Budget Wedding: Doing it Right by Alex Daniels
Flowers are one of the many “major” expenses of most wedding ceremonies and receptions, but with a little extra legwork you can still get a pretty good deal. The major trick is to avoid the chain-owned florists. Smaller florists and especially the kinds of florists who set up shop in markets tend to be considerably cheaper.
Always use the term “family gathering” whenever possible in your search for wedding services and suppliers. For reasons unknown to brides everywhere, the price of the same product or service always seems to be about 50% higher for a “wedding” despite no other differences being readily apparent. This is almost always true for caterers.
Try to get a caterer who will let you supply the cake yourself. The cake tends to be the most expensive food item and you can usually get something much less expensive (and something much better!) at your local bakery. Supermarkets can also be a good place to check out if your local supermarkets have their own bakeries.
Some brides actually get rid of the caterer altogether. If you have a few family members who are willing to help out and have a little culinary skill it’s not too difficult to throw together a professional quality buffet. A key tip is to concentrate on cold foods such as rolled meats, cheeses, salads and even sandwiches or heros.
Wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses can be a touchy subject because not only do they tend to be extremely expensive but they basically define the bride and her bridesmaids. Still, there is no harm checking out thrift shops and the clearance rack at a bridal shop, or even a department store that carries fine gowns. If you don’t find a great buy that also looks great, then at least you know you tried. Also, keep in mind that your bridesmaids don’t necessarily all have to wear matching dresses. One common play on this is to split them up by twos and have each pair of girls wearing the same dress (but not the same as the rest of the bridesmaids).
Also, don’t forget to ask around. You never know when you’ll find out that your cousin’s boyfriend’s father owns a catering business or a flower shop, and those types of connections can sometimes get you better deals than you’ll find anywhere else.
Alex is a wedding consultant for an online retailer of wedding party gifts and cheap wedding favors. Recently, Alex finally got married.