by Lucy Anne Stone

Created on: July 01, 2007

What's my best advice for bride and grooms to be?
Save money!
The world is a brave new place, full of technology, and for once, it can actually offer you more benefits than annoyances.
If you are planning a wedding, and don't know just yet where all the money is going to come from, then please let me extend a great idea your way.
Wedding advertising. Yep, you read right. Get your some (or maybe all) of your wedding donated or deeply discounted through sponsorship!

How? Get on-line and find one of the thousands of FREE web hosting sites. Set up a web site specifically for your wedding (many sites offer FREE web site building tools, so you can go in knowing NOTHING about building a web site, and actually make one! Try www.freeservers.com), with one page for the ceremony, and one for the reception etc.
Approach businesses either in your area, or that you find on-line. Offer them FREE advertising (it must be free, because your free wedding website most likely will not allow you to sell ad space) in exchange for sponsoring' part of your wedding.
For example, see a wedding cake you love? Approach a local baker, and tell them you will give them a FREE ad if they will agree to make your cake for free (or at least half price). Do a little research and see how much the value of what your offering is, and then haggle accordingly.
Another great tip to get sponsors to go along with it is to offer additional advertising (the more you offer, the more they want to help). How else can you offer them advertising with no/little cost to you?
Print out a sponsor list to distribute at your wedding reception, or to place around on the tables for easy viewing. When sponsors KNOW that people are going to see their ads, they are eager to help! Point out that there are going to be X number of people at your wedding, people who are going to be pretty much guaranteed to see that information!
So they get double the advertising exposure, for only the small cost of their donation.
Try this with everything (and try to get new in the area businesses who are eager to get out there!) - but get it in writing! Remember the worst they can do is say no! Then your now worse than where you started! It might work, and it might save you a ton!

Quick Tip: Ask the local high school if they know an affordable DJ (they do, after all have a budget to stick to with half a dozen dances a year)! Or - if you're not shy, tell a local radio station about your sponsored wedding.' It will create a buzz, which will get more businesses interested in helping, and maybe the radio station will want to DJ for you!
Quick Tip: Many churches offer discounts to members who want to host their ceremony there.

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