Invitations

It has become apparent to me that the most stressful part of the wedding (at least in my opinion) is the invitations. My mother and my future mother-in-law have both been great help with this task, but I still tend to get a little overwhelmed when dealing with the invitations.

First, I printed my invitations myself! I caught a sale at Hobby Lobby, so all my invitations were 50% off. Printing them was quite easy. My invitations include a basic 5 1/2 x 8 inch invitation card, a 3 1/2 x 5 inch RSVP card, and also a small card with directions to the venue. Even though I included so much in each envelope, transferring all the addresses to the envelopes was the stressful part of this task.

I recommend getting some standard size address labels from Staples. I tried to use some that were smaller than average, and I could never seem to get the text to line up with the label. All this stress could have been relieved had I simply forgone the "pretty" labels, and bought the standard white address labels at Staples. Take my advice - the easier, the better!

My Budget

I thought it might help some brides if they saw what my budget looks like at this particular moment. I am trying to plan my entire wedding for about $6,000. I hope this helps!

Ceremony and Reception Venue						$1,735.00
	Venue					$ 1,200.00
	Audio/Visual Package					$ 150.00
	Linens					$ 100.00
	Setup/Teardown Fee					$ 90.00
	Stage					$ 120.00
	Keyboard					$ 75.00
Wedding Cake						$ 544.00
	14-10-8-6					$ 380.00
	Tax					$ 32.00
	Ribbon					$ 10.00
	Delivery					$ 50.00
	Grooms Cake					$ 72.00
Bridesmaid Dresses						$ 552.54
	After Six 6548					$ 440.00
	Tax					$ 31.54
	Shipping					$ 20.00
	Riley's Dress					$ 61.00
Wedding Dress						$ 810.00
	Dress					$ 599.00
	Bra and Underskirt					$ 70.00
	Tax					$ 66.15
	Hair (Bride and Bridesmaids)					$ 75.00
Flowers						$ 292.49
	Bridal Bouquet					$ 65.00
	Bridesmaid Bouquets					$ 70.00
	6 Boutonnieres					$ 36.00
	Petals					$ 30.00
	Cake Topper					$ 17.50
	Cake Daisies					$ 24.00
	Tax					$ 22.99
	Corsages					$ 20.00
	Delivery					$ 7.00
Catering from Klein's Catering						$ 590.74
	6 Meat and Cheese Trays					$ 177.00
	3 Veggie Trays					$ 67.50
	3 Fruit Trays					$ 84.00
	3 Chocolate Covered Strawberry Trays					$ 135.00
	Tax					$ 45.89
	Delivery					$ 35.00
	10% Fee					$ 46.35
Photography						$ 875.00
Decorations						$ 457.91
	Napkins					$ 54.22
	Centerpieces, Aisle Runner, Invitations					$ 126.02
	Twinkle Lights					$ 7.30
	Toasting Glasses
	Guest Book/Pen
	Arch					$ 30.00
	Garland					$ 50.00
	Sparklers					$ 149.12
	Chair Bows					$ 41.25
Rings						$ -
	Groom's Ring
Total Cost of Wedding						$5,857.68

Step 1: Find the venue(s)

Find a wedding venue. Typically, wedding ceremonies last 15-30 minutes long. Find a church, gazebo, park, chapel, auditorium, etc. that will allow you to hold your wedding for a nominal fee. Although you want your wedding to be beautiful, there is no sense in going bankrupt on the venue itself. Consider having an outdoor wedding if you are really strapped for cash.

Find a reception venue. The reception itself will probably be the most expensive part of the entire wedding extravaganza. One way to cut corners is to find a venue that will allow you to hold your wedding and your reception in the same place. For instance, many churches have reception halls in them. Use the chapel for the ceremony, and hold the reception in their "fellowship hall" or whatever they call their reception area. If that won't work for you - try to rent a room large enough that it can be split down the middle. Half of the room can be used for the ceremony, and the other half can be used for the reception. (This is what I am doing for my wedding.)