Expenses in a wedding often includes the church rental (if it’s a church wedding), the reception area rental, decoration expenses, catering expenses, florist fees, wedding planner fees, clothing expenses, car rentals, and many more. If you are on a budget, it would seem impossible to plan a wedding at all. But do not fear, there is a solution for this. If you are planning a wedding on a budget maybe you can cut the costs of decorations. Here are some tips. If you have the creativity and the skills in arranging the flowers, you can make your own wedding flower arrangements. Ask the help of your cousins or friends.

First think of how many flower arrangements to make. That will include the flower arrangements for the altar; the tables for the reception, the pews, maybe corsages for the men and the bride’s maid, and of course the bride’s bouquet. Buy your flowers direct from farmers/gardeners. This will ensure cheaper and fresher flowers. You may go and ask flower shops for ways to preserve flowers so you can start making the arrangements days before the wedding. It is a wise idea to draw your flower arrangement designs on a paper if you are going to have help or have a picture of the arrangement you want copied available for those who want to help so that if you want to go and tend to other tasks you can leave your people behind and not worry.

Another part of the decoration that you can do yourself is the wedding arch. Wedding arch frames can be made from scratch. Have your brother or father build you a frame made of wood or steel. After which you can place the wedding arch decorations yourself. Cover the frame with greens and flowers and lights to have a beautiful arch. Again the key is buying fresh and cheap flowers.

Decorative candles are expensive. Why not make your own. Buy simple white cheap candles. You may opt to wrap the candles in a colorful fabric (make sure it is well below the flame), stick on Swarovski crystals or pin flowers on them. This way, the candles are decorative but are inexpensive.

Chairs are also decorated. You don’t have to buy expensive ready make chair skirts. To save money, you can opt to buy the cheapest fabric, and tie it on the back of the chair in a ribbon like fashion. You can also have paper ribbon maches painted in whatever color you like and put them on the back of the chair as a decoration.

Lights are also part of the decorations. Actually Christmas lights that are monochrome are great light decorations for weddings. Mix them with tulle fabric to create a great effect. You don’t have to opt for chandeliers are that are really expensive. You may also have candles in beautiful candle holders to replace expensive lighting fixtures.

Wedding table centerpieces don’t have to be extravagant flower arrangements. They could be monochrome balloons in different shapes arranged in a towering fashion with the couple’s pictures or ribbons. Again these are simple arrangements to make. Making them yourself will cut down your expenses. You can go to a party favor shop and purchase a box of wedding balloons of different shapes. Two elongated balloons of different colors can be twisted around a cylindrical stand to make a cute center piece.

Now you see that doing your own wedding decorations to save money is easy. They key here is to allow a lot of time for you to do these things and get help.

The costs of a wedding add up quickly. Most couples getting married discover that fairly quickly and begin to look for ways to trim costs. One of the areas that is often looked at closely are the wedding favors.

Wedding favors don’t have to cost a fortune and can still be very meaningful to the couple and the wedding setting. A little study of the options and consideration of what makes the most sense given the wedding setting usually leads the couple to finding the perfect favor for a price that they can live with.

What matters most is not the cost of the wedding favor gift but how fitting it is and the thoughtfulness put into it. This article is designed to help you come to the same conclusion.

Ideas for Choosing Something Appropriate

Just spend some time thinking about your wedding and your guests. For example, what time of the year will your wedding take place? A fall wedding would suggest some appropriate favors. One couple getting married near Halloween had candied caramel apples as their parting “gift” to their guests. They were beautiful, tasty, creative and certainly fit in well with the season. And the cost? Not too much. You can buy these fairly inexpensively or it could be a fun project for some of your friends who have offered to help with your wedding preparations.

Here are some other ideas for favors:

1. Wedding Photo frames: The frame may include one of the engagement photos, or simply a frame with a “love message” on the frame and one in which the couple can place a photo of whoever they would like: their wedding photo, a child, or whoever they love.

2. A Wedding CD with special music. These CD’s can include some of the favorite music of the couple, including perhaps some of the music that was used at the wedding or reception. It might also be good to keep in mind the differing musical tastes of the guests.  Just because the couple enjoys one type of music doesn’t mean that all their guests will also appreciate it. So a variety of music might be a good idea. The music could also fit a certain theme. If you were getting married in Nashville, Music City USA, then a CD of country music would be fitting. And sense there is a wide range of country music styles these days, you should have no problem having the variety of songs just mentioned.

3. A common and traditional gift to guests are white Jordan Almonds. Of course, white is the wedding color. Most people probably don’t realize that there is a certain symbolism to the number of almonds given. For example, 3 almonds represent happiness, wealth and health. Since most people don’t know the number has meaning, you might wonder why do it at all. Good question. If you do, you might include a note that explains the significance. Jordan Almonds are a favorite tasty treat to many, but they are not really cheap.

Budget

Is there a rule for what you spend on favors? Not one that we know of that really works for every situation. Again, the amount is not the most important consideration. You want something that fits – something that people will enjoy getting. Creativeness and personal involvement can substitute for spending a lot of money.

We don’t need to tell you but you do have many other expenses related to your wedding party and guests. It’s not like the wedding favors are “payment” for the trouble and expense that your guests have gone to in order to be at your wedding. You are likely feeding your guests at the reception, and maybe feeding them very well – along with drinks.

It’s more of a traditional, small “thank-you.”  Just keep it cost-wise as a small percentage of the overall amount you’ve decided to spend on each wedding guest.

DIY Wedding Favors

We already mentioned the caramel apples idea, but many of the ideas for wedding favors can be do it yourself projects. Because saving some money, hand-made favors are more personal. That doesn’t mean than saving money is automatic. Your costs of the supplies can add up little by little. If you are not careful it is possible to spend more than you would have to just go out and buy favors. If you can stay away from anything with the wedding label on it, you can get what you need for less.

Spend Some Time Thinking…

That is, thinking about your wedding…the style, atmosphere and theme. What if you wedding is to take place on a beach? You gotta be thinking something with sand or sea shells. What if your wedding is out in the country? Maybe one of those old-fashioned jars filled with old-fashioned candies. What about the city in which your wedding takes place?

Especially if you having many guests coming from out of state, something with a local flavor is nice. We know of a Nashville wedding, where the bride and groom gave gifts (jellies) from the world famous Loveless Café. Flower or trees seeds are the choice of wedding favors for couples that are emphasizing having a green (eco-friendly) wedding. A wedding theme can easily dictate the best wedding favor. A rhinestone wedding but mean a rhinestone wedding favor.

Want your names and wedding date on something? Frames, bookmarks and candles are frequent choices.

Most people love chocolate and you see many chocolate wedding favors. Not such a great idea though for an outdoor summer wedding. The chocolate could melt and be a big mess.

Where you buy your favors or made them yourself, don’t wait til the last minute. As you get closer to your wedding, you will have less time. Last minute details will take all your time, and you want to have time to enjoy being with family and friends as they are coming into town.

If you buying favors online, get them ordered 8-12 weeks at least before your wedding. Don’t think that you can order them a week before and get what you want. Either they may not have your choice in stock, or they just won’t arrive on time. What are you going to do, mail them to your guests then!

Below we will adding some photos of wedding favors and wedding favor displays at weddings we attend. These may offer some of your best wedding favors ideas:

Simple Candies in Small Jars for Decorative Wedding Favors

Amore Vellum Wedding Invitation Kit (50 Pack)	Cathy’s Concepts Brown and Ivory Vintage Invitations Kit	Blank Wedding Invitation Summer Heart Medley (50 Pack)
Cathy’s Concepts Premium Self-Mailer Invitation Kit	Cathy’s Concepts DIY Invitations and Accessories Kit, White	The Artful Bride: Wedding Invitations: A Stylish Bride’s Guide to Simple, Handmade Wedding Correspondence
DIY Wedding Invitation Kit Tuxedo White Passion (50 Pack)	DIY Wedding Invitation Kit Tuxedo White Aqua (50 Pack)	Cathy’s Concepts Botanical Green Invitations Kit
The DIY Bride: 40 Fun Projects for Your Ultimate One-of-a-Kind Wedding

DIY wedding invitations are an opportunity to create unique wedding invitations that reflect your personality and creativity. You can give your guests a memorable keepsake from you wedding that they will cherish for years to come. Making your own invitations can also be a great way to save money for the other things you want for your wedding. If you plan properly, you can create a fabulous DIY wedding invite for a fraction of the cost of purchasing invitations.

If you already do a lot of crafts, you have a head start in creating beautiful, memorable invitations. If you are new to crafts, do not fret. There are a lot of options available, including DIY wedding invitation templates and DIY wedding invitation kits that can help you in this process. If you have a friend or family member who is creative, think about enlisting their help.

Unless you are having a very small wedding, having someone help you will not only speed up the process but it will also help to keep you on track. The invitations for your wedding are an important part of you big day and you want them to be beautiful and memorable, so make sure that you have enough help and enough time.

Once you decide that you are going to create your own invitations the first thing you need to think about is time. DIY wedding invites take time. Make sure you start the process early enough that you do not feel rushed. Invitations need to be sent out to guests 6 to 8 weeks before your wedding. With this in mind, you should probably start making your invitations at least four to five months before the wedding.

Once you sit down to design your invitations, the first thing you should think about is the envelopes and paper or cardstock you will be using. Envelopes come in standard sizes and the last thing you need is to have a stack of invitations ready and you cannot find envelopes to fit.

Standard announcement envelopes come in three sizes: A-7 envelopes are 5.38” x 7.63” and hold a 5” x 7” announcement (after folding), A-10 envelopes are 4.38” x 9.75” and hold a 4” x 9” invitation and A-2 envelopes are 4.375” x 5.75” and will hold a 4” x 5.25” invitation.

Other sizes are available but these three are the standard and you should be able to find matching paper or card stock without too much trouble. You can make your envelopes, but this is a time consuming process and you will not save all that much money by doing so.

You can also purchase DIY pocket fold wedding invitations. DIY pocket fold wedding invitations are folding envelopes that are designed to hold each piece of your invitation including the replay cards separately. You can purchase pocket folds separately or with blank invitations included.

Once you have picked out your envelopes and paper or cardstock, it is time to actually design your DIY invitations. The first thing you should think about is the wording of your invitations. Standard invitation language is available in many places including wedding guides and etiquette books. Choose your wording and then typeset it using a standard word processing program or desktop publishing system.

You can also use a DIY invitation kit that allows you to fill in a ready-to-use template with your personal information. Always print out your designs, do not rely on how they look on the computer screen. There are always small differences between what is on the computer screen and what comes out of your printer. Once you are happy with the wording and design of your invitation, print a few copies out and give them to a few people to proofread for you.

Once you have decided on the wording and design of the basic invitation, you can decide what else you may wish to do with your invitations. If you have purchased invitations that include design elements, you might be finished at this point. If you purchased plain invitations, you may want to embellish them with pressed flowers or rubber stamp designs. You can also check out the memory book section of your local crafts store for more ideas.

Cheap DIY wedding invitations offer a unique opportunity for you to create your own personalized wedding invitations that reflect your personality and style in a way that no standard invitation can match.