How to Save Money when Planning your Dream Wedding
Alright ladies, your man FINALLY put a ring on it. So now its time to plan the big day! I am currently in this situation and figured I would lend some tips that I have used along the way that have saved me some serious cash. First things first, create a list and start with the things that you absolutely cannot live without and then end it with the items that aren't as important to you. Here is mine but, keep in mind, yours could look completely different:
I know some girls make sure the first thing they do is purchase a dress and then use it as a source of inspiration of how they want their wedding to look. But for me, I don’t normally dress up so I can’t see myself paying thousands of dollars on a dress I will only wear once. So the very first thing I booked was the venue. I'd definitely recommend booking the venue first since it's going to be one of the most expensive costs. Our wedding is going to be held at The Baltimore Zoo. This was perfect because they hold the ceremony outside and have their own mansion that was built in the 1830’s where the reception will be held so guests won't have to travel. This is also great because you are only making payments to one vendor versus multiple if you decide to book different locations for your ceremony and reception. Another tip is to make sure the venue offers some sort of monthly payment plan. This venue required a down payment for the contract and allowed me to pay it off in small increments whenever I wanted. When booking our photographer, I browsed on various wedding vendor search engines and looked through reviews. I made a list of the ones that had the best reviews and checked out their websites. You can get a pretty good idea of how creative they are and what their pricing looks like by looking through their website. I know sometimes the prices on their websites might seem high, but keep in mind, this is if you decide to get everything they offer and, trust me, they do offer a lot! I lucked out and had our wedding announcements done by a girlfriend I knew from high school who gave me a really good price. All photographers did try to up-sell me saying that engagement photos were included in their price but remember, there is nothing wrong with staying firm with what you want as long as you’re nice about it. After about a week, I ended up finding the perfect photographer who didn't force me to get engagement photos and offered a great price. Another tip is to only book the photographer for the times you really need them. My photographer will be coming in the morning when I’m getting ready and for our first reactions when seeing each other for the first time that day. He'll also be there to capture photos of our entire wedding party two hours prior to the wedding. Then, all that's left is taking photos during the ceremony and important moments like our first dance. I contracted the photographer to leave shortly after the reception starts because my fiancé and I want to enjoy ourselves and drink too! I ended up saving about $400 because I didn’t need him to stay the whole night. I used the same method for the DJ and went off of reviews to pick the one who gave me the best price. I especially loved the fact that my DJ and photographer accepted payments over PayPal, which made it easier for me to pay off the contracts over time. You might think that giving $50 to $100 to a vendor every two weeks won’t help in paying off the contracts but, when you're planning a wedding, every little bit helps. Lastly, the wedding dress! I went to two bridal stores near my house and ended up finding my dream dress. Both stores quoted me $1,350 for the dress and, in my mind, I knew I had to have it. I also knew that I would have to pay for alterations, shoes, and jewelry and that can all really add up. So when the sales lady wasn’t looking, I wrote down the model number of the dress and called every store in Maryland to find the dress at a lower price. The lowest price I found was $1,210 but I still wasn't satisfied. I decided to try calling stores in other states and ended up finding a small bridal store in Massachusetts who was selling the dress for $900. What a steal! I spoke with the manager and asked her to email me photos of the dress and once I saw them, I knew I had to have it. The manager then said she would email me an invoice on the dress and since the purchase was over 500 dollars, it would be shipped for free! Finding my dream dress at the right price was definitely a lot of work but trust me, it's worth it in the end. Don’t get yourself down if something doesn’t work out price wise right away. There’s a million other places and vendors to call - you just have to be patient! Until my next wedding post, Loni xx