As a wedding and event planner, I am subject to more than my fair share of indignation and rage. You see, until people plan their first wedding, they never think about how much weddings cost. They want to have affordable weddings, yet they also want to have all of the glitz and glamor. The problem is that, even if you buy affordable bridal gowns, affordable wedding cakes, cheap bridesmaid dresses, and all the rest, it will still add up to a lot of money. The bottom line is that, if you want to have an affordable wedding, you have to be willing to make sacrifices.
I am not saying that having affordable weddings is impossible. If you are willing to have a small wedding ceremony with only a few of your very closest friends there, you can do it for quite a reasonable price. The problem is that, if having affordable weddings is your intention, you have to plan everything around it. That means that you have to have a small guest list, make reservations at an inexpensive place, have an affordable wedding dress, rent a tuxedo for the groom, and generally scrimp and save at every opportunity. Some of my clients have actually taken their own wedding photographs to save on the cost of hiring a wedding photographer!
The bottom line is that the most affordable weddings are done in a judge’s office. Everything else that you do costs extra money. Some families go into debt for years because of what they spend on holding a grand, elaborate wedding. To me, it seems like a pity. When I meet clients who really want to have affordable weddings, I tell them to have them in the back yard. That way, they can save on wedding reservations. If they are really ambitious, they can even cater it themselves. If there are going to be more than thirty people there, however, this is usually not a very good idea.
I guess that it all depends on what you expect from your wedding. When I first got married, all I wanted was a simple ceremony to dedicate my love to my wife. If this is all that you want as well, it will be quite easy for you to plan an affordable wedding. If, on the other hand, you want to have an elaborate party with all of your friends and family, you will have to pay for it.
