Wedding Priorities: Must Haves and Not So Much

You may be coming to this post in the hopes that I tell you the most important aspect is the dress or even just being in love with the person you are marrying. The truth is that the most important aspects of your wedding will be unique to you. However, the reason I am writing this is because prior to major planning and hiring of vendors a bride and groom should sit down and state what their priorities are and what is most important to each of them.

This is because those priorities will create a budget that is usually higher in the priorities and lower in the add-ons. So for my wedding I knew that I didn't care about all the accessories I just wanted something that looked nice. So my shoes were $5 I found online and my jewelry was less expensive than most because they were just add-ons. I even put a lower budget for my dress because my priority, mostly because I have heard and seen the horrors of hiring a friend as a photographer or not putting enough of the budget towards those memories that last forever, was focused on the photographer! My husband agreed with me on the importance of the photography so that is where most of our budget went. Due to this we did more budget friendly cost efficient choices in other areas. Here is how to save money in some areas: 1) Rent the guys tuxes from the same location...if you don't have 5 groomsmen have the dads do so as well. This will lead to (especially at Men's Wearhouse which I am a big fan of) usually the groom getting the tux rental for free! 2) Shop online where you can! This doesn't mean go buying your dress online (actually I really don't recommend this as it can be disastrous!) However you can buy items like your shoes, accessories, and even décor for the church and reception locations online. For example, I bought glass vases and mirrors from dollar tree online, red gems from an online distributor for more than half the price at a store (bulk pricing), and I also bought the pew bows online (yes I could have made them but it was cheaper and less time consuming to buy them and then fluff the material). 3) DIY when possible. Now this is a time consuming option. I made over 200 place cards by hand, created a card box for the reception, as well as signs for the wedding. We saved lots of money doing this BUT not time. However, what I suggest to the DIY brides and grooms out there is if you create a plan for when each DIY item has to be done and have the last item done the week prior to the wedding you will be great! Create a schedule and stick to it! :) 4) Consider alternate venues. We had our wedding in a catholic church that was also a school. Since we were members of the church (only one person has to be though) we were allowed full access to the school gymnasium free of charge. This was a huge budget saver! We then rented curtains, carpeting, and we able to use the table and chairs from a guy who loans them to the school all the time. So, a huge recommendation I have is ask around. The guy was friends with my husband's father. So reach out past your friend group and see if someone else has something that would be willing to help. The guy that was a friend helped setup the tables and chairs and clear the gym...so we gave him a gift (keep this in mind too...if they help sometimes it is nice to give something for their time too even if they aren't asking for it). Now alternate venues doesn't even have to mean something like we did many people will have a nice church wedding and an outdoor reception (some even in a barn). Whether you have a formal wedding or not know that the reception is a prime opportunity to express yourselves as a couple. We had superhero stuff all over our reception because we really like Batman (and we let the groomsmen and bridesmaids choose who they were). Other ideas are name the tables instead of numbering them. One wedding had World of Warcraft, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings table names showing the combination of interests in the bride and groom. What it will come down to is you having the wedding represent you and your soon to be spouse. So whether it is splurging for the photography, DIYing the wedding, or even just keeping to a specific budget know that you have options and are always able to make the wedding a representation of yourselves and your relationship.