Something Borrowed, Something Cheaper
# Wedding wednesdays is back again. For the month of March I will bring you ideas that I found for those of us who have a tighter budget.
*content from https://www.thesimpledollar.com
11. Contact the local university.
If you’d like live musical accompaniment for the ceremony (and perhaps for the reception), one place to look for lower-cost musicians is your local university’s music department.
Contact them and ask if there are any students who are studying a particular instrument or vocal work and see if they’re available to provide music for a wedding. It can help them develop their resume and save you on this typically pricey part of your wedding.
This goes for photographers as well — if there’s an art school or photography program at your local college, see if there are any talented students or recent grads who would be willing to photograph your wedding at a discount for the portfolio-building experience and exposure they’d receive.
12. Price shop for decorations – and consider buying used.
My Wedding Favors, Paper Warehouse, and Hobby Lobby all have sales throughout the year. If you know what you’re looking for ahead of time, you can simply wait until it goes on sale and “pounce” when the time is right.
Meanwhile, you can also consider buying used centerpieces and decorations. Recent brides often sell their decorations on sites like craigslist.org, and you can save a bundle of money — and effort — going that route.
13. If you’re getting married in your own church, ask the ladies’ auxiliary for help.
Most churches have a women’s organization that is very happy to help with wedding preparation in exchange for a small donation. Get them involved – they can take a lot of worry off your shoulders for a relatively low price.
At our wedding, the “church ladies” were a great help with church decoration and other helpful things on the day of the ceremony.
14. Buy dresses off the rack – and on sale.
If you want to save on bridesmaid dresses, try to avoid ordering custom dresses altogether. Instead, head to a few stores with dresses on sale and see if you can all find something “off the rack.”
This works best if your colors are chosen ahead of time and if the store you’re shopping at carries plenty of sizes. To minimize spats within your wedding party, you can also shop ahead of time and only have them try on dresses you already approve of.
Another cheap wedding idea: Instead of buying new dresses, have every bridesmaid wear a particular color dress they already own.
15. Rent tuxedos as a group, or simply wear matching suits.
Unless you have a specific reason for owning a tuxedo (and few people do), you should rent one. It’s often useful to rent the tuxedos as a group through the same business, as you’ll often get a group rate.
If you don’t want to go the tuxedo route, you can also have all of your groomsmen wear a black suit from home or other matching formalwear.
There will be the last installment for budget wedding ideas next week, so see you back here again on Let's Go big Tunes blog page