My daughter is getting married.  Being a one income family, we didn’t prepare for this.  We never prepared a wedding fund and that’s ok. I’m confident that we still give her a memorable wedding. We just need to be a bit more creative. Therefore I put together 6 tips for planning a wedding on a budget.

Planning a wedding is a lot of work.  In my opinion weddings never turn out the way us girls dreamed of, unless we have a lot of money to spend on it.

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Having attended several weddings, I started thinking about the ones I’ve attended.  I asked myself what I remembered most about them.  It didn’t matter what amount of money was spent on the wedding, all the details I remembered were roughly the same.

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1. Forget the Pretty.  Take the pretty out of your wedding. Most banquet rooms aren’t pretty and it costs a lot to pretty them up.   Look for venues that include items such as table cloths, seat covers etc.  Avoid paying the extra costs for upgraded items such as centerpieces, fancier linens, china etc.  The only person that is going to remember all the details is you. Rarely do your guest remember all the details. Think of the last wedding you attended.  Do you remember the color of the table cloths? What pattern was on the china? Do you even remember the centerpieces? Unless it was your own wedding likely you can’t answer these questions.  So why invest the money for these upgraded items.

2. Have enough Food.  People will remember if they had enough food to eat.  So be sure you’ve got enough.  If you’re like me, I save my appetite for the reception. I can recall one wedding where I couldn’t wait to leave just so I could get some food.  You can save money by choosing a buffet over a sitdown dinner.  And by choosing less expensive items like pasta over fish etc.

3. Have Fun.  Your guest will remember if they had a good time.  Invest in a good dj and if your budget allows; consider renting a photo booth.  You can find some great deals on these items by using Groupon.

4. Get a Good Photographer and Videographer.  Definitely invest in both if you can afford both.  If you can only afford one, choose the photographer.  These are memories of a lifetime.  So make sure you have a good one.  At my wedding we used a family friend who was just starting their photography business.  She gave us the amazing price of free.  But the pictures were just OK.  She simply didn’t have the skills and 24+ years later, I long for those higher quality photos.

5. Buy an inexpensive dress. My dress was expensive. I loved it and wanted my dress to be a family heirloom, at that time I felt, it was worth the money. However the thought never crossed my mind that my dress would be out of style.  Or that my daughter may not or could not wear it.  I’m excited that she does want to wear it.  My dream is coming true.  However this dream wasn’t so easy.  Finding someone who would want to re design the dress was difficult.  Not to mention the cost!  It was equivalent to buying a new dress.

6. Get a good quality invitation.  The invitation sets the stage of what’s to come for your wedding.  We worked with Minted.Com  The quality and the customer service was amazing and they have invitations to fit any budget. You can even get a free wedding sample kit too.

Do you agree with these 6 tips for planning a wedding on a budget?

What tips do you have.  Leave a comment below and share your money saving ideas!