Wedding Ideas

Perhaps you aren't a very by-the-book kind of person. Perhaps walking down a straight aisle in a white strapless gown in front of 100 guests just isn't your fantasy wedding. Perhaps you feel a little bit uncomfortable about registering for 12 place settings of china on your wedding registry.

If you don't fit in the typical $25,000 wedding box, never fear! From an original trio wedding ring set to creative wedding gifts, from unconventional wedding ceremony sites to eccentric wedding cake choices, there are a lot of different ways to make your budget wedding your own. Here are three ideas to get you thinking about a different kind of wedding registry.

1. Eclectic Budget Wedding Gifts

With such websites as My Registry or Amazon, you can create one single registry with a variety of different lovely and unconventional items from local family businesses, your favorite environmentally friendly companies, or even your favorite homemade items from stores like Etsy.

2. Intangible Budget Wedding Gifts

Perhaps you both already have your own homes and already have a lot of stuff. You may be planning to downsize rather than scale up after yourwedding, with a trio wedding ring set being the only new item you wish to bring into your home. If that is the case, consider a honeymoon registry to fund the trip of your dreams or perhaps a charitable gift registry to help people in need, rather than feeling committed to a more conventional registry populated with hand towels and waffle makers.

3. Homemade Budget Wedding Gifts

If the best present would be having your guests give of themselves for your wedding gift, then consider asking friends to prepare and bring their favorite dish for you, either for a potluck reception or to stock your newlywed freezer. Or ask a friend to host a wedding shower to which everyone brings a favorite plant from their garden to help get yours started. If you're crafty and have crafty friends and family, consider asking each wedding guest to create a quilt square for you. Just send a small square of plain fabric in each budget wedding invitation and ask family and friends to use fabric, fabric pens, embroidery floss, or other washable materials to create a special square that you can incorporate into a memorable wedding quilt.

What are your unique weeding registry ideas?

Photo Credit: Flickr (MRS TWINS)

It seems like there is an app for everything these days – getting restaurant reservations, quizzing kids on spelling words, checking traffic conditions, and so much more. In today's increasingly digital world, many people spend much of their day glued to a cell phone, even at work. Now if only you could find an app to help you select the perfect inexpensive wedding ring set before you pop the question!

Believe it or not, you can get a free wedding proposal app in the iTunes store for your iPhone, which also includes tips about selecting an inexpensive wedding ring set.

Additionally, there are many popular free or relatively inexpensive budget wedding planning apps that might be helpful to you and your spouse-to-be as you try to keep track of your wedding budget and wedding plans.

1. TheKnot.com offers a free wedding planning app, Wedding 911, with popular wedding advice from TheKnot.com as well as the ability to post questions for input from fellow app users, anytime, anywhere.

2. iWedding is a more pricey purchase, at $6.99. It includes features such as planning and tracking a budget, managing guest lists, and staying on top of to-do lists.

3. A different budget wedding app that you may choose to purchase is the $4.99 Bride Guide, another app which purports to be a comprehensive wedding planning resource, from budgeting to buffeting. You probably only want one of these more comprehensive budget wedding planning programs, since it might get confusing to switch between programs.

4. Keep on top of your budget wedding dress shopping with iBridalGown, a virtual dress-shopping helper which you can purchase for $3.99.

5. If it is your registry you are working on, apps such as the free Amazon Mobile might be a good resource for keeping your gift ideas all in one place at your fingertips.

What apps have you found helpful in your wedding planning?

Photo Credit: Jim G

You are almost there. After months of writing lists, making phone calls, and planning, you are about to embark on the budget honeymoon of your dreams. There’s no doubt that you are ready to kick back and relax with your new spouse. But how can you best capture the memories from your honeymoon?

No matter what budget wedding photography decisions you made, you will most likely be on your own to take your honeymoon photos. Even though professional wedding planners don’t recommend a DIY approach for wedding photography, it is unlikely that you will have a professional photographer at your fingertips on your honeymoon.

Here are 5 tips for taking beautiful pictures on your budget honeymoon:

1. Request a digital camera on your budget wedding registry.

If you don’t already have a nice digital camera, it is a good investment or a good wedding gift to receive. You save money on film and developing costs, since you can take as many pictures as you wish but only develop your favorites. Many people don’t develop pictures at all – they just store their pictures digitally to enjoy in online photo albums, share on Facebook, or email to relatives.

2. Pack extra batteries.

If you are going out of the country or to a remote location for your budget honeymoon, you will want to be sure that you have extra batteries for your camera. If it is a camera with a rechargeable battery, you will want to make sure that you will have the ability to recharge the batteries. If you are out of the country, this means you may need to purchase a country-specific electrical adaptor.

3. Practice taking pictures ahead of time.

To avoid wasting your valuable honeymoon time trying to figure out a new electronic device, be sure to play around with your camera for a few weeks ahead of time to learn its features and be ready to point and shoot at the first beautiful sunset you come across without missing the sunset.

4. Don’t be afraid of taking multiple pictures of the same scene.

There is no cost for taking several pictures of the same thing on a digital camera. You can keep the best image and easily delete the rest off of your camera or your computer. If you are likely to take a high volume of photographs on your budget honeymoon, you may wish to consider purchasing an extra memory card for your camera in case you fill the first one up.

5. Put yourselves in the pictures.

Take turns taking pictures of the beautiful scenery, and make sure to include each other in the pictures. In years to come, chances are that you will be much more interested in how young you looked or how happy you looked on your honeymoon rather than what a particular beach or mountain looked like. Ask fellow tourists to take pictures of the two of you as a couple, and request that they take a few just in case.

Most importantly, don’t forget to have fun and enjoy your budget honeymoon. You can always buy a postcard with a beautiful sunset or a stunning view, but you can’t always enjoy the company of your new spouse on your honeymoon, since it will too quickly become a happy memory.

Photo Credit: Flickr (mikebaird)

While some couples in Hong Kong are taking budget weddings to another level by tying the knot in McDonald’s, most Chinese couples spend extraordinary amounts on their weddings, including in the latest trend of elaborate pre-wedding photo shoots. Several months before the big day, couples put together pre-enactments of the event, dressing up in rented bridal gowns and tuxes, renting out a church, and hiring a photographer to capture those crucial marriage moments. Such performances can cost up to $10,000, which falls on top of the more traditional wedding expenses. Many couples choose to document a variety of staged experiences that incorporate several costume changes, and some couples even travel to exotic locations for these photo shoots, adding to the cost. Brides and grooms are seeking to capture fantasies rather than candid moments, and because of that, few pictures are actually taken on the day of the wedding.

In the U.S., the emphasis is on the big day itself, and anyone organizing a budget wedding knows that photographs are a crucial part of capturing the magic. As you plan your own budget wedding, consider a few alternatives to the high cost of wedding photographers. Here are a few suggestions:

1) Ask a trustworthy or artsy friend to take photographs.

2) Find a package deal with a local photographer who would be willing to do both your engagement and wedding photos.

3) To supplement professional photographs, leave disposable cameras on your guests’ tables during the reception to add more candid shots to the mix.

4) If there are shots you want to make sure you have, plan them out before the wedding day, and let your bridesmaids, groomsmen, and family members know when and where you’ll need them. You’ll save your photographer’s time, thus saving money.

5) Ask recently married friends for their budget wedding tips. You want to be sure you have beautiful images of the day without spending an arm and a leg.

Photo Credit: Jakob Montrasio

My Trio Rings recently talked with Virginia-based wedding planner Lindsay Averette to find out how smart couples can spend their wedding dollars wisely while they are planning a wedding on a budget. Here are more of her insider tricks to saving on common wedding expenses.

Can you give any examples of ways that having a wedding planner can help cut wedding costs?

More often than not, a good wedding planner has established relationships with quality vendors. Because of this relationship and constant referral system, oftentimes vendors are willing to throw in an extra hour of services or give discounts on products to couples planning a wedding on a budget with a specific wedding planner.

Recent clients of mine had a specific price limit for budget wedding entertainment—including a DJ for their reception, as well as a ceremony musician.  The DJ that they fell in love with was in the top tier of professionals in our area and almost rounded out their entire entertainment budget. Because I had referred him on many different occasions, he threw in an extra hour of services to the couple for free AND, as he’s a booking agent too, he gave them a $100 discount on a harpist for their ceremony.

Do you have any other specific insider tips for couples who are looking to plan a lovely wedding at a low cost?

Aside from my previous major cost-cutting suggestion, slashing the guest list, the easiest way to plan a budget wedding in every vendor category is to cut costs by holding your wedding in the off season, and, even better—on a day other than Saturday! Many times business is slow for wedding vendors in less popular wedding months and are willing to give you a deal on their services in order to stay busy. However, if you’ve been dreaming of that outdoor, garden wedding on a Saturday in May, here are some other ways to save:

Flowers and Décor

Research the flowers that are in season during your wedding date and in your region of the country. If the flowers don’t have to be shipped, you save money! Lately, the trend is an earthy, organic look for floral design. Many florists are now utilizing bushes, trees, and flowers from local gardens. Take advantage of these local, homegrown goodies as a way to save money.

Oftentimes, post-holiday sales will strike and you can grab up some gorgeous vases, unscented candles, lanterns, and other non-floral décor for your budget wedding at a deep discount. Mix some non-floral centerpieces in and save money!

Food and Beverage

Don’t be fooled into thinking that buffets are cheaper than plated, served dinners—most of the time, they rival in price. The chef will often have to make a larger cushion of food in anticipation of Uncle Fred eating 4 plates at a buffet, versus only the one that’s served to him at a plated meal.

Serve only wine and beer, or wine, beer, and a signature cocktail. A full open bar is extremely expensive. If you are having an outside caterer handle the bar, check to see if you can provide your own alcohol for them. Oftentimes you can return all alcohol that’s unopened.

Cake

Sugar flowers and decorations are more expensive than non-edible décor. Also, if size doesn’t matter to you, opt for a smaller, simpler cake design and have a larger decorated sheet cake in the back to serve to guests.

Stationery

Skip the traditional inner envelope, ribbons, or paper folds. These invitations cost more to mail! If you’re planning a wedding on a budget, it is best to stick with a clean, single sheet invite.

Lindsay runs a wedding planning business called LK Events & Design in Richmond, Virginia. She has a few more budget wedding tips to share with cost-conscious couples in the coming weeks.

Photo Credit: Sugar Daze

There are many different ways to go about planning a wedding on a budget. Before you even get engaged, you should be certain that you are taking steps to start a life together on the right financial footing. I talked to wedding planner Lindsay Averette to find out more.

What are the best signs that a couple is ready to get engaged?

The easiest way to answer this question is with a question: are you ready to plan a wedding, or are you ready to plan a marriage? Often in preparation for an engagement or even in the actual wedding planning process, couples lose sight of what this monumental occasion really means. Would you be just as happy eloping as planning a huge affair with 200 of your closest friends and family? If the answer is yes, then you’re probably heading in the right direction.

It also probably helps if you’ve had the occasionally awkward but absolutely necessary conversation of finances. Let’s be real here: everything costs money. An engagement, wedding, and future cost money, and costs can escalate quicker than you think. If your financial priorities are parallel—with everything from home furnishings to future children’s college savings—you’re on the right path to getting hitched!

What do couples need to know about planning a wedding on a budget?

In a nutshell:
The guest list is a direct correlation to how much you’ll spend for the big day. Now I’m not telling you to dwindle your list of friends or go burn a bridge with that coworker of five years before you get engaged, but I am telling you that one of the best budget wedding tips is to be practical about who you invite.

In more detail:
With an engagement comes the overly excited Aunt Sally who will ask every question under the sun: “When’s the big day? Where will you have it? Who will you invite? I’ll send you my list—we can’t forget your great uncle’s best friend’s daughter, you know!” My advice to you is: prepare for the hot seat. Have a pow-wow with the people involved in the wedding, and I don’t mean just you and your fiancé. If Mom, Dad, or even Aunt Sally are helping pay for this affair, they are in on the action as well. This is a good chance to hash out wedding budget, as well as discuss ideas and expectations for the planning months ahead.

What are the most important budget wedding tips you share with couples?

It is critical that you make a list of priorities when planning a wedding. Would you rather have custom linens or an amazing photographer? Do you want your guests to eat, drink and be merry or must you have that one-of-a-kind designer gown? From your highest priority to the least important item on your wedding planning checklist, it’s vital to map out where you’ll spend your hard earned cash.

Once you’ve mapped out your budget, STICK TO IT. It is incredibly easy to let the excitement of planning a wedding reflect in your budget. Next thing you know, you’ve spent $400 on gorgeous matte satin linens, when your original plan was to stick with the linens included in your catering package.

Lindsay owns and operates LK Events & Design, a wedding and event planning company in Richmond, Virginia. Stay tuned for more insider tips from Lindsay in the coming weeks!

Earlier this month Google made the headlines yet again announcing Google Wedding.  This new service is aimed to help couples in planning a wedding on a budget even easier with their online tools. You can make good use of these tools by:

1. Creating a Free Wedding Website

Google Sites makes it easy to create a wedding website to share all of the important information about your big day with your guests. Choose from designer themes, upload engagement photos, and link to the reception site to create an all-inclusive resource for your wedding guests. Best of all, this service is free, so it is an unbeatable bargain for your budget wedding.

2. Designing Announcements

Google’s service Picnik allows couples to create designer engagement announcements, save the date cards, and more with a variety of beautiful themes and easy photo uploads. Choose to print your design from your home computer or order inexpensive prints online. Or, if you’re planning a wedding on a budget, you can even email your save the date cards to all of your family and friends for free.

3. Planning a Wedding on a Budget

Google Docs offers a variety of very useful templates for planning a budget wedding. Create seating charts, a guest list, an address book, a list of songs for the reception, an overall to-do list, and even a comprehensive estimated budget. Best of all, you can access these free tools from any computer with an Internet connection.

4. Sharing Your Wedding Memories

Google’s Picasa photo sharing site offers easy photo uploads and sharing. You can use it as a place to gather ideas for wedding dresses, cake designs, or flower arrangements in a private online album before the wedding. You can also use it to create public albums to share engagement photos or special wedding memories after the big day.

You and your fiancé compared online jewelry prices and picked out beautiful budget wedding rings to celebrate your life together. You may not be finished buying inexpensive wedding jewelry, though. Many couples choose to purchase jewelry for their wedding party that coordinates with their wedding theme and doubles as a thank-you gift. What should you look for?

1. Bridesmaid Jewelry

Many brides choose to purchase a matching necklace, a bracelet, or a pair of earrings for each of their bridesmaids. Some choose a set that includes all three. Popular selections include pearl necklaces or necklaces made with colored crystals. Bridesmaid jewelry ranges widely in cost depending on what you are looking for. It is possible to purchase inexpensive wedding jewelry for bridesmaids, especially if you choose carefully. For example, look for necklaces with a single pearl instead of a full string of pearls. Although you are looking for a bargain, be sure that you purchase high-quality jewelry made from silver or gold that won’t irritate sensitive skin.

2. Groomsmen Jewelry

Some grooms choose to purchase special matching cufflinks for themselves and each of their groomsmen instead of using the cufflinks provided by the tuxedo rental store. Some grooms choose neutral cufflinks, while others prefer to find cufflinks that coordinate with the color of the bridesmaid dresses. Like bridesmaid jewelry, cufflinks can be purchased for a wide range of prices on inexpensive wedding jewelry websites, at brick and mortar jewelry stores, and at many department stores. Some grooms also purchase commemorative cufflinks for their father and father-in-law. If your wedding is less formal and doesn’t include tuxedos, consider giving matching silk ties instead of cufflinks.

3. Mother of the Bride or Mother-In-Law Jewelry

If you have enough money left in your wedding jewelry budget after purchasing budget wedding rings and inexpensive wedding jewelry for your bridal party, it might be nice to think about Mom. Some couples choose to honor their mothers with a special bouquet or with a special piece of wedding jewelry as a thank you for all of their love and care over the years. Necklaces are a popular choice, and they can even coordinate with the bridesmaid jewelry if you desire. Some stores may have upcoming Valentine’s Day sales that would give you additional savings on your jewelry purchase.

Where would you recommend buying inexpensive wedding jewelry?

Photo Credit: Mercury Jane

When shopping for gold and diamond wedding bands, there is no limit to how much money you can spend. It can be easy to get pulled into the trap of spending more than you can afford on beautiful wedding jewelry, especially in a store with pushy salespeople. In order to spend wisely, decide on a specific budget for wedding ring sets before you walk into a store or start looking around online, and shop around to find the best deal on quality jewelry within your price range.

Let’s say for the sake of comparison that you decide you can spend a maximum of $400 on a wedding ring set. Here is what you can purchase at some of the most popular online jewelry stores.

	1. Bluenile.com At Bluenile.com, you can design your own ring. The cheapest possible engagement ring that you can create is a 1/4 carat diamond solitaire ring set in 18K gold. This one ring alone will cost you $660, which is far out of your budget for a trio wedding ring set.
	2. Ice.com At Ice.com, you can purchase a 1/4 carat diamond solitaire ring with a 14K gold setting for $495. This ring does not fall under your budget and it only includes one ring instead of the engagement ring, women’s wedding band, and men’s wedding band you hope to purchase for less than $400 total.
	3. Zales.com At Zales.com, you can find a small collection of trio wedding ring sets.  Their lowest priced trio wedding ring set is a 1/3 ct tw 10 K White Gold Trio Ring Set runs $871.  This set is probably double the budget because of the "brand name" that Zales carries.
	4. Mytriorings.com On a $400 budget for a set of gold and diamond wedding bands, your best bet is Mytriorings.com, where you can purchase a 1/4 carat diamond trio set with 10K white gold for only $379. This affordable price is well within your $400 budget, and it includes not only an engagement ring, but also a men’s wedding band and a women’s wedding band as well. My Trio Rings can offer better prices on high quality wedding jewelry because they craft rings using small diamond clusters rather than solitaire diamonds, which makes a bigger impact at a lower price. You even have $21 left over to purchase a bottle of champagne to celebrate your engagement.

Weddings can be incredibly expensive. Some couples are lucky to have family members that want to help out, but for other couples, it does not make sense to spend a lot of money on an extravagant wedding just before starting their lives together. Many couples would prefer to save money for a relaxing honeymoon or a down payment on a house. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a lovely wedding on a smaller budget. From searching for discount wedding ring sets online to cutting down on food costs, saving money is easy to do with a little planning. Here are a few budget wedding tips to help you save money while still celebrating in style.

1. The Rings

Wedding and engagement rings can be expensive. Save money on your rings by shopping for discount wedding ring sets (which include a matching ladies engagement ring, woman’s wedding band, and man’s wedding band) online instead of looking in more pricey brick-and-mortar shops. Consider purchasing a diamond cluster ring instead of a diamond solitaire ring to save even more money.

2. The Dress

To get the best possible deal on a wedding dress, avoid expensive bridal boutiques. Instead, shop for your wedding dress at a big bridal store. You can often save a couple hundred dollars or more if you choose to buy an almost-perfect dress off the rack at a bridal chain and pay to have it altered or even alter it yourself. Start the search several months before the wedding so that you can avoid paying extra for a fast turnaround. If you are having a less formal wedding, look for white prom dresses at your local department store. And don’t forget to ask other brides for budget wedding tips in your area.

3. The Venue

Rather than paying for two separate venues and worrying about needing transportation between the two, choose a location for your wedding that can also accommodate your reception. Look for churches with large fellowship halls or state parks with indoor lodges or outdoor picnic areas. Many times, renting one multi-purpose venue can save money on facility rental fees as well as fees for things such as setting up the space with chairs and tables. And if you have friends who are willing to drag chairs around on the big day, you may be able to save even more.

4. The Food

Ask your caterer to give you specific budget wedding tips that they may have. In general, it will probably cost less money per person to serve a buffet rather than a sit-down dinner. Meatless dishes usually cost less than expensive cuts of meat or fish. Don’t forget to think about the expense of alcohol as well. Instead of offering an open bar, think about paying for a champagne toast and then offering a cash bar for guests who wish to drink more than that. And instead of purchasing a designer wedding cake, consider having a friend who is skilled in the kitchen make a cake or even create more original wedding cupcakes.

Photo Credit: Video4net

If you're planning a wedding, you know that your expenses, from flowers to catering, add up quickly. Fortunately, with a little creativity you can have a classy wedding without breaking the bank. Here are three budget wedding sites that will guide you along the way. With suggestions like printing your own invitations or buying wedding ring sets instead of individual rings, these sites are well worth a look.

1. Best Wedding Budget Ideas

The author of the Best Wedding Budget Ideas site says that she created it after helping her daughter plan an elegant but inexpensive wedding. She offers advice such as borrowing wedding planning books from the library and reading the bridal magazines there, and buying a special occasion dress -- such as a bridesmaid or Prom dress -- rather than a wedding dress.

2. Dream Weddings on a Budget

This colorful website showcases creative examples of ways you can save money on your wedding. It suggests places to buy wedding ring sets and other inexpensive jewelry, and it features real-life couples with unique wedding ideas.

Among the most helpful elements of this budget wedding site are its how-to articles, which include how to make your own wedding bouquet and how to do your own hair. It also suggests personalized but simple gifts for your wedding party.

3. Real Simple

Real Simple is a magazine dedicated to making daily life easier. It also has one of the best looking and most helpful budget wedding sites. Money-saving tips include scheduling your wedding during off-season, and on a day other than Saturday.

The site also features topic-specific checklists to ensure that you don't miss any crucial details. For example, The Ultimate Wedding Planning Checklist walks you through the wedding planning process, from a year before the wedding to the week of.

If you find yourself wondering how you'll ever pay for your wedding, rest assured that there are hundreds of tips and tools online to help you. For starters, check out The Best Free Wedding Budget Tool on TheKnot.com.

What are your favorite budget wedding sites? Leave a comment!

It's easy to go over your planned wedding budget without even knowing it.  It's one thing going over on your grocery budget, but its completely different going over your wedding budget.  An average American wedding costs roughly $27,000, so going over budget even by a little can incur quite a debt. We frequently hear stories from brides who have spent many months planning for their wedding and then realize at the last minute that they don't have enough money to pull off what they planned.  You don't have to let this happen to you!  There are plenty of free budgeting calculators out there that will help you plan out and track all the expenses you will need to incur for your wedding.

After searching the internet and talking to some of our brides, we found that The Knot has developed the best wedding budget tool. This free tool will let you plan out your entire budget based on the number of guests, location, purchases etc.  It can be completely customized to your wedding and will let you make sure you aren't going over budget, as well as making sure that you haven't forgotten to plan any part of your wedding.  There’s also a payment tracker to help you stay up-to-date on items that require deposits and multiple payments.

If any of you are already using the tool for your wedding, please share your experience with the rest of us.  We would love to hear whether you have positive or negative experiences.