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Small Economies for Your Wedding
By J. A. Young
By cutting a few corners here and there, you can save extra
money while still having the wedding you’ve always dreamed of. A beautiful
wedding need not equal “big bucks.” The following text offers suggestions for
the budget-friendly wedding!
First of all—get the dress of your dreams. Otherwise,
whenever you thumb through your wedding album you’ll be thinking of the dress
you should have got instead of the inexpensive one you settled for. But, while
you splurge in the dress department, consider ways to lessen that
photographer’s bill! For instance, invite your photographer to the church for
professional portraits, but ask a talented friend to cover the reception (as
your wedding present!). Likewise, ask for disposable cameras for your wedding
shower to be used at the reception by your guests. Finally, ask a trusted
family member to do the taping of vows and big moments in the wedding.
Make your own invitations! No—nothing tacky with dollar
store ribbon. You can actually make a more stunning invitation than those
typical embossed bell invites your parents purchased. Buy several sheets of
handmade paper for your background and attach some vellum printed with your
particulars. Spurge for some silk ribbon in your colors and voila! Instant
heirloom at half the cost.
When it comes to flowers, you can really sink lots of
money. Instead of the traditional florist, visit local nurseries or garden
centers. Often they have talented staff who specialize in bouquets and flower
arrangements. Or, splurge for the bridal bouquet and give your bridesmaids a
single bloom to carry. If you have a few months to spare before the wedding,
get together with the girls for evenings of beading flowers—beads are cheap, but
beading them into blooms is a labor of love—stunning and original too!
Make your own centerpieces. Shop the flea market for a
hodgepodge of vases to suit your style. Then ask your mother or mother-in-law
to be to hit the grocery store the night before for a portion of their stock
(as cheap as $3.00 per bouquet). Then she can arrange the flowers to her taste
in your vases.
When hall shopping, consider alternative settings for your
reception. If you can do without the pat crystal chandeliers, consider church
halls, town halls, high school gyms, community halls, forest preserves or some
other special place that doesn’t specialize in weddings, but may allow
you to add your own decorations.
Finally, consider some of the following as well: ask a
friend to do your hair and makeup, make your own bridal veil, make your own
wedding favors, forget the cliché limo rental, and have a backyard barbeque for
your rehearsal dinner.
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