Thirteen Tips for Saving During Wedding Planning

The day after your fiancé has gotten up from bended knee and the excitement has worn off, the panic starts to weigh its ugly head in. You have to plan a wedding. You start a list of things you'll need to pay for: wedding dress, bartender fees, beverages (including liquor), reception full-course meals, table arrangements, invitations, flower arrangements for the wedding party, church fees, photographer, videographer, transportation to and from the church, wedding cake, thank-you gifts, deejay or musicians, wedding rings, reception rental fees, shoes, tuxedo for the groom and the honeymoon.

You add up all of the expenses, and it's about the amount you'd spend on a reasonably used or new automobile. So how do you save money on the wedding-a happy occasion that makes you wonder whether you want to go bankrupt or head to the nearest courtroom?

Tip One: Ask about local dress designers. You don't have to buy your wedding dress from a bridal magazine or some fancy wedding designer who doesn't even live in your state and drive miles and miles to get measured. Your great great aunt may be the best dress designer you know of for good reason. Check out some of her other work and pricing. Decide if you want to spend less and experiment or spend thousands more on a dress you'll only wear once.

Tip Two: Talk to a gardener instead of a floral arrangement company to see if she'd be willing to create your flower arrangements. You may luck out with someone who is willing to part with their flowers, especially if it's not a big deal for them to grow more. Get the bridal party involved in decorating the floral arrangements by purchasing decorations at your local craft material store.

Tip Three: Talk to a photographer who also specializes in videography to see if you can get better rates for this person to do both. Or, consider letting a family member or friend who has taken and passed video editing courses. Check out their videos on YouTube or some past class projects. If they can do the job, why not hire them instead of an expensive photographer who will charge per shot? Same goes for a photographer. Why not ask a family member or friend who has taken photography classes? You can also try photo developing stores. There are plenty of freelance photographers who are making ends meet by working in retail photo developing stores.

Tip Four: Be careful of the meals you request for your reception. You may have 200 people on your wedding party list, but 30 of them are vegetarians so you just blew $85 per meal for people who would rather eat the tablecloth than the plate of shrimp. Consider alternative items for diabetic, vegetarian and pescatarian guests. You may be able to get a better deal if you don't need as much meat as you do vegetables or vegetable alternatives.

Tip Five: Head to an office supply store and buy invitation paper in bulk along with several ink cartridges. If you have a computer, you already have the supplies you need to make invitations. There are design programs that will already have the templates for invitations ready to go or you can scan your own pictures to add a personal touch. Ask your computer techie niece to create one and let her go to work creating the rest. She'll charge you far less than an invitation company, and you can watch her work and correct her as she goes along instead of being stuck with invitations you may or may not care for. Remember, some people keep these invitations as souvenirs.

Tip Six: Decide whether it's truly necessary for you to have a limo. Those "just married" cars that you and your husband drive away with are worth being proud of. Why do you need two different cars-one to come and one to leave? Are you already paying a car note? Make use of your own ride.

Tip Seven: Remember that nightclub you went to that you danced all night in? Wasn't the deejay excellent? Ask about that guy to the club owner. Talk to friends about local deejays they know. Visit different deejays MySpace pages or ProjectPlaylist.com pages to see what type of music they're into. And then compare prices. A deejay can make or break the reception, but you don't always have to break your pocketbook hiring one. Make sure to ask about the unloading and reloading fees that the deejay may calculate into his fees. If you can avoid this charge by having your strong nephews, nieces and cousins help him unload (without breaking his equipment), you may be able to get him to waive that fee.

Tip Eight: Shop around for rings. The very first ring you see that fits you to a tea, put it back in the case and make yourself find two more rings you like just as much. And then decide which ring you truly want. Oftentimes people spend too much on their first choice when they find another one they like better and at a cheaper price.

Tip Nine: Decide whether you really need your wedding to have a gazebo and grand piano player when guests walk in. Would your grandparents' getaway vacation spot be a more reasonable place to have the wedding? Is there an art gallery that you love to visit that would be a far better place for a wedding reception instead of an expensive banquet hall? Have your wedding reception at a place you have fond thoughts of, not just where the "in" spots are. If it's your backyard, then so be it.

Tip Ten: Ask out-of-work relatives or friends looking to make a few bucks would they mind being the clean-up crew in exchange for a wedding gift. They're already worried about what to get you, and this is a task that can save you money and help them too. Or, see how much they'll charge to clean up after the wedding. Why hire people you don't know when people you do know could use a little money too?

Tip Eleven: Eliminate the personalized book of matches and napkins. People use napkins to wipe their hands and once there are no matches in the book, only a few will keep the cover as a souvenir. Use that money for an eloquent wedding registry book or to help invitation printing costs.

Tip Twelve: Your grandmother or aunt has a catering company that makes delicious cakes. Why should baking a wedding cake be any different? Find out how much she'll charge you instead of getting a cake you may not like that looks pretty.

Tip Thirteen: Talk to the ceramics painter in your family. Find out how much it would cost her to paint your wedding table décor, wedding party gifts or wedding cake centerpiece. This may or may not work out when including ceramics firing, paint and the timeframe, but if the ceramics painter has a pottery kiln, she may already have wedding pieces that she can fire in bulk and paint in a timely manner. If she doesn't have a kiln, only ask for the amount that she's sure she can have fired and painted in time for your wedding.