedding Fridays…make sure you check it out at Weddings.About.com.

Last week she recommended some great ways to take advantage of post-holiday sales that will help make your wedding affordable and elegant.

• Buy up those white Christmas lights.  At only 10 cents a box, they’ll add atmosphere and elegance to your wedding at a bargain.
• Candles, candles and more candles!  Many are marked down at 65% right now…another way to an elegant wedding for cheap.
• Vases, baskets, jars and bowls to use for centerpieces are ON CLEARANCE at stores like Pier 9 Imports and Pottery Barn.
• Winter wedding accessories are one sale.

I know it’s tempting to put off your wedding plans until “after the holidays” and just take a break…but NOW is the best time to scap up a holiday wedding discount you may NEVER find again.

So dust off that wedding binder, put on your bargain hunting shoes and GO GET ‘EM!

Speaking of holiday discounts…I’m running one of my own right now.  My eBook, chock full of insider secrets and techniques for planning your dream wedding on a budget is ON SALE 35% OFF until Jan 1st at www.SimplyYourSpecialDay.com.  Even if you don’t buy the book, make sure you download my free special report, The Bride’s Secret Weapon, that teaches you 4 Tactics to save 10-50% on your wedding services.

Scap up any great post holiday savings for your wedding?  Leave me a comment.

Photo by Klearchos Kapoutsis

We had our first winter themed wedding this month.  It was perfect…minus the sprinkling of snow.  (You gotta have the snow to really have the winter wonderland wedding thing going.)

Winter weddings are beautiful, elegant, stunning.  And GREAT for a bride with a small budget.

“Why, oh, why are winter weddings great for the savings?” you ask.

Come closer, weed hopper and I will tell you ALL.

Why A Winter Wonderland Wedding Will Save You A Bundle Of Cash

1)  Winter is the wedding “off season,” especially in areas that get SNOW.  Most brides prefer the warmth and sunlight of spring, summer or fall for photo opportunities and outdoor beauty.  Fewer brides dare winter’s crystalline beauty.  Fewer brides means less demand for wedding venues and services…when demand goes down, prices go down.  Hello, discounts!

2)  Decorations are included. Catering halls are decked to the rafters with trees, ornaments, wreaths, lights and tinsel for the holidays.  When you book your winter wedding, you get all of it included for FREE.  You’ll spend much less on decorations and still have a dazzling, elegant effect.

3)  Winter is white, and white is CHEAP. Whether you’re ordering colored linens, variegated flowers or tinted programs…color is expensive.  The more custom colors you add, the more the price goes, up, up, up.  If you stick to a simple white theme with black, silver, gold or blue accents, not only will you match the winter season…you’ll save money.

4)  Jingle bell time is a swell time…for negotiating. Wedding professionals slow down in the winter.  Which means…they’re hungry for work.  Ask for a discount and chances are they’ll bend over backwards to pick up the unexpected work.

If you’re considering a winter wonderland wedding, check out these guidelines from GetMarried.com.  And more ways to save at How To Plan Your Dream Wedding On A Budget.

Photo by Anne Norman

Picking out floral arrangements for your wedding and wedding centerpieces is an EYE OPENER.

Who knew flowers could be so expensive?  Especially when you’ve got a wicked case of champagne taste…and a beer budget.

One of the best ways to plan your dream wedding an affordable wedding is to “model” the success of others.

No, I’m not suggested that you walk a runway and strike a pouty lip pose…

“Modeling” means you find a bride who successfully did what you want to do…plan an unforgettable dream wedding on a budget…and imitate her behavior.  Find that bride, do what she did, and you’ll end up with her result: the wedding of your dreams at bargain prices.

That’s why it’s so important to find out what other brides have done that WORKS.  Because you want what they got…do what they did to get it!

Here are a few brides to turn to for flower ideas inspiration:

Pamela on DIY Wedding Flowers – This bride was inspired by the beautiful silk flowers at her cousin’s wedding.   Even though she’d never done it before, Pamela headed to the craft store and assembled her own silk floral arrangements for her wedding.  What she said afterward,

“Now when I look at my wedding pictures and see the flowers, I feel pride in my creations. I also feel pride in knowing that in order to save a lot of money, I was able to try my hand at something I had never done before. That feeling was worth even more than the few hundred dollars in my pocket!”

Whitney On Picking Flower Weddings – Whitney used a combination of wedding savings techniques to keep her flower budget under $500.  By choosing local, in season flowers, using potted plants and silk wedding flower arrangements, she had beautiful floral arrangements for less.

Christie On Pretty and Cost Effect Wedding Bouquets – With help from a 75% off sale on silk flowers at the craft store, Christie’s floral bouquet for her wedding cost only $25!  And she saved it after the wedding as a keepsake.

If these stories have inspired you to give diy silk wedding flowers a try, check out these Guidelines For Creating Your Own Silk Flower Arrangements.

But like everything else…only follow these suggestions if they are right for you.  There are plenty of ways to get creative and save on your wedding while you AND have the wedding of your dreams.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Got a flower savings idea?  Leave me a comment.

Photo by Derek Rose

When you’re planning an affordable wedding, every little savings adds up. It’s in the little things. Like…THE WEDDING CAKE.

Here are 3 easy ways to save on the bridal cake:

1) Avoid the “Wedding” Markup. Go to a bakery, pick out your favorite cake, and DON’T use the word “wedding” even once. It can give you an easy savings of $300, as Nina Calloway reports in Cheap Wedding Fridays.

2) Cupcakes! Wedding cupcakes, that is, instead of a traditional wedding cake. Cute, elegant, simple…who doesn’t love cute little edibles? Have your bakery whip up some lovely (and much cheaper) cupcakes instead of a wedding cake. Or kick up the savings and pick up unfrosted “non-wedding” cupcakes and decorate them yourself.

3) Wedding Sheetcake Fake Out. Order a beautifully decorated mini-wedding cake for you to display and cut at your wedding. Then, have less expensive…but still tasty…sheetcakes in the back to be served to your guests. Your guests will never notice and you’ll save a bundle.

For more great ideas to plan your affordable wedding, you’ve gotta check out my eBook. Seriously.

One way to save on your wedding photography is to create your own album.

Back in the day, I would have said this is a BAD idea.  That was when you had to be a designer to pull it off right.  Otherwise you’d end up with something that looked like a second grader put it together.

No elementary school art projects for my wedding, thank you!

Fear no more: it’s Blurb.com to the rescue.

Blurb.com makes it easy to create high quality wedding books all by yourself in 3 easy steps.

1) Download the software.

2) Add your photos and choose your artwork.

3) Order as many as you like.

Prices start at just $12.95 a book.

This can easily cut your photography budget in half…AND let you hire a talented professional photographer  who will take outstanding images that you’ll cherish forever.  Spend money on what you CAN’T do yourself–gorgeous, artistic photos of your wedding day–and save by finishing the rest yourself.