How to Save for a Wedding

Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life, and the most stressful! There are a million things that have the potential to go wrong, and even if you're in the hands of the most capable wedding planner in the biz, brides still manage to give themselves a coronary over the smallest details. But before you get to that perfect, stress-filled day, you need the green, the mula, the dollar bills, you need a whole lotta cash to make your Cinderella story come to life. Here are a couple of pointers to help you budget for your big day!

1) Venue - Book ahead! It sounds simple and obvious, but I can't tell you how many women I know who've ruminated over a venue for so long, they've missed a deadline and have to run around looking for an alternate space. Booking ahead also allows brides to negotiate better rates. DON'T BOOK A SATURDAY! This one of the cardinal rules. Saturdays are almost always the most expensive day, and a venue will charge you a premium price. Also consider booking a public place like a park, university, or an art gallery. Think out of the box, be creative, and revel in how much you'll save! 

2) Flowers - If you must have flowers, consider locally grown, native floral arrangements. The best option of course, is to eliminate them  from your wedding entirely and consider going green! There are hundreds of wedding coordinators that provide environmentally friendly weddings.  

3) Food & Booze - Personally, I think the food is one of the most important aspects of wedding. Food brings people together and if it's good, everyone is in a better mood! There's no need to cheap out on food, you just have to be conscious of where your money is going. If you are serving appetizers, consider the cost difference between having servers versus having the appetizers stationary at a station. As for the main course, consider a meal with ingredients that are local and in-season. If you have an open bar, consider serving only wine, beer and soda, and charge cash for spirits.