Planning a Wedding on a Budget

It is said that the "average wedding" today costsperiod of time. And you will want them to be
around $20,000. Now of course that depends oncreative and unique to your wedding. If you find a
where you live and who you are! If you arephotographer who is fairly new, but has some
planning a wedding on a budget, I have somegood weddings under his or her belt, you could
advice for you.save a lot of money. Make sure that you talk
To some people $20,000 could be a new car or awith some people who used the photographer.
down payment on a house. If you go out andAlso make sure that you like the personality of
borrow $20,000 for a wedding, shame on you.your photographer. They could change the mood
You need some financial advice! Planning a weddingof the wedding in a hurry.
on a budget would be the least of your problems.If you are planning a wedding on a budget, you
The two most important keys to planning amay want to forget about the wedding
wedding on a budget are: planning and organization.coordinator/planner. Unless you are totally useless
You will not save any money on your wedding ifat planning and research, they may cost more
you start planning a month before the wedding.than they save you. There are many software
So get yourself a 3 ring binder, some paper, andprograms and books that have checklists and
dividers.helpful shortcuts. I would recommend that you
Make a section for EVERY expense of thehave a trusted friend or relative with the list of
wedding. Cut pictures out of magazines. Printevents to watch over things, just to make sure
pages off of the internet. Write down every ideathat everything goes as planned. Someone with a
that you have. This will be part of thestrong personality!
brainstorming process. Go through each sectionUsing friends and relatives to help with tasks at
periodically and jot down any money savingyour wedding can save you a bundle! A word of
thoughts. I will get you started.caution here. Saving a few dollars is not worth
Let's start with the wedding dress. If you areruining the biggest day of your life! Make sure that
planning a wedding on a budget, a $10,000 dressthe people helping are trustworthy. If they are
would be a bad start! This is a dress that you willdoing a big job, make sure that they know what
wear one time. It could be one of the mostthey are doing. Make sure that you have a clear
expensive items for your wedding. Just because aunderstanding with them about your expectations.
dress is expensive, doesn't mean that it will flatterImagine having your second cousin showing up to
you. Think about possibly renting a dress or evenDJ your reception in his favorite cut off shorts
buying a second hand dress. Another possibilityand a tee shirt. Then he starts playing his records
would be to buy one on line. You would beon his 20 year old sound system. That would
surprised at the places that sell wedding dresses.surely be the memory that everyone would carry
Amazon and Ebay, just to name a couple. Justaway from your biggest day!
make sure that you check the seller's reputationSo let's do a quick recap on planning a wedding on
and return policies thoroughly.a budget. The keys are planning and organization.
Photography is a place where you can save someDo your research and keep track of everything.
money, but be cautious. After the big weddingGet a couple of books and some software
day the photos will be about all that is left (withprograms to help. Make sure that you have a
the exception of your spouse)! Trusting this jobclear understanding from everyone involved as to
to a friend with a camera is not a good idea.what will happen and how it will happen. Using
Wedding photography is unique in that yourthese planning keys will insure that you have that
photographer has to take many photos in a shortdream wedding on a budget that you can afford!