Wedding Planning On A Budget
Times are tough but that doesn’t mean you still can’t have the wedding of your dreams. One way to save money is to do your own planning. If you shop around and are a little bit flexible on every part of your wedding, ok maybe not the wedding dress, you can save money and have the wedding of your dreams on a tight budget.
The first rule of wedding planning on a budget is to use the free tools that are available. I have listed some of the free wedding planning tools here
Free Wedding Planning Tools
If you have read any of the pages on this wedding site then you already know what you need to make your wedding day a success. If you are on a tight budget and do not have the money to pay a wedding planner who will bend to your every need do not panic. Google have put together a whole package of free wedding planning tools
Wedding planning on a budget
Wedding Website
Maybe you want a website showing the engagement photos and then the wedding photos, you will probably get a quote of at least a few hundred dollars from your local web designer or else you can use http://www.google.com/weddings/#sites which is free and is very simple to use, They have at least ten various web templates that are suitable for any wedding site
Calender
You can use a Google calender to make notes of what has to be done when, you can share this info with anyone you want to.
Wedding Planning Spreadsheets
If you are anything like me you will want to keep all your weding info on a spreadsheet, use google docs to do it. You can share the spreadsheet with anyone you want to. You can keep all your dates and phone numbers in there if you want to. You can even link it to the calender. You can create to do lists, address books, budgets, menus and even make a note of your top 20 songs to give to your DJ.
Photos
You can use free sites like http://www.picnik.com/ to do basic editing of your engagement photos and you can create your own digital albums on picassa. Ask people to bring their own cameras and request that they upload them to a specific site and then share them with you. That way you can make prints of any you like, if you then make a central list of the photos people could create their own photo albums and have them printed and sent out. Walgreens often do specials on prints where you can buy them for as little as 10c a print.
Since you only get married once the one thing that you do need to think about paying for a professional is your wedding photographs. It is good fun to see the photos that your friends take but when it comes to photos of you in your wedding dress with your husband you really do need a professional.
Be Flexible
Rule number two of wedding planning on a budget is a lot easier if you know when to be flexible on what you want. Think about the things you want, and then think about what you would be just as happy with. If you love roses but they are out of season (thus expensive) think about a flower that is in season (and thus cheaper). This is your big day but don’t be a bridezilla!
Pull In Favors
Rule number three for anyone doing wedding planning on a budget is to use friends and family. This can be a two edged sword as family can also be a bit touchy if they do not like what they being asked to do. Your wedding day is important, but you do not want to lose friends and family over it. Once again the rule of thumb is “don’t be a bridezilla” and remember the old saying, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
