We get so many emails asking for tips and ideas to save money when planning a wedding. With a little extra effort, planning a wedding on a budget does not have to be a source of stress on your wallet or your sanity.
We’re back with Part 5 of this post series to help give you options for a frugal fabulous wedding. Wedding On A Budget will be a 10 part series filled with lots of DIY tips and ideas that we hope will be helpful to any of you that are planning your own wedding or even helping a friend or family member to plan their big day…down to the very last detail!
If you missed a post in our Wedding On A Budget series, catch up HERE
Wedding On A Budget: Wedding Flower Alternatives
In the United States, the average cost of a wedding is about $20,000. By the time a couple or the bride’s family pays for the venue, gown, decorations, food and flowers, they will have likely shelled out thousands of dollars. One of the biggest expenses is flowers. However, this is also one of the quickest and easiest ways to save big wedding bucks.
Skip the flowers! There are many wedding flower alternatives available to help you set the tone of the ceremony and reception, as equally detailed and beautiful. It is possible to create gorgeous centerpieces and decorations without floral arrangements and without breaking the bank.
Getting married at a park and also having the reception there is one way to enjoy the beauty of flowers and greenery without having to pay for them. For those who don’t mind having a garden wedding but who would rather have the reception somewhere else, this is also an option. To avoid having to pay for floral centerpieces, a couple can create or buy centerpieces made from other materials, for instance paper flowers, candles and even fruit. Doing so is becoming quite popular, accepted and chic. Large plants are great for decorating both the ceremony and reception. Because they take up a lot of space, it is possible to get by with fewer of them.
Lighting and candles can dramatically alter the look and feel of any location and best of all, both make for inexpensive decorations. It is possible to pick up lots of great candles for very little money at crafts stores. A mixture of sizes and textures, tied together by ribbon and in-step with the wedding’s theme can look really great. For more expensive looking lighting, try lanterns. These instantly add a touch of elegance to either the ceremony or reception. Lanterns also make fabulous centerpieces and are much cheaper than floral arrangements.
A smart use of fabrics and natural materials, such as stones and dried flower petals can be used as decorations as well. Tables topped with rich looking and decorative table cloths and centerpieces made of stones, pebbles, pine cones and even leaves, can be simple and elegant.
Who says flowers have to go in a vase? Water and floating candles, glass marbles, beads and other colorful items create a very expensive look for a fraction of the cost of flowers. You can find most of these items in dollar stores. For an outdoor wedding in the summer, a tall glass container or vase filled with lemons for color and texture and then local cuttings from trees/shrubs can also achieve the look for less.
Choosing to forgo the flowers can save you a whole lot of bank and is worth considering very carefully. Flower alternatives don’t have to look cheap and in many cases allow a couple to showcase their true personalities rather than just going with the traditional convention.
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