How to Save Money on Your Wedding

If you are on a tight budget and do not have the money to spend on an expensive wedding, then try these tips on how to save money on your wedding expenses. These tips are just some of the many ways you can save money on your wedding.

Start off by writing down your guest list. Think of the people that you would like to invite for your special day. Then, go over the list and see if you can cut down on some of the people you might want to invite. If you do not have the money, it may best just to include immediate family members and close friends. That may mean you have to cut out neighbors, coworkers or friends and extended family that you don't really keep in touch with. Keeping the guest list smaller will save you a good amount of money.

Buy a used wedding dress. People have been selling wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses on places like Ebay and other sites that let people sell their used items. If you want your own wedding dress, try to go for a cheaper one and look for sales. Some less expensive wedding gowns can still be beautiful. You are only wearing this dress once in your life. It may not be worth putting a lot of money into it.

If you are renting a hall, different days have different prices. Saturday night is the biggest night for a wedding reception at a hall, so the cost is going to be more expensive. If you try to have your wedding on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon, you will get a much better deal.

Do you know somebody with a nice car? See if they will let you borrow it to ride back and forth instead of using a limosuine service. This will save you a few hundred dollars. You could offer them a smaller amount of money for gas.

If you know someone in your family who is good at doing hair and makeup, ask them if they would be willing to help you out on your wedding day. If you feel you can do it yourself, you would save money on going to a salon to have it done.

See if you can borrow things from friends or relatives for your special day. Maybe your grandmother has a nice set of pearls that you could wear. She might feel honored that you want to wear her jewelry on your special day.

If you have a spot in front or back of your house to plant flowers, try to grow your own for your wedding day. If you know someone else who always has nice flowers, such as a neighbor or relative, you could ask them if you can use those for your wedding day. For the bridesmaids, you could just let them each carry one single flower instead of a whole bouquet.

Most people generally get married between May and September. If you choose to get married in an off season month, you could get a better deal on things when planning your wedding.

If you feel that a reception at a restaurant or a hall may be too expensive, then see if you could have an outdoor wedding in someone's backyard. You could even have an indoor one if someone will let you use their nice house. Make sure there will be enough room for the guests or try to cut down on some more guests so that there will be enough room.

If you know someone that is good at taking pictures of people, then maybe you could ask them to photograph your wedding day. You could also ask someone you know to video tape the event as well. You could always offer them money to do this, but it will most likely be cheaper than hiring a professional.

Do you have any family members or friends that would be willing to cook for the reception? See if you can have some homemade food served at your wedding instead of paying the cost of expensive catered food.

You could also buy your own alcohol and have it served to guests or you could cut the alcohol out completely. Cutting alcohol expenses can save you a good deal of money. You must think it out though and see if that's what you really want to do. Some people enjoy drinking at weddings, so if you want to have alcohol, you could buy cheap bottles of wine and cheap beer.