Planning a Cheap Wedding – Tips on How to Planning a Cheap Wedding

There's no doubt about it, weddings can be expensive and as the average cost of a wedding today is 20 to 25 thousand dollars; the wedding industry is estimated at 25.3 billion dollars per year. However, it is possible to plan a cheap wedding if you cannot manage something that requires expensive stationery, photographers, caterers and dresses. It just requires a little knowledge and imagination to reduce the huge amount that can be spent and perhaps use the savings on something more worthwhile.

Of course the bride will want a designed, hand made dress but this is very expensive but it is something where savings can be made, especially if consider using a second hand wedding dress. After all, if someone else wants to spend two to three thousand dollars on a wedding dress and only wear it once, why can't you make use of it for your wedding day at a greatly reduced cost or alternatively you could do like many men do and just hire an outstanding dress for the day.

As the wedding reception is normally the biggest expense and is where the cost of a wedding can get out of hand but one of the easiest to cut down on costs and as statistics show that an average of 189 guests attend a wedding, so when you are planning your cheap wedding remember this will be where the most savings take place. Firstly is don't invite everyone you know, in particular relatives you may not have seen since you were a child and as far as the meal is concerned why opt for a buffet instead of a full three course meal. Instead of holding the reception in an expensive hotel suite or wedding reception, why not consider having it at someone's home or a club, or even book a restaurant and keep an open bar to a minimum by only serving beer, wine and soft drinks.

The obvious choice is to shop around for the best rates, but consider hiring a photographer for the ceremony only and ask a family member or friend to take snap photos of the reception. Many people know someone who is a keen amateur photographer and there is nothing wrong with asking them to take photos whilst they are at the wedding and dispose of the wedding photographer entirely.

With the availability of excellent computer programs, another area to help you plan your cheap wedding is in the area of stationery as invitations do not have to be taken to a printer when they can be done at home by anyone reasonably competent with a computer. With sophisticated customization tools you'll be able to enter your own text and preview it before you print so as not to make any costly mistakes, all from the benefit of your probably underused PC.

If you want to reduce the costs of flowers at your wedding, why not visit the flower wholesalers and buy them direct where huge savings can be made. If you have one of your friends make the wedding cake and reduce the number of tiers and buy your own wedding favors (candy is best) then you will save money here as well. As a last cost saving measure, have one of your friends or relations who has a nice car to decorate it for the wedding day and use this instead of a costly limousine because there are many things you can spend all those savings on!