1. For the average person, there is no such thing as having your dream wedding.
Unless you're a billionaire with endless money to spend, there's only "the best wedding you can afford". Yeah, doesn't sound so magical, right? But it's true! The minute you start asking your vendors about prices, you'll understand what I mean. The price of that one wedding dress you've been dreaming of might be 1/4 of your budget. Speaking of budgets, here's an awesome budget spreadsheet that I found super helpful when I started budgeting!
2. It takes about 4 months for your wedding dress to arrive at the store.Does everyone know about this except me? It feels like no one warns you about the long wait after you place the order. I was so surpised to find out how long it actually took and was glad I started my wedding dress shopping early. It gave me time to look through all my dress options (because I didn't know exactly what I wanted), and I still have time to get my dress altered. However, if you're lucky enough to find your dress through a sample sale, then you get to take that dress home on the day you purchase it! Also, sample sales tend to have designer dresses for a fraction of the price! Although, I would advise you to find a dress that you love, no matter if it is designer or not, because at the end of the day no one is going to care whether it's a Vera Wang dress or an Anjolique dress. What matters is that you'll feel beautiful on your day!
3. Your friends and family are your biggest resources!
Anything that has the word "wedding" attached to it will be multiplied in price, so a great savings tip for the budget bride is asking around for help. Maybe you have a friend who's really crafty and is willing to help you make those wooden signs you see all over Pinterest, or maybe you have a friend who is exceptional at making cakes and is willing to bake your wedding cake for a fraction of the price. Even if they aren't good at any of those things, I bet you they know someone who is. Or maybe they know someone who knows someone. Point is: use your connections and you'll be surprised who you meet and how they can work with your budget. One of my friend's best friend does make up and was willing to do my make up for the big day for a super affordable price! She was even nice enough to let me have a trial run with her!
4. To get the biggest bang for your buck, you have to do research, research, and more research.
This is the reason why long engagements aren't such a bad thing. The longer you have to plan your wedding, the more time you can do research to find the best deals and compare prices between vendors. I won't be able to name all the things I've learned so far through my research, but some key things are:
- Spring is the most expensive season to get married and winter is the cheapest.
- It's cheaper to have a wedding during a weekday versus a weekend.
- Places that sell wholesale flowers aren't as cheap as you think they are. Costco and Trader Joe's has more affordable flower deals!
A lot of people have told me that the first dress they tried on was THE dress for them. When I started shopping, I found myself feeling the same way. But the reason why I said it was "hard to beat" and not "it'll be THE one" is because I ended up buying a different dress. In total, I went dress shopping about 4 times. Each time I went, I tried on an average of 3 dresses. The first dress I ever tried was gorgeous -- it was a fit-and-flare lace dress with small beaded detailing, a keyhole back and the most gorgeous train. It made me feel beautiful, but the reason why I hesitated to get it was because of the price (totally out of my budget). So I continuned my search, but found myself comparing all the other dresses to that one dress. After taking a break from dress shopping for a few weeks, I came to realize that there was another reason why I loved that first dress. It was because it was the first time I felt like a bride (duh, wearing a wedding dress and all-- silly me). So with that thought in mind, I eventually found THE dress for me a couple of weeks later.
6. Start brainstorming your guestlist as soon as you can.
You'll be surprised how many people your parents will want to invite. And if you're Asian, forget about it! This wedding isn't for you, it's for your parents! The sooner you realize this, the better off you'll be (this is a topic for another post). You'll also run into problems, such as your venue not being big enough for the amount of guests you planned on inviting (time to take some names off that list).
7. There are plenty of places to find affordable bridesmaid's dresses.
I knew that I wanted my bridesmaids to be wearing the convertible-type maxi dresses, but it took me a while to find it for a reasonable price (most places had them for $175+). I know it's impossible to please everyone at your wedding, but I wanted to be considerate of how much the girls would have to spend on their dresses. And of course, all brides want the dress to be versatile so their bridemaids can use them for another occasion in the future. And I knew that a dress in the same style will not be flattering on different body types, so the convertible dress was the best option I could think of. After a bit of research, I found the perfect dress on Lulu's. They had a lot of different styles for really afforable prices. I bought one for myself to test the quality before I told the girls to buy it, and I was very happy with the purchase! My girls ended up spending only $55 on their dresses!
8. If you can, get your stationaries oversea.
We were fortunate to be in Vietnam during the engagement process so I had the opportunity to print my wedding invitations there. I highly recommend doing this if you can, and it doesn't have to be in Vietnam as long as the USD is worth a lot in the country you are planning to get it done at. There are endless styles to choose from (though not all of them will suit the Westernize look, so you'll definitely have to take some time shopping around). The best part is you'll be saving a ton of money. You'll just have to make some space in your luggage to carry them back home.
9. If you have to choose between a wedding planner or a coordinator, choose the coordinator.
Even though the wedding hasn't happened yet, I'm already pretty glad I have a wedding coordinator. I'd like to consider myself a pretty crafty gal and if I could clone myself a couple of times, I probably wouldn't need a coordinator. Unfortunately, I don't have that ability yet, but I'm glad I have someone who will make sure the 5 million things that will be happening that day will go smoothly. If you aren't familiar with the difference between a planner and coordinator, the best way I can explain it is that the planner is the one who helps you make the decisions based on your options and has the responsibility of finding vendors and negotiating prices. Wedding coordinators are meant bring those decisions/visions into reality. If you have an intimate wedding of , say,75 people or less, it would make sense just to have someone in your wedding party be the coordinator, but if you have more than 100 guests, I would consider having a coordinator to make sure the day doesn't end in chaos. And if you're in the Northern Virginia/DMV area, Wanderlust Concepts does amazing events and will work with your budget!
10. It's okay to not know the general prices of everything.
The first time I sat down to work on my budget, I didn't know how much to set aside for each category. I mean, how could I? It's like buying a car, you really don't know how much a certain type of car is worth until you ask around. And that's exactly what you should do! Do a lot of research, talk to people who have had weddings, ask for advice, network, and, of course, don't forget to negotiate! The answer to everything you want will always be "No" if you never ask.
Although I've gotten a big chunk of my wedding plans done, I still have so much more to learn and things to do. I'll be tackling a DIY centerpiece project soon to save some money on my budget. If you're crafty and interested, stick around, I'll be sure to post about it!
