Budget Wedding Tip: Off-Season Weddings

Concerned you won't be able to afford your dream wedding reception location? Consider choosing an off-season date.

What about a winter wedding? If you live in a part of the country where it snows, a winter wedding can be very romantic. I've personally attended two weddings in New England at beautiful, historic inns in the winter -- complete with all the coziness of a roaring fire. (See the Wayside Inn in Sudbury for one example of a location that charms in the winter.) You might even consider a horse-drawn sleigh for an extra touch of romance!

Even here in California, winter events can have an atmosphere of romance and coziness, especially in rugged oceanside areas like Big Sur, Carmel and Half Moon Bay.

Most wedding locations are motivated to attract your business during their slower seasons -- and, their rates (and willingness to negotiate) will reflect it. What's more, other vendors (DJ, photographer, etc.) may also have fewer bookings on less popular wedding dates, and so might also offer better rates.

Similarly, if you're willing to get married mid-week, or even on a Friday or a Sunday in some cases, you might find your "fantasy" facility is suddenly within reach of your budget.

Budget Wedding Tip: "Fire Your Wedding Planner"

One of our favorite sources of money-saving wedding tips (free, no less!) is Stephi Stewart's "Fire Your Wedding Planner" newsletter. Did we mention it's free? (There is also a paid e-book which is fabulous ... but, even if you sign up only for the free newsletter, you'll get plenty of excellent ideas and inspiration to save big on your big day.)

To sign up for the free newsletter, visit this link:

Sign up for "Fire Your Wedding Planner"

Note, if you decide to buy the e-book after enjoying the newsletter, Stephi offers a money-back guarantee that you'll be able to save on your wedding using her tips!

Budget Wedding Tip: Cut the Cake

One of our favorite budget wedding tips is also a great tip for making an elegant and personalized statement at your wedding.

Instead of spending $500, $700 or more on a multi-tiered, "wedding" cake, consider purchasing a variety of small specialty cakes. Your guests will be able to ooh and ahh over the display of your interesting selection. Black Forest, cheesecake, Baba au Rhum, petits fours - let your imagination and tastebuds run wild, and include any exotic confections that you like. You'll create a dessert experience that your guests will talk about just as much as they would any spectacular tiered extravagance (maybe even more!).

If you like, you could also try this approach combined with a very small, decorative "real" wedding cake for the bride and groom to cut for photos, and save for their first anniversary.

Budget Wedding Tips: Online Shopping

The internet has transformed wedding planning on a budget! Many elements of a wedding can now be sourced online (from anywhere in the country) at great savings.

Wedding gowns are a great example. Not only can you shop for great discounts from online retailers, you can also often find amazing prices on gowns direct from other brides. Sometimes, a bride wants to sell her "gently used" wedding gown. More often, she bought one wedding gown and changed her mind, and now needs to sell the first to pay for the second.

There are a number of classified type sites that are great hunting grounds for budget-conscious wedding gown shoppers. Among our favorites:

Ebay (Grand-daddy of them all)
Craigslist (Available in most major metro areas)
Free Wedding Classifieds (Name says it all)
Classifieds ... For Brides! (Another wedding-specific free classifieds site)

A bonus of the last three of these options is that you can post for what you're looking for -- so, if you really need that size 8 Maggie Sottero at a discount, you can post and see if anyone has the gown of your dreams.

Don't forget ... you can also post your own wedding gown for sale after "the big day," assuming you don't want to hold onto it for sentimental reasons.

Wedding Invitations - Money Saving Tips

Saving money on wedding invitations.

It wasn't that long ago that 'do-it-yourself' invitations were more or less an announcement that you couldn't -- or just wouldn't -- spend on "the real thing."

Today's print-at-home options have made those days a thing of the past. The quality available is astounding! No one need ever know how much you saved.

Check out eInvite's selection of print-at-home wedding invitations. Chic, quality papers, great styling!

What's more, leading vendors are offering other ways to save money. Carlson Craft, one of the nation's most respected producers of wedding invitations, has the easy, economical "send and seal" line. Invitations include a response postcard and start at a little more than $1 each! (Order through Invitations Whenever and get 20% off!)