Planning Affordable Weddings
Affordable
weddings - that's what everyone wants to have. Low cost, inexpensive, cheap even, but with all of the glitz and glamor too. However, getting
married, especially if you are on a low-income, doesn't allow that to happen easily. As a planner of these events, this can really annoy me,
because until people plan their first one, they never think about how much marriages cost.
The problem is that even if you buy affordable bridal gowns, affordable wedding cakes, cheap bridesmaid dresses - it still won't be low-cost -
it will still amount to a lot of money. The bottom line comes out at this: if you want to have an inexpensive marriage ceremony, you'd better be
willing to make a few sacrifices along the way.
I'm not saying that having affordable weddings is impossible. If you are willing to settle for a small ceremony with just a few of your very
closest friends there, you can do it fairly cheap and low-cost. The problem is that if having an affordable marriage is your intention, you have
to plan everything around it.
Planning for affordable weddings means that you will need to have a small guest list, make reservations at an inexpensive low-cost place, have
an affordable wedding dress, rent a tuxedo for the groom, and generally scrimp and save at every opportunity. Some of my clients have actually
taken their own wedding photographs to save on the cost of hiring a wedding photographer!
The bottom line is that the most affordable weddings are done in a judge’s office. Everything else that you do, getting more fancy stuff,
costs extra money. Some low-income families find themselves in debt for years because of what they spent on a grand, elaborate wedding. That's a
real pity.
When I meet clients who really want to have affordable weddings, I tell them to have them in the back yard. That way, they can save on wedding
reservations. If they are really ambitious, they can even provide the catering themselves. If, however, there are more than thirty people are
expected, this is usually not a very practical idea.
I guess it all depends on what you expect from your wedding. When I first got married, all I wanted was a simple ceremony to dedicate my love
to my wife. If this is all that you want as well, it will be quite easy for you to plan an affordable wedding. If, on the other hand, you want to
have an elaborate party with all of your friends and family, you will have to pay for it.
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