With wedding season nearly upon us, today’s blog posting is courtesy of Bravo Bride, an awesome website where you can buy and sell gently used wedding, prom and special-occasion attire. I first heard about Bravo Bride on Twitter, and now I’m bringing you some budget bride tips to help you plan a cost-effective and frugal wedding.
1. Wedding Attire

• Most of the big bridal shops have huge sales once a year, which are typically held at hotels or other venues like wedding shows. Look in your local paper or ask a wedding planner to find out what time of the year the sales are held.
• Think about looking in unconventional places to buy bridesmaids gowns.  Go shopping for them during prom season and after New Year’s Eve at department stores or online.  A bridesmaid’s gown doesn’t have to come from a bridal shop.
• Many menswear shops will let your groom rent his tuxedo for free or provide a discount if his groomsmen rent their tuxes there.

2. Invitations

• Save postage and additional paper cost on your wedding invitations by forgoing the inner envelope reply card and asking guests to reply online or by the telephone.
• Avoid oversized or bulky invitations since this greatly increases your postage costs. (Also remember that postage is going up in May.)
• Skip ordering the reception cards, and have the reception information printed on the bottom of the invitation instead.
• Don’t pay extra for your invitations to arrive assembled. Rather, buy a few bottles of wine, gather friends and have an invitation assembly party! Just don’t spill the wine on your invitations by accident.

3. Flowers

• Having flowers flown in will raise your costs so only use in-season and readily available flowers.
• To get the best prices, order your flowers from an online wholesaler.  Keep in mind, however, that you will be responsible for all of the preparation, trimming and storing them, as well as arranging the flowers the day of the wedding.

4. Wedding Cake

• Buy a smaller decorated cake for wedding photos, and have a plain sheet cake in the kitchen to serve guests. On average, 20% of guests don’t eat wedding cake.
• Choosing butter cream or cream cheese frosting instead of expensive fondant is another way to save money on your cake.

5. Reception & Ceremony

• Talk to your favorite restaurant to see how much it would cost to rent a private room or even the whole place. This is an option that works best during non-peak hours, as the restaurant might not want to lose their busy weekend crowd.
• Avoid planning your event during typically busy times like June or around Valentine’s Day. During the “off season”, many places will work with you on the price.
• Earn frequent flyer miles for your honeymoon by paying wedding costs with a credit card. Just make sure to pay the balance in full each month to avoid interest charges.
• Find one location for your ceremony and reception to avoid having to provide transportation between venues.
• Skip the champagne and let guests toast with what they are already drinking.
• Reduce the length of your reception, and don’t announce a last call for drinks. This could cause a rush on the bar, which if you’re paying for an open bar, can increase your alcohol bill significantly.
• Book in advance since last minute bookings are usually more expensive due to the extra work involved to coordinate everything.
• Hire a student quartet to play during your ceremony or cocktail hour. Check with local colleges and universities to see if a professor can recommend a group you can use.
• For inexpensive wedding favors, bake cookies or make your own sachets filled with Jordan almonds.
• Use an online budget tracker to keep your wedding finances in order and help control overspending.

And remember, for more ideas on how to plan a wedding on a budget, there’s always my book Tie the Knot on a Shoestring.