by Jennifer Defrates

Created on: March 01, 2007   Last Updated: April 23, 2007

SO you're engaged and you're now wondering how to have a traditional wedding within a budget? The short answer is it aint easy, but the longer answer is that it is possible.

First, decide what your budget is. You need to have a set figure for total expenses and make a firm agreement to stay below that amount. Secondly, decide what your and your fiance's priorities are. What things do you want to spend your money on and on what things are you willing to compromise? Make a list of all the possible expenses - location, officiant, music, flowers, dress, tuxedo, invitations, reception location, food, beverages, dj, photographer, videographer, etc. I would recommend brainstorming every possible expense for a few days - do some research online. There are several helpful websites that can give you ideas and help you be organized, like weddingchannel.com or theknot.com.

Once you have a budget and have prioritized your expenses, start window shopping. When I got married this past November, I spent hours browsing stores, websites, malls, etc. and recording prices for anything and everything that appealed to me. Pre-shopping shopping allowed me to get ideas and make sure that I got the best deal I could on what really mattered to me. (I kept all our wedding information in one small notebook to stay organized.)

We saved a lot of money by finding talented friends that were willing to help us with various aspects of the wedding. My maid of honor does printing from her pc and together we designed and printed very simple and elegant invitation that cost me only postage. If I had had to pay for the paper and ink, it would have been less than $60. We used card stock and printed a romantic image on it, then overlayed velum with the invitation printed on it and tied them together with a snippet of ribbon. The postage was the most expensive part, but if you are inviting a lot of close family and friends, hand delivered invitations can save some of that. Also look for tuxedo/dress deals - some shops offer free invitations with tuxedo rental or dress purchase.

My husband's cousin was our photographer. A friend of ours helped with the flowers. I bought all the materials from Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's. If you don't have a handy friend, all these places offer books on how to arrange and create beautiful flowers for weddings. Or go simple - simple is elegant too.

The biggest money saver was that we made all our own food, with some help from family, but I used a website, Growlies,

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