Albany Wedding Costs – Top 10 Ways To Save Money at Your Wedding
10 WAYS TO SAVE MONEY AT YOUR WEDDING
There are many ways to cut corners at your wedding so that you don’t have to break the budget to meet your vision of your very special day. However, sometimes people cut in the wrong places and, in the end, the guests can tell.
Here is a list I created using tips from clients who were married around the area and found ways to make some real good savings without sacrificing from the desired vision of the special day. This is a totally doable top 10 list of ways to save money on your wedding; a list that actually works:
1. PRIORITIZE EVERYTHING– A few years ago, I picked up a neat little tip I like to pass along to my clients from the Williams, who got married at The State Room in Albany, NY…“Before you even begin planning your wedding and reception, you really need to sit down with your partner and make a list of your top five priorities. This way you know what absolutely stays and where cuts can really happen.”
With it spelled out on paper, you both know what is important. This allows for everyone to be on the same page.
2. LIMIT THE GUEST LIST, BOTTOM LINE – Forget about corner-cutting on the DJ, the decorations, or the dinner, those are only savings that amount to pennies on the dollar… The best way to really save is to be ruthless with your head count. Keeping the guest list down as best as possible will drastically reduce your wedding cost, overall.
The Sefik’s, a fun couple from Clifton Park, NY got married at Mallozzi’s Wedding Hall in Schenectady. They pointed out that, “most caterers, venues, restaurants and banquet halls charge per-person.” They noted that if you have a 150 guests and can cut it down to 125, there alone you will save about $1,300.
So how do you do this? One tip if you see your guest list is getting out of hand, omit children and coworkers. Making category cuts across the board is the best way to make people not feel that they were being singled out.
There are always ways to save $$$ at your Albany Wedding
3. FOOD & DRINK – Research all of your options and do not be afraid to ask questions. The Bovairs of West Sand Lake, NY who got married at Lakeview on Crystal Lake in Averill park, NY, recommended that you, “consider a buffet instead of a sit-down meal, or break tradition all the way. Why not go with a dessert reception, or a brunch or luncheon instead of a multicourse meal?”
Some people actually go with an all appetizer / finger food reception now.
Alcohol – Eliminating or limiting a traditional full bar to one or two hours will really cut costs. The Bevans got married at Herbert’s at Birch Hill in Kinderhook. Alternatives include serving beer and wine only, but not serving alcoholic mixed drinks. at all or only pouring a champagne toast.
Depending on the local laws and the rules at your reception hall, if you are able to buy the liquor yourself and then hire someone to pour it — the savings potential is enormous. If you can, in fact, bring your own booze, you can even return any full bottles that your guests don’t drink in the end.
4. Location, location, location. There are boat-loads of options for low-cost or no-cost locations, including local and national parks, forest preserves, your own back yard or that of a friend or relative.
Paul Diamond who got married at a nice little restaurant called, Cella Bistro in Schenectady, NY said, “Unthought-of restaurants are usually a under-rated option. Many establishments would love to have your business and, at the same time have gorgeous tables and chairs, and décor. You could save a bundle, all around.”
Also, by choosing a location that allows outside catering or you to bring your own booze, you are also opening up the potential for great savings! Saratoga’s Museum of Dance and Pryne Hall of Latham both allow for these potential savings, for example.
5. Wedding Attire – Here’s where you have many options for stretching your bridal dollars. You don’t have to buy at a traditional bridal salon. You could purchase a gown at an outlet or from a department store in the special occasion’s off-the-rack area.
6. FLOWERS – If you choose to wed in a location that is already naturally decorated, you will see big savings. To set a stylish mood without much work, plan the wedding to take place in a garden, art museum or even at a beautifully-gardened home.
Saving on flowers – Choosing flowers that have bigger buds means you’ll need fewer stems, thereby helping your bottom line.
Self-proclaimed “hippies,” The Losaws of Hudson Falls, NY got married at The Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia, New York. They planted 200 bulbs months before their wedding, and then married right in the middle of the fully-blooming cheerful yellow tulips.
How To Make an Affordable Wedding in Albany NY
7. INVITATIONS – You don’t need to print invitations up on thick paper and chalk up another $500 bill. Invitations are definitely an area where do-it-yourselfers can show off their skills and can create great savings by pocketing the difference in costs.
Orvin Bennitt and his wife-to-be will be getting married at The Edison Club in Rexford, NY this summer. They showed me their announcements. They printed their wedding invitations on their computer, and I would have never have guessed!
8. GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS – Think of it as cost-free outsourcing. Posse up your friends and play to their strengths. Some people may have a creative inner-circle of peers who will want to donate services to you! This could be in the area of music for the ceremony, or even for photography!
Also, befriend teachers! Try calling a few schools if you want a decent student ensemble to play your wedding ceremony music! Or call your votec (like Capital Region Career & Technical School of Albany, NY) and get the floral class behind your wedding as a school project!
Initiate an Officiant – Are you looking for an intimate ceremony that has meaning AND affordability at the same time? Consider having your vows administered by a relative or friend, like the Carbones did at The Inn in Saratoga. Web sites like Universal Life Church (ulchq.com) and Esoteric Interfaith Church are two organizations that “ordain” laypeople so they can officiate weddings, legally.
9. Embrace The Off-Season – Wedding receptions that don’t fall during peak months will help you save big bucks. The Bucklands got married at a popular location called Gideon Putnam in Saratoga Springs, NY early in April. By doing so, they estimate that they were able to negotiate a savings of nearly $3,000!
10. Lose The Limo – “Transportation can be a huge cost,” says Mike Brooks, who got married at Crystal Cove in Averill Park, NY. “Since my bride wasn’t obsessed with having a vintage car drive us one mile to the reception, we just borrowed my friends’ SUVs to shuttle the bridal party and family. Nobody noticed the difference.”
I have also seen this work at a wedding reception taking place at The Lighthouse in Schenectady, NY. Ask around and save!
Here is an idea for your wedding. Have your guests “hastag the hell” out of it!
CREATE YOUR OFFICIAL WEDDING HASHTAG
For those of you not familiar with the term, “Hashtagging” is creating an easy way of searching social-networking Web sites for pictures, videos or status updates relating to a specific topic. Simply enough, when you hashtag (#) a word or phrase, you are indexing a very specific topic to make it easy for someone to find on social sites like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Vine.
If you have been living under a rock and are not a user of any of the above forementioned social media sites already, the benefits of hashtagging your wedding are a great reason to start!
The hashtag originated for use first on Twitter.com, of course, but is now becoming the goto measuring stick indexing on all social networks. So, what does this mean for weddings? It means more pictures, more videos and more different perspectives of your wedding will be available at your fingertips, for free.
3 STEPS HOW TO MAKE YOUR WEDDING HASHTAG WORK FOR YOU:
1) CREATE YOUR OWN OFFICIAL HASHTAG – If you create an original and uniform hashtag for everyone to use, their will be no guessing or confusion on what word combo should be searched. Try and chose as few letters as possible for less spelling issues, but something that won’t bleed into a hashtag that someone else has already used. A hashtag like #smithwedding has likely already been used by many people, so your best bet would be “#smithwed2013” or “#fredwedsjaney.” Try and pick something original. You can do this by first searching the proposed hashtag on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Vine, so that you are not mixing your event with someone else’s event int he world.
2) SHARE YOUR WEDDING HASHTAG – All you really have to do is announce your custom offical hashtag to all your mobile device using wedding guests, and let the magic begin. Ways to do this can include but are not limited to: adding your hashtag to your reservations and the wedding ceremony program, putting your official hashtag on your place cards or table, and having the disc jockey announce your official hashtag throughout the evening periodically. (If you do not have a DJ set yet, drop me a line! (I know a great one!)
Table Cards
Invitations and programs
Chalkboards
Decorative Signs
3) SEARCH THE HASHTAG – After the event or even during, the hashtag will bring up a well-organized and beautiful log of your special day as it does any topic or event. The hashtag will capture behind the scenes action, as well as a different perspective on the special moments like the kiss at the ceremony, or your introduction and first dace at the reception.
This idea is great for weddings! The benefits are countless. No more messy disposable cameras on the tables. Multiple mediums will be shared. Pictures are available immediately for sharing. Friends and families who were not able to make it can follow the event from afar. Guests can even request songs to a participating DJ!
In the end, you will get extra pictures/videos at the end of the night, as well as annotations from your hashtagging guests all throughout the night.
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