Affordable Wedding plan

Wedding is becoming a costly affair every passing day. While many blame it on the rising gas (food as well) prices, fact remains that wedding vendors are moving together with these skyrocketing cost structures. However, with a little bit of insight, things can fit even a small-sized wallet.

Wedding Cakes

• How to save on planning a wedding

You must learn to prioritize before making a wedding plan. Doing so shall transform an event to a ceremony and it’s those little details that shall make all the difference. Handled wrongly, those details can turn a wedding into a more expensive affair. Thus, prioritize with enough time.

Let’s start with the booking of the venue. A booking for a non-traditional day – though it shall make you wait a bit longer – shall allow you saving a decent amount of money; along with it shall come a few incentives from the vendor, which may well be a free champagne toast for the invited or even hors d’oeuvres and wedding cakes at a reduced price.

Next, it is the bridal party. The larger it is; the larger shall be the amount of gifts, bouquets and boutonnieres. That translates to more expense. Keeping a bridal party small shall help you to save a few extra dollars that you can use elsewhere.

But if you somehow find figuring out the cost-cutting methods tough, it shall be best for you to hire a wedding consultant. A lot of people back out from doing so thinking about their fees, but in practice, the fees amount to a fraction of all the savings you shall make unless you are hiring one from Hollywood. The secret here is – the wedding consultants use their professional discount slabs while fixing up the vendors.

floral wedding cake

• Tips for an affordable wedding

Given an extremely time consuming and difficult task, planning a wedding becomes easier if tips to save both time and money are available. A haphazardly planned wedding may well reach the $30,000 mark, but there are also better things that you can do with that amount as you start a new life. That reinforces the necessity of professional wedding planning tips; after all, a beautiful and memorable wedding for less can take you to new heights in the forthcoming days. A careful planning needs a little research on the practical side and can set a wedding budget enviable to all!

So start by putting everything in perspective. For your wedding day, you need certain things to stand out from the rest; that said, are the rings, the bridal gown, the photographs and/or the videos. Apart from the bridal gown, the rest shall be of forever; therefore, a wise option here shall be to rent the bridal gown and the tuxedo while you invest the saved amount for buying high-end rings and for hiring the best photo/videographers. That means, the cost of the wedding dresses are sufficient to get you your objects of desire without making you spend an extra dime.

This shall further take off the burden of making both ends meet in your wedding budget (a must!). Now that the number of guests determines the maximum expense, prepare a list of people with whom you shall really love to share day. Keeping out the not-so-close shall minimize the expenses to a substantial amount. A buffet or hors d’oeuvres turns out a lot cheaper than a proper banquet dinner so consider that as an option. A cash bar, or an alcohol-free reception shall allow you to cut the costs even more.

How to plan for Wedding DJ

If it’s a great honeymoon, then it must have had initiated at the reception. A philosophical thought, no doubt, but philosophy isn’t everyone’s cup. Perhaps this is why people leave more than half of the stones (read wedding disc jockeys) unturned while planning a wedding.

But fact remains that taking chances and celebrations are most of the times polar opposites. Perhaps this is another reason why people are not ready to take chances when it comes to planning for some entertainment in the wedding premises and simply avoid it. However, with a bit of careful planning, the right wedding DJs could fire up the passion in the ballroom.

Wedding Disc Jockey

So how do we define a good wedding disc jockey? Apart from him being the owner of the latest state-of-the-art equipment and a lot of musical sense, he needs to be an MC (Master of Ceremonies), a music programmer, a remix artist, a lighting designer and very much of a party enabler.

Let’s think you have found a few disc jockeys and now you want to select the one for the wedding. So how would you know who’s going to prove the best? For that, you need to put in a bit of legwork and mind-work. Firstly, you need to evaluate his performance, so see and hear each one of the disc jockeys LIVE. Apart from the music he plays, it shall be an open exhibition of the lighting, musical ideas and his capability to keep the crowd on its toes (read engaging an audience) through everything that’s verbal and non-verbal. However, you must also keep a check on whether he is playing the right music at the right time. Besides, he must also know when and how to pump up an entire crowd and when to shut up. Timing, that is, a party can’t happen properly if the required intervals are not granted to deal with lulls or slowdowns; for that, he also needs to be aware of the crowd’s emotional pulse.

Wedding Dj Thomas playing

• Wedding preparation and Wedding DJs

Thus, before you set your mind on whoever seems to be the best, keep one thing in mind:

Every reception is unique in its own sense; the only thing that remains common in this aspect is the extreme care required for the planning. A good wedding disc jockey shall know how to set the primary, important focal points or formalities, comprising the traditional elements of entrance, first dance and the cake cutting. These moments are when the crowd has a common point to focus its entire attention to. Thus, the wedding disc jockey must have appropriate catchy tunes ready to be played (if required, he must be able to create new ones real time) for introductions; toasts; greeting the guests and the first dance; besides, he must be able to make the party announcements spontaneously and not those written on a piece of paper.

Always remember that the right song energizes the wedding hall and the right DJ puts the energy into the music, which can be a request from a guest as well. So the wedding DJ must not fumble with his announcements and must keep them concise with a touch of personal notes and tasteful humor. Do it this way and you’re bound to earn the respect and appreciation of everyone you have invited.

Best Wedding Favors & Gifts

• What are wedding favors and gifts?

If you are the bride or the groom, it is your responsibility to buy the wedding gifts for the participants, something that shall remind them of your wedding even decades later. Thus, the gifts must exhibit a certain amount appreciation towards all the hard work the participants have done to make your wedding come true. The wedding favors are also meant to show the gratitude you have for them; therefore, a careful selection is must.

Nice Wedding Favors

The unwritten laws of wedding favors and gifts

You are certainly not going to gift your parents something that you’ll to your friends and buddies, so being selective is the only way out here. And above all, they need to be unique for each person, not expensive; that way, it shall be a one-way ticket to a lasting impression.

For the bride and the groom, it’s essential that the special gift is delivered from one to the other on the day of the wedding. For the bridesmaid and the groomsmen, it’s the maid of honor and the best man who should receive gifts that are more unique than what others receive. A nice way to do that is to gift them something of an equal value.

Now, it’s about the Flower Girl and the Ring Bearer. It’s the age of these people that matters the most, so a gift certificate is the safest option.

As for the wedding favors, they must deliver two messages loud and clear – a Thank You (for sharing your special day) and remember the day. While they must not exactly be extravagant gifts, but they should make the receivers realize how much they mean to the newly-wed couples. For the special individuals (e.g. grandparents, aunt or anyone whom you give credits for a certain something), a small token of appreciation is the best.

• How to find the best suitable gift

To choose the correct wedding favors and wedding gifts, try keeping them personal. That involves a lot of thoughts and therefore, is definitely not an eleventh-hour affair. Therefore, if you want to gift just a souvenir, the figurine of a dancing couple, or a candle on a holder bearing the wedding details shall do fine; even a plaque engraved with the couple’s names and related wedding details shall do fine. However, with technology entering every part of life, you may even consider a CD/DVD of the entire wedding well placed inside the plaque (now, it shall become a CD/DVD case). But if you want to gift something really useful, pens, desk clocks, notepads, paperweights or letter openers can serve beautifully.

But there are some who are either gluttons or are gifted (or cursed) with a sweet tooth. For them, chocolates and candies make the best of the gifts. These people like carrying home a piece of the wedding they have attended; however, if you really want to stun your guests with wedding favors and wedding gifts that are out of this world, you need to seek advices from professional wedding planners. They thrive on creativity and imagination, so selecting something as per your preferences is going to be more than a cakewalk that way.

Things to look for before hiring a Wedding Photographer

Overview

Planning a wedding? You must remember the choices are going to be as varied as the invited individuals (hell, you need to be choosy there as well) and an overwhelming experience could be the result. However, the only ray of hope arrives when it’s time to choose the right wedding photographer; luckily, it’s not as complicated as the rest of the things. You just need to follow a few simple steps.

You may proceed by asking all whom you know well if they can recommend a few wedding photographers; else, you may surf the Internet in search of wedding photography websites. Take particular attention for the feedback sections and then take note of whichever that creates an impression on you.

Next, you need to visualize the wedding photography you have in mind. Compare it with the portfolios presented online and see whether they comply to your mental imagery. If you find two or more wedding photographers being able to deliver what you want, it’s time to prepare the interview questionnaire.

Find wedding photographers

Basic questions to be asked

The questionnaire must not embrace wedding/bridal photography only; they must relate to the business of the wedding photographers as well. So ask them:

• About the period they have been into business.

• About the locations they have worked at.

• Whether the wedding photographers are a part of any photographers’ organization.

• Whether the wedding photography company shall let you speak to the photographer they shall be sending prior to signing the contract.

If the answer to the last question is a firm “Yes”, then:

• Ask him to show his own works and not the portfolio of the company.

• Ask if they are offering a candid or a traditional wedding photography style or if they are offering both. Candid photography is tough since the photographer needs to have a lot of presence of mind whereas for the traditional style, the photographer shall arrange the subjects to meet his requirements. That way, candid shots require more experience, especially with wedding photography.

• Ask the photographer for the former clients he has served. The one who is good at his job shall readily agree.

• Many offer complimentary stuff like albums and negatives; if they are offering so, you are bound to get more bangs for your bucks. Find out if your chosen ones offer something similar.

• Lastly, it’s about making sure that no hidden costs are involved. There exist pricing methods that have a per-click basis; for things like all-day coverage, album upgrades, print quality and particular sizes, the client needs to pay extra.

After you confirm everything, hire them for your engagement (if that’s still due); the resulting photos shall speak volumes greater than a persuading marketing blabbering.