Few of us have bottomless wallets when it comes to paying for a wedding.  When you are trying to stick to a strict budget for your wedding, it helps to think about the big picture. You need to allot enough money for the things which matter the most to you. Cut corners and trim the budget on all the extra, less important items. The top ten items ways to say money on your wedding is as follows:

1. Avoid Saturday. By choosing an off day, you will avoid paying a premium for services. You might also be able to afford your dream photographer, ideal wedding location or perfect caterer because of your wedding date choice.

2. Trim your guest list by moving your wedding elsewhere (such as a destination wedding.) Or politely explain the wedding is only for close family.

3. Repurpose items in your wedding.  Have your bridesmaid’s place their bouquets on the reception tables as centerpieces or order mini wedding cakes, allowing the confections to act as both a centerpiece and dessert.

4. Go online for everything from RSVPs to bargain shopping. There are many cost saving applications and purchases to be found online. It only requires time.

5. Call in favors from friends and family. Ask if any of them are calligraphers, DJs, aspiring photographers or florists. 

6. Remove the fat from your food choices.  Instead of offering hors d’oeuvres, a sit down meal and an open bar, schedule your wedding between meals. Offer only cake and drinks. Or lighten up on the food, eliminating some of the higher priced items.

7. Turn down the music by forgoing the traditional wedding band or DJ. Create your own wedding soundtrack by choosing music together and burning it on a CD.

8. DIY is for YOU! Creating your own wedding invitations, wedding favors or wedding programs is a simple way to save a lot of money. With today’s high quality DIY kits, all you need is a quality printer and time to create a professional looking piece.

9. Borrow traditionally rented items. Consider using family heirlooms such as candlesticks, wedding accessories or serving ware instead of renting or buying. It also adds a nice personal touch.

10. Elope! The easiest way to save a lot of money on your wedding is to elope. You can still throw a killer party, letting your friends and family celebrate with you but you avoid over  half of the fees related to a formal wedding.

The key to saving money on your wedding is to choose to forgo items which aren’t important to you in the long run. Decide on what you can’t live without and scrutinize everything else in order to save money on your wedding.

1. Instead of floral centerpieces think about candles or colored stones. Line the bottom of a vase with colored stones. Set a candle or a few stems of your favorite flower (most likely this will be the flower chosen as your theme in your bridal bouquets). One bride used her centerpiece as wedding favors. She planted a flower, in this case a daffodil, each in a pot and put them in the center of the table. It not only made a beautiful centerpiece but each guest took home a lovely plant to remember the joyous occasion.

2. Afternoon weddings, Sunday mornings, or Fridays are not premium times and therefore you can get a break on the prices. Brides and Grooms are now thinking outside the box. Garden weddings or Brunch style weddings are very sophisticated and can be very entertaining. This also allows time for the happy couple to unwind before taking off for their honeymoon or spending quality time with close friends and family after the party.

3. Take some time to educate yourself on flowers. Flowers that are out of season or a special color are more expensive. Talk with your floral designer and ask what flowers are in season in your color scheme. There is so much out there to choose from without costing much.

4. Consider making your own favors. Favors are not meant to be expensive. They are a token of gratitude for your guest. Packets of seeds attached to a note of thanks or a special poem or saying goes a long way.

5. Alcohol can be very expensive and a cash bar is out of the question. Depending on your guest, wine can be served during dinner by the wait staff while beer and soft drinks can be available at the bar. This can keep your bar expense under control.

Planning a wedding is exciting and fun as well as a lot of work. In order to stay within budget keep all receipts and make sure you know how your money is being spent. Be flexible and think outside the box. Remember skimp in some places, so that you can splurge in others and things will turn out great!

Once the Marriage has been substitute, the Wedding flowers chose and the arrangements decided upon, its time to check the source of flowers in the vicinity.

Flowers coming from the Farmers marketplace: many urban centers have summer farmer’s marketplaces where good flowers are dealt. This is a great way to get flowers without the hassles of getting a wholesale market. The best way is to go through the localized marketers to see the costs and choice, then opt the vendor who is appropriate.

Buying Flowers at a Wholesale flower market: flowers should be bought from the wholesale flower marketplace whenever feasible. Situated in grand metropolitan regions, they often deal flowers to the public after the wholesale flower buyers are over. They are a bargain.

Flowers from Grocery Stores: for smaller wedding parties one might rely on the floral department of the local grocery depot. There one can find flowers in numerous colors and monetary values.

Flowers from Mail Order: There are some fantastic mail-order sources for flowers today. But they are accompanied by sending expenditures and troubles about the condition of flowers and their prompt arrival.

Flowers from localized Florists: This is a tremendous source for flowers, although they may be more or less more expensive than other outlets. The quality may be advisable. One will also have the option to order things like garlands, arches, altar arrangements, corsages, and other specialization flowers.

Greens: one should not forget to order grand quantities of greenery. It will fill in centerpieces, add a background to grand altar organizations, and act as a collar around bridal bouquets. It’s a good idea to order additional bundles of greens in case any stems are crumpled or some bunches are little than others.

Once the flowers have been bought, it is very significant to look after them. The advisable flower attention points can be raised from the vendor who sold

You shop at Costco for bulk groceries, so why wouldn’t you also want to save money with wholesale wedding favors? You don’t have to spend inordinate sums of money on expensive items in a local craft store or bridal bouquet. Instead, you can buy your favors wholesale and keep that money for other things like your photographer, DJ or flowers.

For hot wedding favor ideas that you can do with low cost products, read on.

Sugared Almonds

Tradition dictates that each wedding guest receive five sugared almonds encased in either a small box or wrapped in a pretty fabric. The almonds symbolize both the bitter sweetness nature of marriage, but also are a sign of health, happiness and fertility for the couple.

What’s great about this favor is that you can pick up wholesale sugared almonds at most bulk food stores. At $10 or $15 a pound, you will have enough almonds to provide classic favors for every wedding guest. Then, pick up a few yards of tulle and ribbon at a local fabric shop and you have your packaging and wrapping. Simply, wrap five almonds in a small circle of tulle and tie with a ribbon.

Wedding Candles

White candles make great wholesale wedding favors because they can be purchased very inexpensively and easily customized. You should be able to find a box of 50 white candles for as little as $5.00, with most brides spending no more than $10 to $15 to furnish their entire guest list with favors. You can also order votive or fancier candles from a wholesale supplier and still save money.

Of course, you can’t just hand each guest a plain candle, but you can easily customize them all. Start by writing your name and marriage date on a small piece of paper or ribbon and then wrapping each candle with your customized band. Alternatively, you can use ribbon to attach a small note that thanks your guests for attending your marriage ceremony.

Bottle Your Own

Bottling your own wedding favors is a great way to embrace a local product and saving money. A Georgia couple may want to hand out peach preserves while a Vermont couple might bottle their own maple syrup.

A simple online search for “wholesale bottles” will yield hundreds of results which can then be narrowed down to wholesalers in your area. Purchasing a hundred wholesale bottles at less than $0.50 per bottle and filling them yourself is much cheaper than paying for pre-made favors from a local bridal retailer.

In short, before you spend for pre-made wedding favors from any retailer, remember that you’ll be buying in bulk and could save hundreds of dollars by either purchasing wholesale wedding favors or wholesale products that could be easily converted into wedding favors.

Your wedding plans are already going to cost you plenty of money. So why not take the opportunity to preserve some of those funds by doing a little of the wedding preparation work yourself and use the savings for something more enjoyable – like your honeymoon.

Fall is the season for changing colors, from the bright greens and pastels of summer, to beautiful deep reds, golds and greens of fall. Along with changing textures in the foliage of the trees and cool autumn breezes, come many beautiful fall weddings and lives joining. Fall seems to be one of the most popular times of the year for weddings, and can be accentuated by the natural backdrops and flowers that are in season for fall. While flowers of all varieties can be shipped from overseas all year long it can be very expensive.

To help save your budget, educate yourself on what flowers are in season for fall. There are so many options for flowers to decorate your wedding and reception that are available year round and others that are in season for fall, including flowers and plants. It doesn’t matter if you are using a florist or tending to the flower arrangements yourself, knowing what is in season is the key to saving money!

Fall arrangements have abundant of colors and can consist of a varieties of flowers that are in season. A few on my favorites that can save some money are Sunflowers, Gerber Daisies, Mums, Black-eye Susans, Chrysanthemums, Dahlia, and Gladiolas. Several of these flowers have larger stems and blooms, and could be used as a single stemmed bouquet to save money, but not take away from the look.

Sunflowers and Gerber Daisies are two of my favorite flowers to use in fall weddings and can set the stage for a beautiful ceremony, without spending big bucks on flowers. They can be used in single stems or throughout a bouquet. Another beautiful inexpensive option for fall wedding flowers are mums which could be used in bouquets or as potted plants scattered around your reception or throughout your wedding venue. They are available in several deep color tones including red, gold and green.

To save your budget, if you would like to lighten up the look of the deeper fall colors, you can add a few lighter colored flowers throughout your arrangements without forgoing your budget. Depending on the region where you are getting married, your flower choices may vary. Do your research first to help save money but still achieve the look you are going for.

Some of the flowers that are available year round include Roses, Carnations, Eucalyptus, Gardenia, Gladiolus, Heather, Lily of the Valley, Orchids, Portea, Scabiosa, and Delphinium along with the Calla Lily. However, if you are on a tight budget, you may want to choose something other than lilies, because they are more expensive than some other choices.

You have several options for filler flowers and foliage with the changing of the leaves in the fall. Magnolia leaves, maple tree leaves and others are some great ideas for using to fill a natural arrangement or to use as a center piece of a table. I have seen stems of pepper plants used during fall and it seems to be a great addition of color. Don’t forget the pumpkins and gourds in fall. You could use white pumpkins, green ones or the traditional orange pumpkins as accent pieces. I have found that using the colored leaves along with pillar candles in the center of tables, along with some pretty ribbon, makes a real show stopping center piece. You could also mingle in the gourds or pumpkins for some added color and texture on the tables.

The changing of the seasons, from the hot summer months to the cool fall weather, with the beautiful changing colors in the trees and deep colored flowers, is one of my favorite times of the year. It seems to also be a great time to get married. Though many times flowers are one of the biggest expenses of a wedding, they don’t have to be if you take note as to what flowers are in season and plan your color scheme around them. Be creative and save your money!