Weddings are one of the most expensive events you ever have to coordinate and sometimes, it literally pays to find ways to lessen this cost wherever you can. Many people these days are considering a DIY wedding as a way to achieve this. The reason for this is apparent; everything surrounding weddings has become such a slick industry that you are likely to be overcharged for almost everything you do. Take a wedding cake as an example; a simple iced cake cost $15, but a similar 3-tier cake, i.e. a wedding cake can be upwards of $500 when the real cost should be less than $50.
The Location
Dedicated wedding venues offer an all-inclusive service which is excellent if you are looking to save yourself some time. The downside for this convenience is that it can be extremely costly; often in the tens of thousands, as some wedding venues are known to cost almost $15,000 on average.
An alternative is to rent a community hall or space and decorate it yourself for a few hundred dollars. Though this might be a fair amount of work, it is well worth the effort.
Transport
Wedding cars are another area where the cost can seem excessive and considering that they are only seen twice (when you arrive and when you leave), is the high cost justifiable?
Consider this alternative, ask a friend who has a nice car and it can look just the thing once you put a couple of ribbons on it. Even if you do not have a friend with a nice car, a day’s car rental will be so much cheaper if you get it from a normal hire place rather than a wedding car specialist.
Catering
The food is one thing that needs to be right. A tasty wedding feast can be knocked up without professional caterers. However, as a word of warning, this can be very time consuming, and it might be one area that you do still hire a professional. Make sure you get an excellent creative catering firm that can make it a special occasion.
The Wedding Dress
Now, this is the one that you are going to want to get right. You will usually have a firm idea of what you want, and this is the first starting point. You can find a few ways to save money that can still look awesome than a pricey new dress. You can buy vintage or second hand from many places, and even a family dress from your mother or grandmother can give a classy and personal touch.
Flowers
Floral displays can be put together by you and your friends, and they can be a great, memorable and special moment between you and your bridesmaids. This can save you a fortune as it’s easy to get hold of flowers wholesale and put together all of the bunches yourselves. Although it takes time, this can be a memorable time that is well spent, and it will give you something to do rather than just sitting and waiting to get going.
Entertainment
Once the vital part of the wedding is concluded (ceremony, speeches, and the dinner); there is the matter of the entertainment to be considered. I know of one couple (who are very close friends of mine) whose cousin was in a band, and they hired them to play the wedding. Although it was not as slick as a professional wedding band, it added a special touch to the wedding. If you don’t know a musician in the family, many musicians are looking to make a living from music that you can find someone quickly.
The Cake
We mentioned the cake as a prime example of a wedding item that you can be easily ripped off for. As we said, it’s much easier to get a different cake and re-purpose it as a wedding cake. Alternatively, you can get a relative who could bake and then decorate the cake on your own so that you can get what you want.
