8 Tips For Hosting A $20,000 Wedding For Much Less

Summer: the time of year where love fills the air and wedding invitations flood your mailbox. Typically the invitations portray the theme of the wedding and inform the invitee when and where the wedding will take place.  Over the past couple months, I’ve been getting a ton of invites in the mail seeing how I’m at that age where everyone seems to be getting married (except me, but that’s another topic all together).

Anyway, if you haven’t heard, the average cost of a wedding these days’ is about $24,000. When you consider most people getting married are around 26 and that bill doesn’t include the rings or the honeymoon – the fact is that weddings are freakin’ expensive. In most cases, the couples getting married have just finished paying off their college debt and saving for their new home. Sure, some families help take care of a wedding. But there are definitely ways to host a $20,000 for less… much less.

Below are 8 money saving tips to help alleviate the expense of a wedding.

Tip #1. Off season weddings are much more affordable than a typical summer wedding. Also, it would also help to cut costs if it were scheduled on a Friday or Sunday. Depending on the time of the year, certain places may be decorated in advanced which can also encourage savings.

Tip #2. The average guest list is 178 family and friends long. This is possibly where you can end up saving most of your money considering everything – outside of the ceremony – is dependent on the head count. If possible, limit your guest list to 125-150. A good rule of thumb here: don’t invite more guests then you can spend at least a minute of your time with.

Tip #3. It is important to capture the memories created during your special day with photos, but getting professional photos could be cheaper than you think. Find a family member with some photography experience, a friend that you graduated with that majored in photography, or a cheap freelancer. Chances are they are willing to donate their services as a wedding gift or for much cheaper than a professional.

Tip #4. Food is probably going to end up costing the most out of all the wedding expenses.  You may want to consider a buffet style meal instead of a sit down meal.  It may also be feasible to have the caterers drop off the prepared food and set it all up and then leave.  Or, if you’re really ambitious, do the catering yourself.

Tip #5. Wedding announcements and invitations can be found for FREE! There are a ton of services on the web that provide free personalized announcements which can be printed from your home computer. Use some theme colored ribbon to spruce up the look and feel of the card.

Tip #6. From my experience, I know how you ladies like to browse dresses in magazines and try on dresses at bridal shops like Alfred Angelo. The dress is always a pricey piece of weddings, but if you’re not afraid to wear last season’s fashions, hundreds of dollars can be saved by going with an older style dress.

Tip #7. Some marriages find it a must to have a live band at their wedding. Others may suffice with a DJ.  Good live bands can cost as much as $2,000 or more.  Instead, find a musically inclined friend that will do it for cheap or even free as a gift.  If you really want to go cheap, find a play list online and download the songs to your iPod and use an amplifier to play it. I’ve seen this done at many weddings recently and found it to be just as effective as a DJ.

Tip #8. Certain beverages at the wedding can be extremely costly. Instead of hosting an open bar, have a beer wagon and a wine bar. If your families aren’t big drinkers only have a glass of champagne for the toast or just cut it out altogether.

Beat The Heat – Summer Wedding Weather Survival

Summer weddings are popular for a number of reasons:  the brilliant sunshine, the ready abundance of flowers and plants, and the overall sense of energy and vibrant life that comes with the season.  These sunny celebrations of love and eternity do present a seemingly inescapable fact of nature: the heat.   Not to be dissuaded; however, countless couples choose to tie the knot outdoors during the summer.

flamehead by Cayusa

Fear not!  Surviving the sweltering temperatures is easily accomplished for both the guests and the bride and groom.  Here are a few simple tips for keeping your cool:

1. If you’re invited to a summer fete, choose a light-colored outfit (avoiding white, of course).  The light colors will help reflect the sun’s rays and keep you cooler than dark colors.  Also, if you wear a dress, avoid long skirts.  Knee length or mid calf skirt will allow for the movement of air without smothering your legs.
2. If you have long hair (bride or guest), wearing your hair up will work wonders to keep your neck and shoulders cool and pleasantly un-sweaty.
3. Stay hydrated.  One of the number one dangers during any summertime celebration is dehydration.  Keep cool beverages on hand.  This can be especially important for the bride and groom, as she is likely to be weigh down under layers of a heavy wedding gown, while he’ll be sporting a fetching (but also heavy) tuxedo.
4. Try to stay in the shade.  Avoiding the direct sunlight can help keep you cool as well as avoiding sunburn.  Sunscreen is a must for outdoor ceremonies.  No one wants a blistering sunburn as their thank-you note for attending.

jasmined - sweaty guy photo

So don’t dread the long ceremony in the sun.  With proper planning and a little common sense, disaster can be avoided and you can cut loose and celebrate with the proper enthusiasm, without worrying about the heat.

Spring and Summer Wedding Favors are Hot Hot Hot

2010 Spring and Summer Wedding Favors Celebrate the Balm-y Weather

Here we are, right in the middle of wedding season! If you’re getting married in the next few months, here’s your chance to see several (but not all!) of the newly launched spring and summer wedding favors (and bridal shower favors!) from top-tier wedding favor designer Kate Aspen.

Let’s start with lip balms and favor boxes. Yes, lip balms are much-appreciated bridal shower and wedding favors, because the sun that warms our days also brings us dry, cracked lips. Lip balm favors have been around for a while but, this year, Kate Aspen ups the ante with two styles and dozens upon dozens of personalization options!

“Sweet Kisses” Lip Balm Container                                           “Love & Kisses” Lip Balm StickKate Aspen’s new “Make It Yours” favor box collection and Icon favor boxes are definitely taking the art of favor box design to a higher level.  The top three are from the personalized “make it yours” collection and the next three are Icon boxes!

The Icon favor boxes below are “With This Ring,” “Express Your Love,” and “For the Love Birds!”

If your passion is butterflies or beautiful birds, Kate has something for you, too. First, the butterflies—one of spring and summer’s most welcome ambassadors!

Did you notice the delicate, silver-finish butterfly charm on the “Spring Elegance” Laser-Cut Butterfly favor boxes on the right? Touches like that and the gift-ready creative packaging of hundreds of their favors—not to mention affordability—have  set Kate Aspen’s favors apart for years!  But don’t take it from me. I’ll let these next favors tweet for themselves—they’re salt and pepper shakers, a bronze-finish metal nest tea light holder and a sweet songbird taking a bath in a place card holder!

I’ve saved something fabulous for my big finish. I’ll admit there’s nothing new about drink mixes—coffee, tea, lemonade, hot chocolate, etc. –have been around for a while. What spices up Kate Aspen’s new drink mixes—and your reception tables—is the sensational, eye-catching, colorful gift presentation!

Check out “Main Squeeze” Lemonade Mix, “Razzle Dazzle” Raspberry Iced Tea Mix and “Mix & Mingle” Key Lime Margarita Mix!

Thirsty for more? Kate Aspen wedding favors and bridal shower favors are featured on Kate Aspen’s “preferred vendor online favor sites” like My Wedding Favors and others. Remember—they’re called favors because they do something special for someone. They thank your guests for celebrating the most amazing day of your life—and that deserves something special!

Susan Hawkins is senior copywriter and a blogger for My Wedding Favors, a leading online retailer of top-tier wedding favors, bridal shower favors and wedding accessories.