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Weddings should be a joyous time for a family. A happy time filled with parties, shopping, and all the small occurrences that go with planning an upcoming marriage. The downfall is too much of that happiness is often financially motivated. Not a single wedding related event comes to mind that cannot be somewhat costly. Invitations, entertainment, attendant gifts, food, attire, location rental, even the minister or judge, all cost money. Thankfully, with some moderate amount of planning you can have the wedding of a lifetime and have some money left in the bank to start living that life together. Families are the cornerstone of saving money on your wedding. If you have a family willing and able to help, you can actually plan a wedding on an extremely limited budget. Invitations Starting with wedding invitations, which people in your family have a computer and some artistic ability? With all the papers available, finding one that is suitable for invitations and that can run easily through a personal printer will be easy. A simple design that is easily done in this manner is constructed by formatting your invitation wording so that it will fit on one half of one side of an 8 ½" X 11" sheet of paper. Once printed, fold the paper in half, writing facing out. Tie a simple ribbon in your chosen colors around the folded paper. For the RSVP portion, print four on a sheet, cut into quarters, and slip one inside the tied card with an envelope. Tuck the whole piece inside a larger envelope and you are done. For not much more than the stamp, you will have created a beautiful invitation. Location Too often, the bride and groom rent a hall to hold the reception that is suitable for the occasion, but pocket emptying nonetheless. Consider all other alternatives first. If you are the laid-back type and the wedding is being held during warm weather, consider locations such as yards and barns. Tent rentals are often much cheaper than a hall rental. Also, look into local parks, especially those that have covered gazebos or even small buildings with cooking facilities. Entertainment This is the digital age. You or a family member may have more at your disposal for this aspect of your wedding than you even realize. A laptop or MP3 player with a song selection list and a good set of speakers will provide for hours of unlimited music with little human intervention necessary. As long as you have someone willing to do a bit of announcing and occasionally stopping and restarting of the music, you will be set to go and not have to even figure in any cost whatsoever for a band or DJ. Food If your family is amenable, do a potluck for your reception. Plan to provide a main dish or two, such as sandwiches and spaghetti, and ask family members to bring a dish to share. This is actually quite common a practice and it always amazes me when I see someone stressing about how much the caterer is charging per plate. If you want to have the meal more structured, make a list of what you would like and ask each family member that will be contributing to pick something from the list. This will allow them to have some control over their donation, while allowing you to set a menu. Whatever items are left, you can plan to provide along with the main dishes. This will still come out at only a fraction of the cost of a catered event. If you have some younger relatives around the teenage years, offer to pay one or two of them a modest amount to make sure empty dishes are removed; cups, plates, and flatware are kept in stock, etc. Also, make sure someone will clean up at the end of the evening. Most likely, several family members will pitch in and clean up will be done quickly with little or no fuss. Decorations Eyes will all be on the Bride at the wedding and reception anyhow, so plan the decorations to be as simple and inexpensive as possible. Streamers are both easy on the pocket and easily dressed up with a few flowers or bows. Pick a flower that is in season to keep costs down, and ask a few of your younger friends or relatives to decorate the night before. By keeping it simple, you can trust they will not have any problems and they will be finished in short order. By keeping the wedding simple, you are not lowering the standards for the wedding. You are in all actuality doing the opposite. You are subtly telling everyone that the most important part of the whole day is the joining of two people that love each other, and not the money spent.
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