Sunday, February 14, 1999

Planning secrets: 40 ways to save on your wedding

By TRACY L. GUTH

Scripps Howard News Service

Think you can’t have the wedding you want because you can’t afford it? There are tons of easy ways to shave dollars off your wedding budget. We’ve put together our best tips:

THE DRESS:

-- Start shopping right away. You won’t feel rushed or pressured into buying.

-- Wear a white bridesmaid’s dress.

-- Buy a sample dress. If you’re lucky enough to be the right size to fit into a dress right off the rack -- as opposed to having it made for you. You can save serious bucks.

-- If it fits you and you like it, wear your mom’s dress: you’ll just pay for alterations or adding embellishment (beads, lace).

THE SPACE:

-- Friday and Sunday are less-expensive days to schedule a wedding. Saturday is the most popular, sought-after day.

-- Think off-peak months and hours: November through April and lunch/brunch/teatime.

-- Instead of a grand ballroom or banquet hall, think creative, less-expensive sites, like university buildings, publicly owned buildings and parks, community centers, the church or temple hall, the backyard, the beach, a photography studio, an art gallery, a friend’s loft, a restaurant’s private room.

-- Borrow items like punch bowls, dishes, tables, glasses, and linens instead of paying to rent them.

FOOD AND LIQUOR:

-- Stationary appetizers cost less than passed hors d’oeuvres, which also require wait staff.

-- Choose cheaper entrees, like chicken instead of beef, or pasta instead of scallops. Simpler vegetables -- broccoli instead of asparagus -- will cut costs, too.

-- Cut down on courses. If you’re having a cocktail hour, do you really need an appetizer course? Do you need soup ... and ... salad?

-- Plan food around a theme; a Northeastern clam bake, a Southern-style barbecue, a Tex-Mex feast. Foods bought in bulk may cost less.

-- Get a small, decorated cake to cut during the reception, and supplement it with a sheet cake of the same flavor cut in the kitchen for guests.

-- Have a cocktail reception, with just drinks and hors d’oeuvres, or champagne and cake after the ceremony.

-- Serve only wine, beer, and soft drinks at the open bar, plus a round of champagne for toasts.

-- Buy the liquor yourselves.

PHOTOS:

-- Have a professional photographer take the formal pictures and shoot the ceremony; have guests take all reception photos.

-- Call an art school’s photography department and check out some of the students’ portfolios.

-- Find out how long the photographer will keep your negatives; if you can, buy prints later, after other wedding bills are paid.

VIDEOS:

-- Eliminate special effects or extra editing.

-- Have only the ceremony taped.

-- Have multiple cameras at the ceremony, just one at the reception. (Too many cameramen at the reception might be overwhelming, anyway.)

FLOWERS:

-- Use flowers that are in season and/or locally grown.

-- Trim trellises, pews, etc., with more greenery than blooms.

-- Use multiple, less-expensive flowers, like baby’s breath and daisies, in bouquets, with ivy to fill them out.

-- Walk down the aisle carrying one or two large, stunning blooms, like orchids, tulips, lilies of the valley, or sunflowers, tied with a ribbon.

-- If you’re getting married in a naturally flowering place, like a park or garden, you may not have to bring in many more flowers or plants at all!

-- Take ceremony arrangements along to the reception site.

-- Use pretty flowering plants as centerpieces.

MUSIC:

-- Hire a DJ rather than a band.

-- Hire students from local universities or music academies to play or sing during the ceremony.

-- Ask a talented friend or relative to do a solo at your ceremony as their wedding gift to you.

-- Ask about the minimum amount of time a band will play at a reception. You might hire them for three hours, from the first dance to the cake cutting, with supplementary taped music for the cocktail hour and to wind down the party.

-- Consider hiring a three- or four-piece combo instead of a larger band or orchestra: the more musicians, the more it might cost.

INVITATIONS:

-- Consider thermography, a less-expensive process than engraving that still offers a "raised" look.

-- Ask stationers if a package price is available if you order all your stationery at once (invitations, thank-you notes, announcements, etc.).

-- Send invitations that are light enough to require only a single stamp for mailing.

TRANSPORTATION:

-- Use limousines for the minimum amount of time; don’t have drivers waiting around while the party’s going on.

-- Only hire a limo for the bride and groom; have attendants drive themselves.

-- Ask about different types of cars. Luxury limos might contain a TV and VCR, unnecessary for wedding day.

Happy cost-cutting!