Lets face it, wedding planning can be a pain in the arse. Honestly, it can! In an attempt to reduce the planning and workload on themselves some couples might look to hire a wedding or events planner. After all they do this kind of stuff every day, right?
But not you. You're either overly optimistic, eager for a challenge or just a complete control freak. Perhaps you're a mix of all three! We're going to assume you want to absolutely OWN your wedding. Who wants a traditional, run-of-the-mill wedding anyway?
So here are our top tips on how to completely rock your wedding day which will be easy on your budget
and leave a lasting impression on all of your wedding guests!
1 - Keep it short
Your wedding is arguably one of the most important days of your lives together. But that doesn't mean you need to invite all of your guests round for what you promise to be the best day of that calendar year and then bore them to tears with the longest ceremony ever!
Think back through all of the weddings you've attended in your life. Of course you'll say they had great ceremonies and overall the day was great; but lets face it the only things you really remember and talk about was the moment they said "I do", some witty quips from the best mans speech and the free bar and dancing afterwards.
So how can you make the most important part of your day memorable and short? First of all start by getting married before your actual wedding date. Yes you read that right! In doing so you'll be free to write your own vows and take charge of how your ceremony pans out from start to finish without any third parties adding in an extra hymn here or another reading there. As an added bonus it'll keep your guests on their toes and they'll be talking about it for years to come!
2 - Go DIY
Albert Einstein once said "Creativity is intelligence having fun", so why not unleash your creative side and go DIY? Or at least for as much as you can do by yourself. There will inevitably be things you'll need to outsource, such as the wedding cake - unless you're very good at baking!
Taking a very hands on approach to the small things like invites, favours, and how the tables are dressed can really help keep your budget healthy. Not to mention everything is now hand made and oozing with your individual style and personality!
There are so many fantastic DIY websites out there that it's hard to take everything in. However we've found that
instructables.com and
theknot.com have fantastic tutorials on how to make almost everything for your wedding from scratch.
3 - It's not all about you
The whole point of a wedding is to get married to the one you love and have fun. But you need to remember about your guests too! If you want to hear the line "This is the best wedding ever!" from your guests then you're going to need to break away from the "It's my day" mentality.
You're going to need to take a step back and look at your wedding from a guests' perspective. Chances are they've attended their fair share of weddings and will know the basic format. They'll know what's coming next. Set yours apart by mixing things up, it's always a good idea to have a curveball 'event' of sorts to keep your guests on their toes.
What you choose to do is up to you. As long is it has plenty of thought and heaps of personality behind it then you're golden!
If you've already started some planning for your wedding then you'll already know that as soon as anyone hears the words "It's for my wedding" come out of your mouth their eyes light up with excitement. Especially if those people work as dress designers or wedding venue providers. Whilst it's not fair of us to generalise everyone, it's more common than not that as soon as they know it's for a wedding the price literally doubles.
The best way to get around this? Simply break away from the norm. Don't buy a designer dress or go for a hotel venue. There are plenty of alternatives to be had and they can really help you cut down on the budget for things that are far more important. For example you can usually buy secondhand or vintage dresses and then have them modified to suit your tastes for a fraction of the price of a new one. These types of 'budget' dresses are usually frowned upon by a large majority of brides to be and we have absolutely no idea why as we think they often look more stunning than their designer counterparts!
The same applies to wedding venues. You're more likely to be able to work out a great deal to rent out a local restaurant or pub as your reception location rather than spend a small fortune hiring out a hotel venue. Not to mention a local pub is going to have far more character and personality over a hotel dining room.
5 - Don't skimp on the good stuff
Now you've saved heaps by cutting costs elsewhere in your budget what are you going to do with the healthy remainder you have left? That's easy! Spend it on good food, great booze and anything else you consider essential for the big day!
Trust us when we say you want to keep your guests plied well with food and drink. Happy tummies equals happy guests. Especially if they're children! Well thought out food and when it's served out helps to keep the mood laid back and guests chatting away to each other. When it comes to the speeches your guests should be giving you their full attention because they want to, not because you're keeping them from their grub!
You'll also want to spend some of that money on professional photographers and videographers (like us!) to capture your day. Having those images and videos to look back on when your wedding is over will be priceless. Not to mention that they will be much better than those slightly out of focus photos that heavily feature Great Aunt Marge's thumb in the bottom left hand corner, or whatever your Uncle Bob thinks he can do with his 30 year old tape camera!
