Wedding expenses add up quickly. Fortunately, there are lots of tips that can be followed to assist in reducing the cost of a wedding. Here are five little known tips that will save you money on wedding expenses. Even if the bride and groom only use one of these tips, they will save on the cost of the wedding. However, if they are able to use two or more of the following tips, they stand to save quite a bit of money on their wedding expenses.
Select a Florist Near the Main Drop Off
Since florists frequently charge for delivery, it is essential to select a florist near the location where the flowers will be delivered. The delivery fee is often based upon the distance from the florist’s shop to the first drop off point. Therefore, the closer that your florist is to the drop off point, the smaller the delivery fee is.
Unless all of the flowers are going to be delivered to the same location, you will typically need to pay additional charges. This is especially true if you need to have flowers delivered at the reception hall as well as the bride’s home and the church. Therefore, try to make arrangements to have all of the flowers dropped off at the primary location and make arrangements for someone else related to the bridal party to complete any further drop offs for the flowers
Insist on Children’s Prices at the Reception
Most banquet halls and catering services will include the cost of the alcohol served to wedding guests in the cost of the meal. Therefore, it is important to insist upon a children’s menu in order to save money. A children’s menu usually includes chicken fingers and French fries or spaghetti and meatballs. However, most caterers are flexible on the exact type of meal that is offered. The cost for such a meal is usually 25^ of the cost of an adult meal. If the affair is a buffet, the price of the child’s meal is simply reduced and the meal itself usually remains the same as the buffet.
Additionally, the bride and groom should insist on an under-18 price for those who will order from the adult menu but who will not be legally permitted to drink alcohol. Typically, banquet halls and catering services will cut the per-guest cost in half for those guests who are not going to be served alcohol.
Cluster the Events
It is important to think about the consequences of scattering the wed ding day events around the city or even in more than one city. Transportation costs are going to add up if the wedding couple has decided on a limousine or trolley to transport the bride and groom and/or bridal party. Typically, each of these services charges by the hour unless you are renting the service from a company that offers a daily rate. Even so, daily rates are usually cut off after a certain number of hours.
If you schedule the events within close proximity of each other, you will be able to save on transportation costs. All too often this point is overlooked until everything has been scheduled and it is too late to reconsider. Therefore, it is important to schedule the events as close together as possible in miles in order to save on travel time.
There are several locations that are going to enter the picture starting with the bride’s whereabouts. Additionally, the location of the wedding ceremony, the place where photographs are being taken, and the location of the reception are all going to come into play. Additionally, you might want to consider the final drop off point of the bride and groom as well.
Typically, you cannot ask the transportation service to go away during the reception and come back later. Most services require you to hire the service for the entire time. Therefore, you should cluster the events as close together in time as possible.
Additionally, if the flowers are to be delivered at more than one location, limiting the distance will keep the additional fees affordable. This is also true if you need to pay for the travel time of your videographer and/or photographer.
Forego Hiring Musicians and Singers
Although you might have to receive special permission from the church, synagogue, etc not to use the organist, singers, musicians provided by them, you should consider the possibility of doing so. Instead, you can ask a close friend of the family to sing or play for you at the wedding ceremony.
If you invite a family member or close friend to sing at the wedding or perform as a musician, you can suggest to them that this performance will be their wedding gift to you. Obviously, it is a wedding gift that could save you quite a bit of money. Plus, making arrangements such as this will help to create a more memorable occasion for the bride and groom.
Ribbons and Material for Bouquets
Since most wedding gowns and bridesmaid’s dresses need to be hemmed during alterations, quite a bit of material is trimmed from the gowns. This material can be used to create the bows for the bridal bouquet and/or the bridesmaid’s bouquets. It is important to ask the seamstress ahead of time so that she trims the excess fabric as a usable piece of cloth. Moreover, you should pick this material up at the first fitting after the alterations have begun.
Most florists are flexible and willing to work with the bride on a project of this nature. Typically, it does cost less than using satin or silk provided by the florist even if the bride has to pay a small fee for the work that is done.
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