What to Do If You Blow Your Wedding Budget

Budgets are meant to be broken, right? This is the feeling of many brides, but not necessarily of their parents or fiances who are helping to pay for the wedding. If you are starting to add up all of your wedding expenses and are finding that you are coming in way over budget, it is time to take action!

If your budget is firm and you are way over it, then you will have to find some places to cut costs. Hopefully, you are not so far into the planning that you are locked into everything, especially the big expenses like the venue and the guest list. Assuming your invitations have not yet gone out, cutting down the guest list is by far the quickest way to slash expenses. You will save on almost everything, from food to cocktails to reception rentals to centerpieces. You might even be able to scale down the size of your reception site and even the size of the band. It can be painful, but if you think about what you could save by trimming your guest list by even 10 or 20%, it could be significant.

If it is too late to make major changes, there are still ways to get back to (or at least closer to) your original budget. You might not be able to switch vendors or venues, but you can at least cut back on some of the details. For example, you can ask your florist about substituting a less pricey flower like red carnations for costly red roses. A small change like that can make a huge difference in your bottom line.

Another idea for brides who have gone over budget is to skip the favors, or find ways to make your centerpieces or place cards double as wedding favors that guests can take home. If you have a lovely ceremony, followed by a beautiful reception, the last thing that your guests are going to be thinking is, “Where is my favor?!”. So don’t worry if you need to cut them to get your budget back on track.

One thing that you should not omit from your wedding is your bridesmaid gifts. Forgetting to give a special thank you to your friends who have spent a lot of their precious time and money on your wedding is just plain rude. However, you certainly do not need to break the bank on your bridesmaid gifts. With a little careful shopping, you will find that you can get some stunning gifts for a very affordable price. Bridesmaid jewelry, such as a Swarovksi pearl pendant, can be so reasonably priced that even the bride who has gone way over budget will be able to afford something very pretty.

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