Wedding party planning doesn’t always mean that you have to spend a fortune. You can have a memorable and enjoyable reception without going over your budget if you plan it well. To help you on this, here are some ideas that you can easily apply to your own event.
Budget
Set how much you are willing to spend for your wedding reception. You should then determine how many guests you would be inviting to the party. You can also think whether you’ll have an event that’s strictly formal or a more casual one.
Date and Time
Selecting the date and time of your wedding is crucial to your budget. If you haven’t set these important details yet, keep in mind that there are seasons when catering, flowers, dresses, and other event services are more expensive than other times of the year. This usually depends on your location. However, in almost all countries, everyone jacks up their prices at Christmastime. If you can, try staying away from this season.
In addition, breakfast and lunch events are more reasonable than late afternoon and evening ones. For one thing, you’d need lights as soon as the sun goes down. Also, almost all hotels, restaurants, and caterers charge more for dinner menus. Another thing you should consider is that evening weddings call for formal attire – more expensive for you and for your guests.
Venue
In your wedding planning checklist, the venue is another important element where you can cut costs. Spring and summer seasons are a nice time to have less formal daytime weddings that are also unique and less costly. You can hold a picnic reception in a park, a restaurant with a garden, or in your own backyard. All these venues would look even better if you use spruced up wedding tents or even luxury Indian wedding tents that exude warmth, elegance, creativity, and simplicity. By choosing an outdoor setting, you’d be able to save more money, as indoor venues usually cost a lot. Many bridal magazines and websites (check out Pinterest) offer awesome ideas on how to make a lovely wedding reception even lovelier with wedding tents.
There are some considerations, of course, if you hold the wedding at dusk or in the evening. That’s because you would need to set aside some budget for lighting.
Whatever season you’ve chosen, try avoiding hotels, since they are generally the most expensive location you can hold an event in. Check out restaurants, gardens, village clubs, and other venues. Be creative. If there’s a spacious art exhibit area in your neighborhood, see if you can hold your reception there.
There are also venues where you can hold both ceremony and reception. If you can do this, you can negotiate discounts on venue rental, flowers, and other services. You’ll also definitely cut down your transportation cost.
Catering
As mentioned previously, among the wedding planning ideas you need to keep in mind is that the earlier the event, the less expensive the menu. But if you’ve decided on having a dinner party, there are still some things you can do to keep the expenses reasonable.
Talk to restaurants and catering services about the different options you can have. The best deal you can have is bringing your own drinks. You can buy wholesale drinks and just have them served by the waiters. This way you can even have the selection of drinks that you know your guests will really like.
Cake
A wedding is never complete without a cake. And it’s one of the priciest items of the party, too. If it’s not yet included in the catering package, look for someone among your relatives and friends who can do great cupcakes. Arrange them in tiers and have small round cake at the top. If there’s no one in your circle who can do this, ask your local bakery to do this for you. It’s usually cheaper than having a full-sized wedding cake of 3 layers.
Décor
It would be great if the venue you’ve chosen needs very little effort in decorating. If not, you can choose to make your own centerpieces and other décor. For your centerpieces, instead of using all flowers, which can be really expensive, you can use candles and ribbons. Some even use fruits, especially during the summer or fall.
It would definitely be great to start your new life with sensible spending. You’ll need to practice it as your family grows later on. These ideas are simple but useful suggestions for an unforgettable but inexpensive event.
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