Budget Wedding: Doing it Right

Flowers are one of the many "major" expenses of most wedding ceremonies and receptions, but with a little extra legwork you can still get a pretty good deal. The major trick is to avoid the chain-owned florists. Smaller florists and especially the kinds of florists who set up shop in markets tend to be considerably cheaper.

Always use the term "family gathering" whenever possible in your search for wedding services and suppliers. For reasons unknown to brides everywhere, the price of the same product or service always seems to be about 50% higher for a "wedding" despite no other differences being readily apparent. This is almost always true for caterers.

Try to get a caterer who will let you supply the cake yourself. The cake tends to be the most expensive food item and you can almost always get something much less expensive (and something much better!) at your local bakery. Supermarkets can also be a good place to look if your local supermarkets have their own bakeries.

Depending on your circumstance, you may be able to get away with ditching the caterer altogether and go with an even cheaper solution. Heros, rolled meats, cheeses, salads and other buffet-style foods can be whipped up or purchased seperately, greatly reducing your costs.

Wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses can be a touchy subject because not only do they tend to be extremely expensive but they basically define the bride and her bridesmaids. Still, it is definitely worth checking out thrift shops and the clearance rack at a bridal shop, or even a department store that carries fine gowns. If you don't find a great buy that also looks fabulous, then at least you know you tried. Also, keep in mind that your bridesmaids don't necessarily all have to wear matching dresses. One common play on this is to split them up by twos and have each pair of girls wearing the same dress (but not the same as the rest of the bridesmaids).

Also, don't forget to ask around. You never know when you'll discover that your cousin's boyfriend's aunt owns a catering business or a flower shop, and those types of connections can sometimes get you better deals than you'll find anywhere else.