A wedding budget planner is a simple table of expenses that you will most likely spend for your wedding. Most people, however, leave the budgeting to the wedding planners and then pay up once the wedding is well in progress.

While the professionals do get the job of listing down expenses quite nicely, those responsible for doling out the cash need to actively participate in its construction. This is especially so for couples who are strapped for cash, and need to minimize the expenses:

Making a checklist of wedding needs

The first and foremost advantage of a wedding budget planner is the ability to look at what you need for your wedding. A well made budget planner spans everything from expenditures on food and outfits to the tips you’ll be handing out to the caterers and servers. Making a planner allows you to see the items in your wedding as a whole, which in turn gives you a bigger picture of how your wedding will proceed once it gets started.

If you’re putting together a wedding on a budget, there are lots of thing you’re going to need to do. More importantly though, there are a plethora of things you need to AVOID doing. After all, every mistake means more time wasted & more money spent. If this is going to be a wedding on a budget, you can only have so many mistakes before things start going falling apart!

1. Don’t Hire a Wedding Planner. You can’t have a wedding on a budget and still get a wedding planner — it’s just not realistic. This so-called “professional” is nothing but a middle-man whom collects a fee from you because they know a bit more. Yes, it’s easy, but what it isn’t is cheap.

2. Don’t Rush. Spontaneity is great, but not when it comes to planning small budget weddings. You need time to prep, plan, and perfect. If you try to rush everything, you won’t be able to save nearly as much money. Truth be told, if you rush things, you’ll likely wind up spending more!

3. Don’t Invite Too Many. This is a wedding, not a concert or carnival. It’s okay to invite friends, family, and loved ones, but you need to keep the list down if you want to save money. Inviting everyone you’ve ever spoken to is just stupid and costly. Remember, larger crowds won’t make the event more memorable, just more expensive.

4. Don’t Be Snooty With Decor. There’s absolutely no reason to go overboard with the wedding decorations. You don’t need custom crafted vases, hand carved ice sculptures, or diamond studded chandeliers. All you need is a few cheap wedding accessories and a couple of clever ways in which to use them.

5. Don’t Over Do it On the Dress. If this is going to be a wedding on a budget, there has to be sacrifices. One of those sacrifices is NOT

Weddings have become costly nowadays. It takes $15K to $20K to have a wedding. Hence it is essential for good wedding planning. If you can plan properly you could save a lot and you may wonder that you have done you wedding at only 25% of the cost that it takes. There are wedding planners available who would guide you to cut down the unnecessary expenses incurred on a wedding.

If you plan carefully you can even cut down the costs drastically. A little careful wedding planning will keep you amazed at the amount that you have saved. Have a budget set for your wedding and list down the items that you need to be present at your wedding.

Then revise the list to have the most important thing in it and try to remove the items that are not necessary. Only if you put it down on paper you would find what and all to cut down from the list. If you have a PC there are websites that give out free wedding planners that you can use. Or you can download them and take a printout of those planners and use it for your wedding planning.

There are many items that you can reduce the cost. Instead of a big wedding cake you can order a small one and have a sheet cake to be cut and served. The cake can serve as the dessert instead of other sweets being ordered.

Even while shopping for your dresses you can look for discounts or even ask your good old grandma to make your gown for you! They would be pleased to do it for your wedding. You have to keep your dear ones engaged by asking them to contribute some service for your wedding. In this type of wedding planning you could cut down a lot of unnecessary expenses.

You would have come across any person who is much interested in photography from your relatives. You can ask their service for the photography sessions for your wedding instead of hiring a professional photographer. They would be happy to do it if you can give them such responsibilities.

One of your uncles might be interested in recording videos. Having a reception on Friday night instead of Saturday would cut down a lot of money spent. For the dinner you should choose a buffet system instead of a sit-down dinner. A buffet would actually cut down cost of the dinner.

Instead of a limousine you might choose a Cadillac or other luxury vehicle and cut down quite a sum. You can also cut down cost on the invitations if you choose invitations that require minimum stamping.

Instead of having a separate invitation for the reception you can print down the reception information on the wedding invitation itself. This would cut down a considerable cost on invitations. A little wedding planning and a little effort would help you to save a lot of money unnecessarily spent on your wedding. You can plan your wedding on any budget! Happy wedding!