Trimming your Wedding Budget

Organize your dream wedding without going overboard with your expenses

One day while reviewing the tentative list of your expenses, you found out that the costs of wedding clothes and other essentials, already eat up the large chunk of your budget, since you and your husband-to-be agreed to stick on the budget because you will be going out of the country for the honeymoon and both of you are thinking of renovating the house you recently bought and most importantly, both of you never dream to held a fabulous wedding under the shadow of debts, you are now thinking of scrapping other elements of the ceremony, but the question is,  where would you start trimming down the expenses?

REVIEW THE GUEST LIST

Wedding invitations are not dispatch yet, so none of your friends and relatives receive an official notice. By now you are contemplating whether to invite the whole barangay or not. So ponder hard on these things: Do all the officemates, childhood friends and relatives up to the third degree have to be really invited? 

Would it break the hearts of Uncle Pepe ( your mama’s second cousin), Tiya Macaria (your papa’s great uncle), their children and their respective spouses if they will not invited? Are your worries skyrocketed because you might not include those gossip-loving officemates and highly critical college buddies in your guest list? If your answer is yes, because you cannot endure their criticism and feedbacks later on, then be sure you have extra amount to cover the reception excess. 

If your answer is no because you are looking forward of fixing your new house or want to save for your dream business then trim down the number of your guests. Don’t bother yourself too much on what they might say, in the modern world composed of people with a more balanced common sense, it is understood that  not every single relative and friend could be accommodated in the wedding reception.

CHECK THE MENU

Check the menu offered by the caterer. If your reception is not a sit-down dinner or lunch, pasta and dessert concoctions plus refreshment are enough. In fact, wedding etiquette books list wedding reception fare as only a wedding cake and a drink, often fruit juice to toast to the wedding couple’s happiness. 

In the past, Filipino couples were compelled to spend enormously in the wedding reception because they were anxious their neighbors might spurt criticism and because during those times life was very comfortable. But recently, the economic crisis is so intense that spending too much on the reception is not a brilliant idea anymore. 

In reality, wedding guests are not invited primarily to eat voraciously on your prepared meal but to share and witness the celebration with so much enthusiasm in their hearts. In fact one main course which is tastefully prepared and attractively presented would be infinitely welcome than a line-up of several uninspired dishes. Bride and Groom could keep this in mind and not be paranoid over about the menu.

CHOOSE A COCKTAIL-STYLE OVER SIT-DOWN RECEPTION

A cocktail style is very practical but still implies a joyous and exciting gathering, in fact this is more intimate and momentous than a sit-down reception with lots of guests and tense nerves. There are many advantages for a cocktail-style reception. 

You are not required to exercise extravagance, you are not compelled to conduct a formal order of program sparing you from becoming tense and restless, the ambience is more relaxing and you can roam around happily, chatting and laughing with friends and relatives, everybody is in a festive mood and you can barely remember how they react on food because perfect and good conversations, exchanging pleasantries, lots of music, trivia and revelations are more memorable. 

YOUR BRIDAL ATTENDANTS

In the western culture, bridesmaids, maid of honor, groomsmen and best man are the one who pay the costs of their clothes, but for sensitive Pinoys, this is not the issue, Filipino tradition dictates that the bride and groom will be the one to shoulder these expenses. If the clothes’ prices are disturbing, limit the number of your attendants.

SHOP YOUR OWN FABRIC

For a bride who want to don a fabulous wedding dress of her own choice, stay away from going directly to a couturier because most often than not, the price is really unsettling. Try to shop your own fabric, a modern wedding often features an ivory duchesse satin cloth, you can find this in several department stores. Ask somebody who has a knowledge how to estimate a certain measurement of the cloth, show the design of your dress and get the estimate.

MINIMIZE FLOWERS
It’s true that weddings look super gorgeous when adorned with lots of blooms in different colors, but this fascination sounds unthinkable if you are planning a celebration within a tight budget. Pick the variety which offers economical price but still look fabulous. Minimize your orders as much as possible.


SCRAP UNNECESSARY ELEMENTS

Scrap the unnecessary things in your ceremony. Wedding book etiquettes say coins and rings are handled by the best man and the mother’s groom and not by page boys, flower girls are merely adds-on to make the whole picture of event fascinating, and because you are not marrying to fascinate the public, you may scrap these elements. Hiring professional Orchestra, photographers and videographers are not really important, you can ask favors from your relatives and friends to take pictures and videos. Remember the tricks lay on one’s creativity at the post-production stage. Music can be done by a sound system, the rent is not really expensive compared to hiring an orchestra or a band.

Wedding guide experts say that marrying under a tight budget never really ruin the couples’ desire to stage a wedding extravaganza, the magic lays on the creative organizing and not entirely depends on how much you will spend. What could be more endearing than wedding memories shared with closest friends and relatives in a very intimate gathering?

Sources: 

 “Guide book to the Filipino wedding” and “Associated Content“