How to keep the cost of a Wedding down

Weddings can be very expensive events. In this day and age where spending money is less, many people are choosing to postpone their weddings or put off having one at all. If you choose to get married, I believe it is an important day that should have a bit of money spent on it. Although some people don’t see it as the most important day of their life, it is still significant and a great way to celebrate your love with family and friends.

So you want to get married but you want to keep the cost down? Here are some tips:

- Keep your guest list small: Do you really need your mum’s hairdresser’s daughter’s cat there? No. You should spend this day with people you are close to and who mean a lot to you and your partner. Keep trimming it down until the most important people are there. It’s also much easier to organise a wedding for 50 people rather than 200.

- DIY: There’s so much inspiration on the net these days; free printables, DIY tutorials, etc, doing it yourself has never been easier! Think decorations, bombinairre, stationary, etc. Lots of money can be saved by making these things yourself, and it also allows you to add your own touch and to make everything unique to you and your partner.

- Venue: think outside the box. Do you have to have your reception at the most expensive place in town? Venues can be transformed by low cost decorations, and at the end of the day your guests are there for you (and maybe the booze...). Think parks, halls, local restaurants, etc.

- Day & Time: by choosing an off peak day or time (think Wednesday-Friday or a Sunday) you can save lots of money on every aspect of your wedding – the venue, photographer, vehicles, etc. Have you thought about a casual brunch reception? This will certainly drive costs down.

- Photography: this is a very important element of a wedding and a great way of capturing your memories. If choosing to have a wedding on an off peak day, consider asking the photographer to only stay for the ceremony and the pre-reception photos, rather than staying the whole day. Utilise your guests and get them to take photos at the reception. A great idea is the array of photo sharing apps there are for weddings now. If your guests are using instagram, ask them to use your wedding hashtag (e.g. #abwedding). Look for up and coming photographers that do just as good a job for a lot less money.

- The Dress: there is a great website called Light in the Box and they make wedding dresses to measure. The prices are ridiculously cheap, but everything is excellent quality. Look for dresses that aren’t technically wedding dresses (think White maxi’s, cocktail style, etc) and for bridesmaids dresses that are a bit more casual and can be worn again after the ceremony to increase their value. Or, if you’ve got some time, hit up some op-shops and see what you can find.

- Bridal Party: keep it small. Choose only a few bridesmaids and groomsmen to save money. Make your groomsmen’s button hole adornments yourself to save money. There are heaps of great ideas on the net. You bridesmaids don’t have to carry flowers either, they can carry clutches that go with their dress; practical and much more valuable.

- Ask an event planner: they know what they’re doing, they know where to get the cheapest things and the best deal. Don’t be afraid to ask one for help!

But the most important advice of all is to have fun and don’t lose sight of why you’re actually getting married; because you love one another!

Does anyone have any money saving tips of their own for weddings or events in general? Let us know, we'd love to hear them!

Death of the RSVP

One of my favourite parts of events is the invitation. This is your guests’ first impression of your event and is a really great way to set the scene. However, with this technological society that we are now living in, it is often that we don’t receive physical copies of invitations, rather we receive virtual ones.

How many events have you been invited to via Facebook? In my opinion, when people receive a virtual invitation it is not taken as seriously as a physical invitation. The invitees see the virtual invitation as requiring minimal effort and therefore put the same effort into responding. This results in lots of “maybes” or people that accept the invitation but do not turn up to the event. This can lead to the organiser over catering, under catering or just ending up plain confused about how many people to expect.

Personally, I have used Facebook as an initial tool to gather addresses and partners names and then I have sent the physical invitations. Not only do you get to give your invitees and initial taste of the awesome event they’re going to experience, but it also shows you care about your event. This then results in the invitees caring more about their RSVP.

My advice? When it is an important event; milestone birthday, wedding, etc, always give out a physical invitation. As well as setting the mood, it also gives invitees easily accessible invitations, and if you make it look nice enough, it doubles as a keepsake from the event!

And please, when someone invites you to an event via a virtual mean, take the time to répondez s'il vous plaît! And only say yes if you intend on attending!

The "Pinterest Wedding"

Pinterest is a new social media site that is taking the world by storm. If you’re not aware of this new craze, it involves users “pinning” pictures and ideas so their virtual cork boards. Gone are the days of cutting out images from magazines and pinning them up with drawing pins; why do that when you can record anything inspirational that you find on the internet?

This has given rise to the “pinterest wedding” and is making some wedding planners scared. There is such a wealth of information and inspiration out there now, why would brides need someone to plan for them? However, the wealth of information out there could have its draw backs. Too often  brides are being sucked into the pinterest wedding. There’s so many ideas out there that brides often try to incorporate everything and end up with something that doesn’t represent them.

A wedding should be a representation of two people coming together, it should represent the things that you both enjoy, not everything that you saw on pinterest and wanted to include. Sure, pinterest is a great place to get inspiration from, but at the end of the day, the images come from weddings that were appropriate fits for those types of decorations, themes, drinks, etc.

My suggestion is to utilise a mood board, like an event planner. If you see something you really like and would really love to include in your wedding, print it out and stick it on a real cork board or similar. You’ll find that you’ll only be bothered to print out and stick on the things you really love and really want to incorporate. This can then be used to plan your wedding. If you can’t work out how to incorporate all the aspects, talk to an event planner who can help you draw together all the elements. By thinking about what represents you and your partner and not trying to include everything, you’ll create your perfect wedding that is an accurate representation of the people you are.

The Psychology of Colour

When deciding on the colour scheme for your next event, it is important to take into account the feelings that each colour can create. What kind of mood do you want to set? Below is the psychology behind colours and the mood that they can help create as written by the Event Planners Association;

White: Pure, clean, innocent in western cultures; mourning in eastern cultures; creates a sense of space so consider draping a small or dark room in white.

Black: Sophistication, power, elegance; in some cultures it represents death or mourning but in others it can mean life or rebirth; appropriate colour for high-end, black tie events.

Red: Excitement, passion, intensity; creates very strong emotions and attention-grabbing; causes blood pressure and heart rate to rise; great color for themed events where guests are encouraged to move throughout the venue.

Orange: Vibrancy, energy, excitement; creates a playful environment for your guests; attention-drawing so a great colour to use at a fundraiser, especially in a silent auction area.

Yellow: Cheery, warm, alert; this colour can also create frustration and anger and is fatiguing to the eye; probably best to use with another colour or as an accent and not as a major backdrop, for example, or focal point in a large room; increases the metabolism so a good choice for a breakfast meeting or brunch event.

Green: Natural, healthy, tranquil; creates a calming effect, relieves stress and helps heal; hence, the symbolism behind the term “green room” as a place to relax prior to going on stage to perform; also a colour to consider for a theme where “growth” is the topic.

Blue: Peace, trust, loyalty; a popular and neutral colour on a global level; lowers pulse rate and body temperature and creates productivity; perfect colour to use for a business meeting or corporate team training function.

Purple: Royalty, wisdom, wealth; an exotic colour that is associated with luxury and extravagance but also a spiritual connection; can be used in creating special effects with lighting, for example, when designing a VIP lounge area.

Source: Event Planners Association - The Psychology of Colour

Why Hire an Event Planner

You may think that an event planner is not necessary, and sure, for smaller events they’re not. Once you start thinking on a larger scale, i.e. caterers, hiring, venues, etc, things can get a little messy and complicated if you don’t know what you’re doing. So why do you need an event planner? Dreamscene from Townsville have out together a few very good reasons why you need an event planner:

Knowledge: An event planner's knowledge ranges from which suppliers and venues are most suited to your style and budget, to which prices are acceptable and which are not.

Save time: Instead of sitting in front of the internet for hours sourcing different venues and vendors - the hard work is done for you. All you need to do is pick from a short list of suitable suppliers and venues.

Organisational skills: Event Planners organise everything from sourcing decorations to organising catering ideas. With the help of a event planner, nothing will be left out and everything booked on time.

Themes and other inspirations: When planning an event, some people want something a little bit different. Event Planners can assist and suggest other alternatives to make your event unique and memorable.

Detail oriented: Event Planners are there to make sure nothing is left out. After planning many Events, they know exactly what every occasion needs and what other events may require. Everything is in the detail!

Save money: The hardest thing you will find when planning your special occasion is finding the best price, especially if you have no expectations about what things cost. When you hire an Event Planner they are there to do all the negotiating for you – to ensure you get the right price.

Sticking to your budget: An Event Planner can and will stick to your budget. Their expert advice, recommendations of suppliers and their cost-saving tips will ensure you do not go over budget and can sometimes even save you money.

Stress free: Many hours go into planning that perfect party or special occasion that can often leave people feeling stressed. With an Event Planner those worries are taken away for you. You can enjoy your occasion without the stress.

Flexibility: From as much or as little input as you wish, from small-scale to large-scale and suiting all themes and other requirements, event planners have flexibility in the way they work. They need this as no two events are the same.

Source: Dreamscene - Why Hire an Event Planner