People frequently complain about being engaged forever because they don’t have the money to get married. Not only is this misleading, it is far from the truth because it is really easy to get married very cheaply. In fact, you can get married at the courthouse and not pay very much money at all! On the other hand if a reception is important to you and you would like to celebrate your wedding with family and friends it will take a few more dollars to have one. For as little as a thousand dollars you can have the wedding you have always dreamed of. Sure, you might not have the bridal jewelry made of diamonds and platinum. You can have a wonderful wedding that you will always remember and you won’t need expensive limousines to do it.

Let’s start off saving money by getting a bargain on a dress and pay less than $100. There are many bridal shops that sell off the rack wedding gowns for as little as $99. Shop around and find a dress you love. Remember, too, that your bridal jewelry will make your dress even more beautiful and special. If possible, shop for dresses with your bridal jewelry so you can get the full effect.

The next way to save money is to buy plain, gold bands for the bride and groom. Bridal jewelry that is simple can be affordable. You can buy both bridal jewelry bands for as little as $250 and sometimes less if you shop around. You can add more extravagant bands later on when you have more money. You can always give bridal jewelry as a gift for a special occasion like an anniversary.

Find a photography student willing to shoot your wedding for $100. Many will be delighted at the opportunity to make a little money and practice their craft. The priest or pastor will also cost around $100. You will need to serve refreshments of some sort and the easiest way to save money here is to have family members and friends each bring something. You can ask for menu items to get what you want and many people will be willing to help you find ways to save money. You may want to buy a wedding cake and if you choose a simple one from a bakery it will cost around $100.

If you get married on your own property, that will be free. A church can be very low cost-sometimes as little as one hundred dollars and if you are a member sometimes nothing for members. So, if you are a member of a church get married there!

Flowers add a tremendous value to the wedding. Believe it or not but you can buy some beautiful flowers at your local super center and then arrange them yourself. Less than one hundred dollars will be enough to buy the flowers for a lovely wedding. Have family or friends contribute green leaves or other green plant cuttings.

Even after buying everything so far you will have only spent about 75 percent of your budget. Take the rest and brainstorm on choosing something else to add to make the day even more special-perhaps ballons or butterflies. Choose real invitations or take the free route and invite by email. Now that you can see how easy to have a nice wedding for a very low cost spend some time coming up with some more fun ways to spend the money.

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Most weddings cost far more than you would spend on a decent saloon car. It’s unthinkable that you would drive your brand new car without insurance cover, yet so many couples take a bigger financial risk by not insuring their wedding costs against the risk of total loss. By comparison to cars, house content, possessions, valuables, etc., wedding insurance costs very little for comprehensive cover. The relatively small premium for wedding insurance will give you peace of mind as you plan for your wedding.

Wedding insurance policies give a wide range of cover for many eventualities that could affect your wedding day. However, it is unlikely that small, irritating events would be included in the cover, such as rainfall, cloud, etc. but stronger weather forces that affect the wedding day almost certainly would, such as floods, landslides, earthquakes, etc. If adverse weather or other unpredicted events were to cause your wedding or reception venue to close or become inaccessible then your wedding insurance policy would provide a suitable level of cover. The same policy would cover unpredictable events with the wedding car supplier or the caterer or even if the bride or groom should sustain an accident which caused the wedding to be canceled for the planned date. A low premium insurance policy to cover all of the wedding day suppliers and events will compensate for those unexpected situations that can leave you seriously out of pocket.

Don’t Forget to Plan for Wedding Insurance Early

When you start to plan the wedding arrangements most couples wouldn’t consider including insurance as a part of their list – but you should! When you have set your wedding date and you start to book the suppliers for your wedding you are starting to make financial obligations for the big day – at that stage you should have your wedding insurance in places as well. This will give you a maximum period of cover for your insurance fee as well as adequate cover should anything go wrong in the period leading up to your wedding day that may leave you financially disadvantaged.

Wedding Insurance Policies

Most wedding insurance policies are similar, both in price and in the level of cover that they offer, but it’s still worth shopping around to find the cover that best suits you. The internet and insurance brokers are a great source of information for the levels of cover offered by different companies. A good policy will include cancellation (but unlikely that this would include a change of mind!), the wedding rings and other wedding jewelery, wedding dress, the Groom, Best man and bridesmaid’s outfits (if you are hiring formal attire, then check the insurance requirements), venue(s), caterer, transportation, florist, personal accident for the Bride and Groom if this affects your wedding plans, personal liability, wedding cake damage, photographer (including destruction of the wedding photographs), wedding gifts (ensure that cash and vouchers are included).

The insurance cover for your honeymoon should be arranged separately from the wedding insurance. Your honeymoon would normally be covered by travel insurance, generally arranged at the same time as making your travel arrangements. However, you may wish to consider that the travel insurance would not normally cover cancellation as a result of your wedding plans having been disrupted, so you may want to include cover for this with your wedding insurance policy or take out separate cover for this specific risk.

Peace of Mind for Your Wedding Day

Planning and organizing your wedding can be a very enjoyable experience, leading up to one of the most exciting and important days of your life. No one expects things to go wrong, and they rarely do, but you should have the reassurance of wedding insurance to give yourself peace of mind over any unexpected or unpredictable events that could disrupt your wedding day. When you start to plan your wedding day and book the suppliers, take out your wedding insurance policy at the same time. This gives the maximum period of cover and means you can concentrate on your wedding whilst you have the reassurance that the whole event is covered by your wedding insurance policy. Enjoy planning for the big day and your wedding day itself – congratulations, it’s one of the most enjoyable days of your life.

Article by Steve Shaw, of wedding services and information. The website offers advice and information on organizing and arranging your wedding.

Photo by lemonjenny

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Just as with any big show, your wedding day will not be perfect – but that’s okay. While you cannot plan ahead for every little detail or problematic situation that may arise, you can arm yourself with some helpful advice to be prepared at all times for any potential wedding mistakes. But before you begin planning your special day, consider these five biggest wedding preparation and planning mistakes that amateur ‘wedding planners’ often make.

1. Not Budgeting Costs

It’s hard to believe, but true – many couples do not create a budget when it comes to wedding preparation and end up in a deep hole of debt. The very first thing you should do to avoid disastrous (and bankrupting) wedding mistakes is devise an itemized budget, allowing for the necessary requirements, such as a venue for both the ceremony and reception, food and drinks, flowers, favors, decorations, etc. If anything is left over, either use this money for your honeymoon or spend it on something a little more frivolous, like a horse drawn carriage for your departure from the reception.

Budgeting ahead of time also involves your acknowledging the fact that you may surpass the total by at least 10%. Surprises do happen, so cutting back on other needless things will ensure that you don’t go over budget too much. In these initial wedding preparation stages, you and your fiancé need to discuss who will be paying for what. It used to be that the bride’s parents paid for everything, but this ideal is slowly fading away. If you’re still coming up short on funds, there are literally hundreds of ways to cut costs for your wedding day, including having fewer guests, choosing an off-season date, selecting flowers that are in season, and having friends and family play a bigger part by making the wedding cake or trying their hand at photography.

2. Not Giving Yourself Enough Time

The image of the harried bride has been engrained into the psyche through a number of television shows that hype up the combination of little to no time and a ‘my way or the highway’ attitude. This is why giving yourself ample wedding preparation time is necessary to ensuring that your wedding flows seamlessly. If you want a large, extravagant wedding, you need to begin planning at least a year and a half in advance; for a smaller, more intimate wedding of about 50 guests, eight months to a year is fine. You need to take into account what your plans are for your wedding and adjust your schedule accordingly to prevent costly wedding mistakes from occurring.

Giving yourself more wedding preparation time allows you to order your cake, dress, wedding favors, flowers, decorations, etc. well in advance so that you don’t come up empty-handed from last minute rushing. Allotting enough time also applies to your wedding ceremony and reception. Don’t keep your guests waiting at the reception venue while you and your wedding party are taking hundreds of photos – consider taking a majority of the pictures before the ceremony and the all-important couple, wedding party, and family pictures after the vows have been exchanged.

3. Not Delegating Responsibilities

Delegating responsibilities, wedding preparation tasks, and roles is vital – you cannot do everything! For brides, their bridesmaids are there to help them with the important duties of the wedding day, so creating a short list of responsibilities for each friend is not unexpected. Mothers, family members, and friends are also glad to help run a few errands or make calls for you if you ask. Just make sure you ask someone you know will get the job done on time.

Part of the wedding experience also relies on a number of people who require detailed wedding preparation directives from you, such as the caterer, photographer, florist, transportation and/or drivers, and DJ. Discussing your ideas with them ensures that you can work together on the same wavelength and avoid embarrassing wedding mistakes during the actual reception. You should also arrange for the wedding party to meet at the church or the wedding ceremony location at a specified time. Corralling so many people at the same time is what leads many couples to pick up the wedding party members at their homes. Late arriving wedding party members is one of the most frequent and sometimes uncontrollable wedding mistakes a bride and groom have to deal with.

4. Not Hiring a Wedding Planner or Someone You Trust

Many brides swear by their wedding planners, and yes, it’s true that they take care of just about everything involved in wedding preparation and planning, preventing a number of the more common wedding mistakes brides make. It’s kind of like you and your fiancé are the stars, while the wedding planner works behind the scenes for your big performance, seeing everything from start to finish. Wedding planners know all the ins and outs of great wedding preparation and planning and can help the couple find reliable caterers, bridal attire and supply stores, transportation, and DJs at lower prices. Before signing any contracts, however, talk with the wedding planner to see if it’s a situation you’re happy with.

While incredibly helpful, wedding planners can also be pricey, unfortunate for the bride who is trying to cut costs. This scenario goes back to delegating responsibilities – ask someone you trust to help you make wedding preparation arrangements and appointments with each wedding supply store and/or vendor. You can even scale back operations and have a simplistic wedding that you plan or DIY completely to save money.

5. Not Fully Considering the Reception Venue and Details

Sending your guests on a wild goose chase to find the reception venue is something that happens more often than you’d think and is one of the biggest wedding mistakes couples overlook. For out-of-town guests, this is confusing; for in-town guests, it’s an annoyance. Choosing a reception venue that’s close to the wedding site is a must, unless you provide the transportation to and from the reception. More than 15 – 20 minutes away is a hassle, and some guests may not even bother going if it’s farther than that.

Otherwise, if your reception venue is outside (or exposed to the elements), rain and windy conditions may appear so you should always have a back up in cases of inclement weather. A rained out wedding reception is one of the more common wedding mistakes brides have neglected to plan for. Part of the wedding preparation necessities should also include your requesting the venue’s landscaper to spray for bugs so your guests aren’t being bitten by mosquitoes and gnats.

Learn to Laugh Off Those Wedding Mistakes

Pre-wedding preparation, while helpful, will inevitably miss some little detail of your big day. These wedding mistakes (or, more likely, minor ‘blips’) are to be expected and may even provide a funny moment for you and your fiancé to laugh about in the future. Wedding mistakes do and will happen, but you shouldn’t be bothered by them. Simply go on with the show and smile – no one will know the difference!

Cherie Johnson is the founder and owner of Creative Bride, a one-stop shop for personalized, unique baby and bridal shower and wedding favors, helping couples. Cherie’s wedding advice has appeared on several websites including Little Wedding Guide, Wedding Lenox, and The Wedding Source. For more information on Creative Bride, please visit http://www.Creative-Bride.com.

Photo by audioeric & by saikofish

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