WEDDING “PLANNER”…What did you say?

A word of advice…DO NOT hire a wedding planner!!! Can you have a beautiful wedding without a wedding planner? Of COURSE, you can. You can do it all by yourself! You are in charge; in control of everything at your dream wedding. You don’t have to hire someone that you don’t know to do it for you. You can do it. Plus wedding planners may steer you in the expensive direction because they get kickbacks for certain things, like booking a hall for you. You don’t need someone that doesn’t know you personally; you have your own best interest at heart. I say you go for it and plan your dream wedding. Everyone is capable and smart enough to plan their fantasy wedding. So what are you waiting for? I’m sure that your fiancé will support your decision some way or the other….

Engagement Party Tip…

Believe Jin and I…we didn’t forget about the engagement party! But we want to keep it smart. More energy and time should be spent on the wedding ceremony and reception. Therefore, we have a few suggestions about the engagement party.

First of all, instead of having it in a hall, have it at home or at a family member’s house. You can invite everyone and you don’t have to pay for the space. Also, instead of catering food, you can ask you friends and family members to make dishes for the engagement party. A family member can make the cake as well. Thirdly, you don’t need a DJ; you can use your stereo and play CDs on that. This will save you a few hundred buckaroos! Last but not least, this can be a perfect opportunity for something else….an announcement about your WEDDING! This can be an informal announcement and will let everyone know when the wedding is.

$electing your Perfect Month

Did you know that getting married during off-season can save you $$$? During my research, they said January, February, and March are the least popular months and June, July, August are pretty popular. If you don't mind a chilly wedding, it could save you some bucks...

Also getting married on Sunday versus Saturday is also cheaper... but Dev and I are both from Catholic families and we are more than likely to get married on a Saturday...

LIQUOR $AVING$

What about the thing that everyone loves at a wedding besides you and the groom…LIQUOR! If you choose to have your wedding at a reception hall, the cost of liquor is very expensive. So here’s a thought! How about speak to owner of the hall and get the breakdown of how much the liquor will cost for the night. Then you do your own math. You find out the price of liquor at a discount retailer. Calculate the price and match them apples to apples. If it is coming out cheaper with you buying the liquor yourself, by all means…Buy it yourself! You have a choice to opt out of the hall serving the liquor. You can purchase your own. Also, you can ask someone that you know to serve the liquor instead of an employee at the hall. In this way, you don’t have to pay extra for the staff member that will serve the liquor, and just maybe a friend will do it for free at the wedding.

Wedding Cake $aving$

If you haven’t checked out a catering bakery that make wedding cake as yet, your eyes will surely pop out its socket after seeing the prices of the cakes. We have a good idea! I know that someone in everyone’s family can bake and decorate a cake. You can pick out the design and buy all of the ingredients. That will save you plenty! Also, if you love to bake…this is your chance to shine. You can have fun and bake your own cake and feel proud of it! You can custom it as you like. Or if a family member or a friend bakes, they can make a cake for you free of charge. They can consider this as their wedding gift for you. Everyone is happy then. You saved money on the cake and the person is able to give you a memorable gift.

Another key advice is….instead of buying expensive ornaments and special tops to put on the top of the cake, decorate it with a few wild flowers. It will save you some money. Remember every dollar counts. Plus, the cake will look beautiful and unique at the same time.

Don’t PANIC Ladies!!!!

The secret to having a wedding on a budget is to stay on top of things. In other words, stay organized! If you leave this to the men…everything may go haywire! I’m sure you don’t want this to happen on your special day. Therefore, you can buy a planner of some sort from any store; these are relatively cheap. It will go a long way. You can keep track of payment dates, delivery dates, etc. If you don’t write down everything, there is a lot to remember. Trust us! Its better to have everything laid out so that you don’t have to play a guessing game. Remember this is your wedding, you are in control!