10 Wedding Budget Friendly Ideas to Save Money

Lots of little details can add up to a more expensive ceremony and reception. While most brides carefully plan wedding expenses, many items can derail all this careful planning with unexpected fees and overages. Some items are expensive and guests don't even notice all the time and money spent planning. Here are some ideas that save money but don't look cheap or compromise your wedding.

1. DON'T run late. Running late costs money. Everyone runs a little late (all those pictures, getting the look just right, and putting on unusual clothing such as gowns and tuxedos always takes longer to do things like tie a tie if you don't do it often, and attaching a bridal veil or train can be difficult). But running late when workers are on the clock will cost you. Limo drivers are on a set schedule, and both the reception hall and the ceremony site may have a booking after you. These fees add up quickly. Plan enough time for little things like touching up your hair or makeup, or allow for someone to get a rip that needs to be sewn or a flower girl who won't get dressed. New shoes need to be worn in if they are too hard to walk in. Some bridesmaid will always run late. If someone cries and their makeup is ruined, that will take time to fix. Too much perfume or any other beauty disaster will take time to "undo". Last minute DIY projects such as doing your own flowers or favors can be costly if it causes you to run so late that you incur overtime fees. Also in the event of bad weather such as rain, allow for enough time to get out of the house while protecting the gowns, shoes, and hair. You may need to get dressed at the actual ceremony site if the downpour is severe enough. These things always take extra time. Some people take their bridal party photos in advance so they can spend more time with their guests after the ceremony. If you do, make sure to leave plenty of time to get dressed, travel to the photo site, do the photos, and do any touchups to the clothing, makeup, hair and shoes from being outside taking photos (especially if at the beach for photos) and then travel to your ceremony site.

When the reception goes on longer or later than expected, be careful of what your contracts indicate about the overtime fees for the DJ, facilities, and wait staff. Make sure to read over your contracts and do the math so you know what it will cost to stay late. Allow enough time so that everyone arrives on time to the ceremony so that the reception can start and finish on time. If you are booking a reception hall that allows a certain number of hours, remember to factor in setup, delivery times, and don't forget to factor in the time the cleanup crew with need so as to not be surprised by overages.

2. Skip cocktail hour foods that are common and boring. The cheese table often seems very bland, as it is often at all sorts of events like office functions and it is hard to make such a table really look generous and festive. Recently I attended a function that had salsa and dip station with fresh veggies and blue corn chips instead of the traditional cubed cheese display table. Also trendy for fall and winter weddings is regular foods in tiny containers including soups or chowders in a tiny cup. Other popular wedding foods served in tiny portions include small portions of mac and cheese, or small tacos, slider hamburgers and tiny pizzas, all in little servings and often served as a passed item by wait staff or served up at a station. These are a big hit with kids, a nice diversion for adults, and not at all expensive. But if these items are not part of your caterers standard fare, they may cost just as much as their more expensive counterparts.

3. Another way to save money is to make a cocktail hour 45 minutes instead of a whole hour, people will consume less food that way and not notice that the hour was short since the bridal party will be introduced and the main meal will start, it gives guests something to do other than eat per piece hors d'oerves and have open bar drinks. This is an especially good option if you already took your photos before the ceremony and your guests do not need to wait for you to join them.

4. Cut down on flower costs by displaying family wedding photos in nice frames on the cake table and guestbook table. Decorating the head table with the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets using a bouquet clip or stand that hold the bouquet in an upright fashion. Ask if your reception site already has these clips or check eBay. Also consider using lush green plants at tables as centerpieces and add votives or fairy lights to make it festive.

5. To save money on the traditional wedding cake by having a simple cake frosted in colors complimentary to your wedding color, and tie each tier with a coordinating ribbon to add color to your cake without lots of expensive fondant or fancy cake techniques. Find out where the cake will be displayed in the room, and for how long, before it is cut to assess how fancy the cake needs to be. If it is in a low traffic, dimly lit area, how many guests will even see the cake just before it is cut? If it is in a prominent place, consider decorating the table with colored tablecloths or a rented cake stand, perhaps rose petals on the table, which is all cheaper than decorating the cake itself.

6. Don't have the limo or car that picked you up wait all day at the reception racking up billable hours for a car no one is using. If you are doing wedding photos before the ceremony, factor in the cost of the limo waiting during your photo session to then transport you to your ceremony and then your reception. White limos traditionally cost more than black or gray limos.

7. Instead of a full open bar, serve wine, beer from local breweries, and soft drinks, and one specialty custom drink such as a chocolate martini, a fruity tini or long island ice tea with special garnish that matches your general theme and color, and the design of the event. It feels festive without seeming stingy. Bartenders can mix up these drinks in larger batches and it requires less work and staff to maintain. Naming the specialty custom drink it after a town or city that is special to the couple, or the married couples last name, the reception location, or what your celebrity mash-up nickname could be fun if the bride and groom names make a really great potential celebrity couple nickname (the Brangelina Mojito comes to mind.....).

8. Limit cocktail hour food consumption by having wait staff pass hors d'oerves instead of having them out in trays or tables for guests to eat buffet style. Often there will only be 2 -3 of each pricey item - such as clams casino or other seafood based hors doerves, so having wait staff pass these pricey items assures that no one person helps themselves to a disproportionate amount. While there is a cost to the wait staff, it is expensive to allow guests to load up on these pricey per piece cocktail hour foods in an unattended manner. A waitperson can make sure all the guests have a chance to try at least one of your more expensive and impressive items so that everyone gets a larger assortment of your available cocktail hour foods, as well as pace their availability during the hour so that latecomers still have some variety. Also consider having fewer types of items available to save money.

9. Carnations are cheap flower and can really look cheap when used in a traditional glass vase or a bud vase. But a carnation arrangement, especially a ruffled carnation in a solid color (not a dyed color such as blue or green), can look great if they heads are tightly packed together in a modern container such as a low cube vase or packed into a small handheld bouquet held tightly with a ribbon (as long as the stem part does not show, it does not look like a carnation, but the tips of the leaves can poke through). Consider covering areas that need some floral or greenery with this sort of carnation arrangement for color without a lot of cost. They also last for over a week, so these little densely packed cubes can be done earlier to save on costs. Other cheap options that look great packed in a cube container include paperwhites, daffodils, grape hyacinths and tulips, all take on a much different look when densely packed.

10. Do you have string quartet taste but an iPod budget? Consider hiring music students from a conservatory to save money. Ask the professor of a local college for recommendations. Make sure to audition the students and that they have enough songs for the time period you wish them to play.