Save a Little Everywhere and End Up Saving A bunch!
There are many ways to save for your wedding in Albany, NY, or other corners of the Earth. You can have a beautiful and yet affordable wedding, if you keep a few simple things in mind, during your planning process. That’s right, in order to save, you have to plan.
Here is a top 10 list of ways to save money on your wedding:
1. Your Wedding Invitations – Online is totally acceptable now, so you can save a bundle on postage right there. If you do not want to go the e-invite route, at least shop your invitations online. Competition is fierce and you are bound to find a deal if you look enough.
2. Cut Down The Guest List – Don’t invite anyone you haven’t seen or even talked to in five years. Don’t encourage singles to bring a date. Avoid inviting work colleagues. And let your friends bring their children. Watch
3. Play on eBay – Anything you buy, always check eBay and Amazon first!
4. Affordable Wedding Dresses – Online and believe it or not, thrift stores, can be a great resource to save literally hundreds of dollars on the wedding dress. Having your mother’s dress altered is often far cheaper than buying a new one, as well.
5. Be frugal with Decorations – There are countless ways to save on decorations. Sometimes, candlelight can be the most romantic and beautiful alternative to fancy centerpieces and decorations. You do not need expensive flower arrangements everywhere.
6. Save on your Flowers – Check with the hall to see who else is having a wedding there that weekend. You may be able to save on flowers by sharing. Also, some vocational schools have Floral Classes. Sometimes you can work with your local votec to turn your wedding decoration into a classroom assignment and only pay cost of the flowers.
7. Throw a “Wedding Prep” Party – Get all of your bridal party and friends together. Turn on the tunes and have them put together favors, flower arrangements and anything else that you have to pay more for when it comes completely assembled.
8. Think Food and Drink – Always provide your own caterer when you can. If your hall does not allow this, ask where money can be saved. See if they’ll let you provide your own liquor, or if serving only wine and beer will be cheaper than a full bar. Also consider only having open bar open during your cocktail hour, then serving an inexpensive wine with dinner.
9. Consider Your Day of the Week – Prime time is Fridays & Saturdays (sometimes Sundays) April thru October. Booking outside your hall’s primetime definitions will really help you save.
10. Ask for Help – Who do you know? Why spend a bundle on the officiant, musicians, photographers and even DJs, if one of your guests can make this happen for nothing.
If you follow these guidelines, you will certainly have some money left over. That means a better home together and/or honeymoon you could have.
This is NOT a DJ Kenny Casanova Set Up. A Professional Disc Jockey is very concerned with image.
The other day, I saw a message posted on a message board explained how to DJ your own wedding. I was like, “huh? How can you do that?”” It is true that you could save money, but at what expense? I just thought I would throw a few thoughts at you on why I believe that the professional DJ is needed especially at a wedding, at all costs.
1. If you are planning on anything traditional at your wedding, you know that you will need a sound system, including microphones for things like speeches, toasts and/or blessings.
2. An iPod cannot speak and offers no interaction with the guests. A good DJ hypes up great introductions, instructs on custom activities and also special announcements. If you have a crowd that needs prodding to jump up and dance on their own, an iPod will just sit there and allow the night to unfold into a boring reception.
3. While the iPod itself may cost less than a professional wedding DJ, how do you plan on amplifying the music? Sitting around an iPod dock isn’t going to cut it. To rent professional equipment, you come very close to some DJ’s actual price.
4. The professional wedding DJ also acts as a wedding planner/organizer. An iPod doesn’t know when is the best time to toast, dance, eat, drink and/or cut the cake actually is. , etc. Experience is something that can’t be pre-programmed.
5. A professional wedding DJ doesn’t just play random “shuffled” songs. The good DJ looks at the audience at hand, reads the crowd and constantly adjusts the music selections to get or keep people dancing.
6.Finally, what happens if your rented equipment fails. Do you want to rent an additional backup system to have on hand?
If you are having a laid back small reception, you may be able to get away with supplying your own background music. However, if you are hoping for a crazy party with dancing, energy and excitement, no machine can replace a man.
Drop me a line with any comments! I would love to hear them. ken@theDJservice.com
Is Using a Wedding Planner Really The Right Choice for Everyone?
Not everyone can afford a real wedding planner, and quite often, some people do not even want one. Sometimes it would seem the quote “the more the merrier” when it comes time to do some wedding planning, however, for some, this may not be the case. In more cases than not, having “too many cooks will spoil the brew.”
Most often, people can help and everything will be just fine and turn out exactly how you wanted. However, wedding party members or relatives who either take it on themselves to become part time wedding planners can either become an asset to you, or can actually be a source of stress.
There are a few things to think about when bringing friends and family in for additional help.
1. Are you deciding for yourself what you are expecting the extra person to get done?
2. Do you really want to give them ultimate control, or rather guided direction? It is best to ask a few people for help with one small goal, then to put a lot on one person and have someone feel like they are actually in charge. If you put a family member “in charge” things may not go exactly your way, with the wrong person at the helm.
3. Has the person in question been helpful before, or are could they potentially be overly opinionated and pushy in times of stress?
4. Can you risk the friendship? I have heard horror cases where differences in taste result in problems. Weddings are stressful and can cause all sorts of in-fighting.
5. Does your spouse REALLY like the idea of the person helping?
So if you choose not to have Aunt Bertha run things now… You are not alone. If you have rented a hall that often books weddings, usually there is a person in charge of things that go with your expense. Use them!!! (Remember, however, they also have their own agendas as far as things to cut corners and save money. One way they do this is to push to have the cake cut earlier so that they can send staff home.
Also your wedding DJ is often your best bet for party planning at the reception. If they are a professional, not only will they be able to read your crowd and play all the songs you want, as well as others will enjoy, but they will organize the events along with your caterer and photographers so that everything comes off without a hitch.
These days, you need to save every penny you can and there are countless ways to do just that. But sometimes, ideas just don’t come to mind. That is why the internet comes in handy.
I had to put this money saving tip up as a blog the moment I heard about it. While it is not really my idea, I must admit, it is a good one that I needed to pass on.
Since most brides & grooms book their weddings on a weekend, be it Friday, Saturday or Sunday, they are probably not the only ones using that hall over those days.
While it is not always probable, it is certainly possible to have up to four or five other weddings in the very same room you are renting on the same weekend.
Most Halls book out their popular rooms for parties in blocks like this:
A – Friday Evening
B – Saturday Morning to Afternoon
C – Saturday Afternoon to Evening
D – Sunday Morning to Afternoon
E – Sunday Afternoon to Evening
Think about that for a second. Do I need to even say where I am going with this? If you, or your the other bridal party(s) are sharing the same colors, or are open to working together, why not share the center pieces and split in on flowers? If you end up splitting in with only one other wedding, that right there is a hefty 50% off on your flowers.
Of course, you will not be able to give the centerpieces away, but honestly, as a wedding DJ who provides great music to the very end of the night, quite often, people do not always want the burden of bringing home the centerpieces anyhow, as I have seen many wedding receptions end with the flowers being left behind.
If this money-saving tactic works for you, the only flowers you have to pay for in face value is the wedding bouquet that the bride will toss. 🙂
They say it can’t be done. Flowers are often a very important and very expensive part of a wedding ceremony/reception decor. There are ways, however, to save in this department.
If you are low on funds after paying the DJ and the hall, before you even talk with your florist, pick a color scheme rather than a particular flower. Then you can ask your florist to choose whatever is available in your palette at the best prices out there. If roses are a must have, you can always have more roses on the head table, than on the guest tables, for example, and supplement another red flower there instead. You should be keeping in mind what is in season.
While you probably won’t be able to save money by creating your own arrangements because of time, if a friend is willing, you can save a bundle by ordering in bulk from a wholesale or farmer’s market. Also, some Votec classes may be willing to make a classroom assignment out of it!
There are many ways to save for your wedding. One of the keys to our success is keeping prices affordable and ala carte so customers can customize and pay for only and exactly what you want. This has made us VERY busy this summer in the Albany – Troy – Schenectady area.
Here is a top 10 list of ways to really save money on your wedding:
1. FRUGAL FLOWERS – Some vocational schools have Floral Classes. Sometimes you can work with your local votec to turn your wedding decoration into a classroom assignment and only pay cost of the flowers. Also, check with the hall to see who else is having a wedding there that weekend. You may also be able to save on flowers by sharing.
2. THE WEDDING SET UP PARTY – Turn on the tunes and have your wedding party come over a few days before to put together favors, set up decorations and centerpieces, create flower arrangements and anything else that you would have to pay more for when it comes completely assembled.
3. AFFORDABLE DRESS – Buying your wedding dress online and even in thrift stores, can be a great resourse to save literally hundresds of dollars on the wedding dress.
4. DAY SELECTION – Booking outside your hall’s primetime definitions will really help you save. Typically, prime time is Fridays & Saturdays (sometimes Sundays) April thru October. 10. Ask for Help – Who do you know? Why spend a bundle on the officiant, musicians, photographers and even DJs, if one of your guests can make this happen for nothing.
5. CAREFUL OF WHO YOU INVITE – Don’t invite anyone you haven’t seen or even talked to in five years. Don’t encourage singles to bring a date. Avoid inviting work colleagues. And let your friends bring their children.
6. SAVE ON INVITATIONS – Online is totally acceptable now, so you can save a bundle on postage right there. If you do not want to go the e-invite route, at least shop your invitations online. Competition is fierce and you are bound to find a deal if you look enough.
7. CATERING OPTIONS – Always provide your own caterer when you can. If your hall does not allow this, ask where money can be saved. See if they’ll let you provide your own liquor, or if serving only wine and beer will be cheaper than a full bar. Also consider only having open bar open during your cocktail hour, then serving an inexpensive wine with dinner.
8. EBAY YOUR SPECIAL DAY – Anything you buy and whenever you can, please always check the eBay and Amazon first! You will find awesome deals, for sure!
9. DECOR FOR LESS, NOT MORE – You do not need expensive flower arrangements everywhere. There are countless ways to save on decorations. Sometimes, candlelight can be the most romantic and beautiful alternative to fancy centerpieces and decorations.
