Planning a Wedding on a Budget, You CAN Do It

If you are newly engaged, you probably have lots of ideas about what you want your wedding to look like, but you more than likely have wondered what everything will cost and whether planning a wedding on a budget is even possible.

Societies fascination with elaborate Hollywood weddings seems to have affected our expectations about weddings in general causing many couples to go into debt to finance their wedding.

Would you be surprised to learn that a wedding where the bride and groom each have three attendants and 100 invited guests that consists of a reception buffet can cost anywhere from $6000 up to $10,000?

The reality is that most weddings are somewhat larger than that. The average wedding has around 200 invited guests. A formal wedding of this size can easily increase the cost to anywhere from $12,000 to $20,000.

Now you may be wondering why the range of costs. The main reason is there are so many different choices that can be made and each of them will have an effect on the cost of your wedding. An example is the flowers you select. More commonly used flowers are in stock at most florists and are lower in cost. Selecting flowers that are in season also has a huge impact on the total you will pay for flowers.

A wedding cake is another of the items that has lots of different factors that will determine the final cost. The size of the cake is one factor. A cake that serves 50 people will cost less than a cake that will serve 150. Then there is the matter of whether you want fondant or to have your cake frosted with butter cream, and if you want filling that will add to the cost as well.

Even though every bride wants her wedding to be wonderful, you don’t have to spend money like a Hollywood celebrity in order to have a fantastic wedding.

The reception is usually takes the largest chunk of the wedding budget. You can control the expense of the reception by the choices you make as to when to hold the reception and what type of food to serve.

Generally evening weddings have receptions that feature a meal. This meal can be buffet, a full sit down meal or heavy hors d’oeuvres. Morning or afternoon weddings receptions can be lighter fare, perhaps finger food or a brunch for a morning wedding.

When deciding whether to serve a meal or hors d’oevres be sure to do a price comparision as sometimes a full meal can be less expensive than heavy hors d’eoevres. The reason for this is with hors d’eovres you pay be the piece and you will likely have several different types of hors d’eovres.

Generally a reception that is held in mid afternoon will be the cheapest as far as food goes. Why? Your guests will have already eaten lunch and it will be too early for dinner. Because of this most people won’t be hungry meaning they won’t eat much so you won’t need as much food to start with.

Always keep in mind, planning a wedding on a budget is possible. The most important thing is to think outside the box and find creative ways to make your wedding special.

And remember, you will be just as married whether you spend $1,000 or $10,000.