Get Your Priorities Straight

This is where so many budget conscious brides get it wrong. Getting married is still a big thing. Celebrating your love for your partner in front of your loved ones is a big thing. Even if your finances are a bit stretched, now is not the time to give up on all of your dreams. Now is the time for creative thinking and well considered compromise.

This is going to sound odd in a book dedicated to having a wedding on a budget. Don’t be super cheap. You must indulge in some things – you are the bride and deserve at least one small luxury for yourself on this special day. So, by all means, knock out or find alternatives for as many over-priced wedding things as you like but allow one or two things for yourself…doing the rest of your big day on a budget will help you feel less guilt about it!

For some girls, it's all about the dress. They don't care where they get married, what they eat or what music they dance to. It's all about the dress. For me, it was all about the flowers. My whole life, I dreamed of walking down an aisle of white lilies, holding a bouquet that reached the floor and dancing in a ballroom that smelled of roses. For this reason, flowers were my splurge. Now, what was yours again?

BUT HOW MUCH IS IT GOING TO COST?

Luckily, deciding on the total budget of your wedding is entirely up to you. People always ask me how much or how little it costs to have a wedding. $500? $1000? $3000? $7000 or maybe $40,000? The truth of the matter is – the only 'necessary' cost to getting married is the cost of your marriage license (almost always less than $50) – everything else is just garnish.

A $500 wedding is absolutely possible. So is a fairytale celebrity-style extravaganza for $25,000. And every imaginable budget in between. What it takes to achieve your wedding within your budget is a clear knowledge of what you wish to purchase with that money. And, what you are prepared to compromise on or sacrifice all together.

I'm often asked to teach people where the 'priorities' are in a small wedding. The answer is simple – a ceremony of commitment between yourself and your partner and inviting people you care about to witness it only if you wish.

After that, I can't tell you what the priorities are – only you and your partner know. Is it truly important to you to feed these people? Is it truly important to you that you hold a $500 bunch of flowers when you tell your special person how much you love them? In this day and age – aim for a memorable wedding and celebration rather than get bogged down in a 'traditional' wedding and all of it's paraphernalia. The most fun and memorable weddings I've been to in the last few years (and I go to about 20 of them each year!) were both a little different. My favorite was a 'Formal Garden Party' where the ceremony and reception took place in the Groom's Grandmother's beautiful garden and the guests ate bite-sized dainty desserts while drinking punch and champagne and everyone wore full formal attire. It was absolutely stunning and cost the couple less than $3000. The other was a beach wedding where the couple insisted that all the guests dressed as though they were on vacation and it was Hawaiian shirts and bare feet all-round! I've never seen happier guests and a more relaxed couple at a wedding! That wedding, with it's beach bonfire party reception cost less that $1000 and was far more beautiful than most $20,000 weddings that I attend.

Next Page - Page 04: Save Money on Your Wedding Dress Pt. 1.