Arranging a Cheaper Wedding

The word wedding and cheap are not normally synonymous and the wedding of a lifetime can leave a couple in hock for years down the line. If you don't have huge savings, an understanding bank manager or a rich uncle, it's important to think carefully about every penny.

Use friends shamelessly. Beg borrow or steel from relatives who've been there and done that. You'll be surprised how many of them have had the same experience and had come up with their own, novel solutions.

To start with, there's the Wedding Dress- numero uno on the mucho expensivo hit list. The word here ladies, is SALES. Find out which shops are having sales. The local paper, free post and the internet are the places to start looking.

Like a lot of retail outlets, wedding shops often have sales in early January. They also have sales just after the national bridal shows, which take place in March and September every year. You do have to remember, however, that the dress you buy in a sale, is either one that's been tried-on-to-death by every prospective bride in town; was an unpopular design or is probably a year out of fashion. But it is possible to get some great bargains, if you are willing to do the leg work.

But remember - never buy a wedding dress just because it's cheap. Make sure that it fits in all the right places.

The wedding cake is a very important item. It is also one of the things on which huge savings can be made.

Find a cake maker who works from home and whose reputation is built on word of mouth, rather than a big advertising budget. Their overheads will be smaller and so should their prices.

Don't go for fussy, intricate designs. Keep it simple. Handmade sugar decorations add to the price, without adding to the overall flavour.
A beautifully decorated, white icing cake is every girl's dream, so have a small one made. Then have sheet cakes made using the same recipe, that will be cut to serve to the guests.

It has become a custom to save the top tier of the wedding cake, but sad to say, unlike wine and fine brandy, time does not improve fruit or chocolate cake. So eat it and enjoy it when it's at it's best.

Photography and Videography are two areas where big savings can also be made, if you are willing to trust friends and family to be as snap-happy as they want to be.
If you look around at any wedding, you'll see relatives and friends snapping away with their own cameras. Most of the photographs will end up in their albums and not in the bride and grooms.

How many weddings have you been to, where you've happily taken 10, 20 or even 30 photographs and then stored them in a box somewhere- out of sight, out of mind, collecting dust and wasted?

Well here is the solution. You can either ask the guests to send you copies of the photos they take, or you can purchase a good supply of cheap throwaway cameras and just let them have a free hand in what they take throughout the day. This solution of course doesn't come without a little risk. But think about it - 10 cameras that take 30 pictures each, will give you 300 photos.

How many of those will turn out to be absolute gems and how many dumplings? From the weddings that I have been to, the average is around 65 to 70 % of them have been absolute stars. That's about 210 photos.

You can of course supply a few really reliable and artistic friends with a few better cameras and ask them to take pictures of you coming out of the church, from whatever angle and whenever they please. You'll be surprised at the results.

Videography or video photography can be treated in exactly the same way, except they don't yet make throw away video cameras. But I am sure that you know at least three people who own these expensive toys. Kind hearted people who will be more than happy to either come to the wedding (for the free meal) and play the part of a Stephen Spielberg, or will be willing to just lend you the camera for the day. (Consider wedding insurance- just in case).

Not only is this a relatively cheap option, but also a great deal of fun can be hand and the results can be very surprising. Especially if one of the people to whom you give a camera is a reputed practical joker and self-confessed idiot, who will take those shorts which will keep you laughing down the years.

Not everyone owns a Rolls Royce, a Mercedes or a horse and carriage, so if you have your heart set on sheer opulence and stretched elegance, it's going to cost. Tall, dark and handsome, liveried drivers don't come cheap.

The less expensive option is to hire one or two cars for the day and get a couple of reliable friends (male or female), who scrubs up well, to play the part of the drivers. Just imagine the oodles of fun that someone with a theatrical bent can have with the part. You can, if the friends are really game for a laugh, hire a uniform. (And if your friends won't do it, give me a call - I know a man who will.)

The cost of wedding stationery, can be squeezed to a minimum, by utilizing a piece of equipment that most homes have either sitting on a table in the corner of the dining room, or in a small, back bedroom - namely, the home computer. These wonderful machines, generally arrive with some version of a well know design packages, as standard. Most of the programs are easy to lean and you can churn out professional looking invitation cards, order of service lists and gift lists in no time at all.

If you can't manage to use the program, ask your average 10 year old, who will usually be willing to produce the items for the price of a packet of jelly babies. (Although most 10 year olds will drive a much harder bargain. You may have to go as high as two packets.)

Fantastic money-saving tips as promissed

____________Madeleine Dietrich_________