by Sairravha Davis

Created on: July 16, 2009   Last Updated: July 18, 2009

Planning a wedding is hard, but planning an affordable wedding is even harder. We have to admit times are tight and not all brides can afford to have a million dollar wedding. I have worked for a wedding planning company and I have picked up a lot of the tricks of the trade of planning an amazing wedding. So here are 6 tips to get you started.

Tip#1

Make a budget. This is the most important step to wedding planning. Setting a budget will give you a rough idea on how much you are willing to spend on your wedding. For example, know that food and location will most likely be your biggest cost in your wedding. Decide which of these two means more you. A great location, or having gourmet food butler passed? Whichever wins make sure to have amply amount of money set aside. But keep in mind, if you are in a tight budget you may have to make some sacrifices.

Tip#2

Keep with the idea of budget lets move on to food. Catering places as well as banquet faculties tend to charge per person. The more people you have the more money you will spend on food as well as other things. A good way of keep cost short is limiting the guest list. Think about having a small intimate gathering instead of a big gala with everyone that you can possibly think of that you know. Remember that if your caterer charges $50 a person and you have 100 people, that already $5,000. On a budget of $10,000 that's already half your budget! Try cutting it down to 75 people. That's $3,750 dollars. Already you have $1,250 you have to spend towards something else.

Tip#3

Doing the wedding favors yourself. This can be a huge budget wedding saver as well as an excuse to get together with your bridal party. Make it a weekend bridal luncheon and have then help you make wedding favors. And wedding favors don't have to be hard. Site like ehow.com and wonderhowto.com has tons of videos on how to wedding favors as well as centerpieces.

Tip#4

Remember the little things. Even the small parts of your budget can be money savers as well. Starting with the wedding dress. Average price for a wedding dress is around $600 dollars. And if we want to talk designer it can be well over $1,000. I know most brides may not want to cut cost here, but trust me you can still look beautiful with a pre-owned dress. There are sites like craigslist.org or preownedweddingdresses.comwhere brides sell their gently used wedding dresses. Some even brand new. Also try looking on Ebay. There is often beautiful wedding dresses brand new for half the costs.

For the groom, look at renting tuxes instead of buying them. They often give major discounts if you have the groomsmen rent their tux from the same place. As far as bridesmaid dresses, looking on Ebay for dress lots the best choice. But remember to shop around for the best deals.

Tip#5

Try looking at locations prices in their off season. This is a good tip for outdoor wedding renting the sites. Renting off season can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. As well as picking flowers that are in season and you can get a lot of them right away without paying heaving shipping fees. But a sneaky tip is using silk flowers. They look realistic and you can even put them in water for a more real effect.

Tip#6

Remember a lot of things you can do yourself. But if you think you will be in over your head, hire an outside person, or have a wedding planner. They can help take the stress and also find hidden deals.

There you have it 6 tips to keep your wedding on budget and fabulous. Lastly, remember its your wedding, your vision and you can make your vision work even if you don't have a lot of money.

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