Anna* woke up the morning after her wedding and thought about all the money they had expended for their wedding ceremony and asked where all the money had gone to. She thought of how each vendor came at the end of the day to collect their pay cheques and how they had spent several millions on only one day. She concluded that spending so much on dream weddings were an exercise in futility.

Quite interestingly, many ladies (and definitely, the men) wake up the morning after their wedding day feeling the same way as Anne did, but the younger ladies nurture endless expectations for their D-day, without considering the folly in expending so much money. These youngsters focus on the glamour and the 12-hour fame they enjoy and forget that the real deal is the marriage. They forget that money spent that day is for the benefit of two people – (a) the vendors and (b) the visitors.  The couple does not benefit so much from the expensive and glamorous wedding ceremony, apart from the after-wedding gossip – “Ah, ABC spent so much money, but XYZ spent more!”

I totally agree with Anne that flamboyant and expensive weddings are absolutely futile and it makes no financial, economic or even romantic sense to expend money on such. As a young couple, you should focus less on the glitz and glamour of one day and be concerned about laying strong foundations for the years ahead.

If you still are not convinced, then you should see more reasons why flamboyant weddings are a waste of money. However, if I have been able to convince you, then you should proceed with reading the article and learn 10 ways you can save costs on your wedding:

1.  Have a budget. When it comes to money, a good budget is your best friend.  Determine reasonable minimum and maximum limits for each expenditure stick to the limits. You also need to make sure that your budget is directly proportionate to your financial capacity. Borrowing money for a wedding makes no sense at all. Don’t do it.

2.      Keep it simple. You need to focus on what matters the most and keep your wedding plans simple. Many wedding vendors tend to appeal to your sense of vanity to get you to take more expensive options using the mantra “it is just one day of your life!”, please do not fall for it. What makes your day wonderful is not the price of your centrepieces or wedding gown or hairpiece. It is you and your spouse that will make that day memorable. Will explain this further in the next point.

3.   Focus on creating fond memories, not impressing your visitors. You and your spouse should do one thing on your wedding day – have a lot of fun. That is what makes that day memorable. Trust me, you won’t remember what the food tasted like, but you will remember the jokes shared, the games played and other fun things. One exception to this rule though, ensure you impress your visitors with food. It is wrong to invite people for an occasion that takes so long and not ensure that they get decent meals and drinks.

4.     Start early. You are likely to get better deals if you start planning early. 6 months – 1 year is a reasonable time to start planning your wedding. By giving vendors sufficient notice, you are likely to get better deals from them.

5.    You don’t need the whole world at your wedding. Your wedding is valid once you have spousal and parental consent, as well as two witnesses. In other words, you don’t need to invite everyone to your wedding. Restrict your day to the people who really matter to you and love you. A reasonable number of guests will be between 200 – 500 guests. Anything more (in this day and age) is a community entertainment project!

6.  Bargains and Freebies. These are must-haves for your wedding planning. Negotiate discounts, free offers etc. I went for a wedding where the couple offered to advertise each vendor’s business in their wedding programme. I believe they got a lot of discounts and offers for that small gesture. You can equally do same!

7.     Rent your gown, don’t buy. You get to pay 1/3 or less of what you will pay if you rent a gown. Stop being so vain, no one really gets to know that you rented the gown (unless you tell them). Buying a gown is tantamount to buying something you will wear for only one day and won’t need it anymore. Why spend so much on that?

8.    Try to hold all ceremonies in one day. This will save costs on venue, logistics, vendors, refreshments and stress. Need I say more?

9.   Consider Cash-Only gifts. This is something I wish I did at my wedding. Now, I have a room full of pots, pans, coolers, gadgets, plates that I was given at my wedding. How I wish I could turn them to cash! I will have had extra money to buy the things I actually need in the home and will have saved me a lot of space!

10. Consider using other metals for your rings. There are other metals used for rings which are durable and beautiful enough to use as insignia of your vows. Trust me, the metal/precious stone used for your wedding will not affect the quality of your marriage, so why spend so much for three metal circles?? Gold, Silver, Titanium… a ring is a ring, a mere symbol of your love, it doesn’t determine how long or well the love will last. Save your money dear.

Source - http://www.marriagearian.com/2015/10/10-ways-to-save-costs-on-your-wedding.html?m=1

cool

Am going to show this to my gf cause she is already planning to invite half of Delta State to our wedding