Money Saving Wedding Tips

As little girls we dream of having a gorgeous and elegant wedding where we marry Prince Charming. So now that you have found Prince Charming how do you afford the gorgeous and elegant wedding? Use these money saving wedding tips to plan your perfect day.

The Invitations
There are many ways to save on wedding invitations. The first thing to remember is that most people will throw away the invitation without a second thought. Many people believe that the wedding invitation sets the tone of the wedding. I disagree, most people will not even remember what color your invitation was let alone what it looked like!

Use these money saving wedding tips when choosing your invitation:
Use different invitations. Divide your list into two groups: the A-list and everyone else. The A-list will consist of the individuals that are closest to you and your fiancé. These are the people that will receive your premium invitation, either a higher grade design or one that you have handmade. The "everyone else" group will receive a nice, but inexpensive version of your invitation.

There are two ways to save money on the response card. The response card can be either electronic or use a postcard. Wedding planning web sites like The Knot have made the electronic response card convenient and easy. The electronic response card can save you hundreds of dollars on postage alone! A postcard response card is cheaper than a traditional response card, because you do not need an envelope and a postcard has cheaper postage.

The Photographer
Many couples try to save money by hiring a friend or family member to photograph their wedding. That is all well and good if they are an experienced photographer with the correct equipment. Rather than hiring a friend, hire a professional, but only for the ceremony. Many photographers will knock hundreds of dollars off of their price if they do not have to attend the reception. Instead provide disposable cameras to certain people and one at each table of the reception. For the cake cutting and first dance you can ask a friend or family member to take photos.

The Food
If you are renting a hall that does not have a catering required clause make your reception a buffet. You can save hundreds to thousands of dollars with just this one money saving wedding tip! With a buffet style reception your friends and family provide the food. You provide your friends and family with the menu and ask each person to bring a dish to pass. If you don't want the food to look like a hodgepodge of dishes you can buy nice bowls and buffet style serving sets at many outlet stores.