According to a recent VISA survey, two-thirds of American couples over spend on their wedding day. Yikes! Here are a few wedding planning tips and hints that may keep you out of the poor house.
1. Edit your guest list. Usually, your first attempt at a list of invited guests is way too big. Take a closer look at the list and make cuts. Who can you exclude from the list without any unwanted drama? Who will definitely come and who is a maybe? Who will bring a gift, who won’t? Just joking 
2. Cupcake wedding cake. A fairly new fad is to have cupcakes as your wedding cake. This is usually less expensive than the traditional three or more tiered wedding cakes. Plus you can have more of an accurate count for how many cupcakes you would need to order. With a traditional [tag]wedding cake[/tag] it is more of a guessing game.
3. Choose your day wisely. Usually brides don’t like to get married on a weekday, but if you absolutely need to save a few bucks you should. Venues will usually charge you much less if you are scheduling a wedding on a weekday or on a Sunday.
4. Dry wedding. If you need to save some money, try having a dry wedding with no alcoholic beverages. You may not get to see your crazy uncle dance that night but you will save that money from the drinks.
5. Buy drinks on consumption. If you absolutely have to have the drinks than you should buy them on “consumption”. Certain alcohol distributors will let you buy a bunch of product from them and serve it to your guests. Whatever product is not used can be returned to the distributor and you get reimbursed for any product that is not consumed. Neat huh?
6. DIY wedding favors. Try making your own [tag]wedding favors[/tag]. This does take a bit of your time but you can make great looking homemade wedding favors that look just like the professionals.
7. Use a honeymoon registry. If you are going to a resort for your [tag]honeymoon[/tag] your guests can pay for some of your activities while you’re on your honeymoon and give them as gifts. All inclusive resorts are great but you can still spend a pretty penny on some of those excursions and other activities.
8. Plan mostly on your own. This is a tough one because most people like to have wedding planners so that everything can be perfect. If you have a good sense of what you want then you can do most of the planning on your own. Be prepared though because it could get a bit time consuming. Wedding planners don’t get paid the bucks for nothing
9. Go easy on the invites. Many people love to purchase elaborate “save the dates” and multi layered wedding invitations. Well, if you are trying to save a few bucks try to be as simple as possible but still classy. Many companies out there that make the “save the dates” and wedding invitations can be cheap as well as classy. It just takes some quality research to find them.
10. Ask for help. This may seem like a no brainer but some couples are too stubborn or embarrassed to ask for help from family or friends. Now, you may not want to ask someone to pay for the entire reception or your whole honeymoon, but if you need some assistance with something like invitations, go ahead and ask.
The team at Signature Wedding Aisle Runners