Loans for Wedding Receptions and Venues

Planning your wedding?  Planning on preparing the table flowers yourself?  Here are some tips to save you money on your wedding when preparing your own wedding flowers.  Mini bouquets must be conditioned first by being placed in water, then take green plastic dishes and place foam and the number card in the middle.  Then add enough water and insert enough ivy tendrils to hide the plastic container. Rotate the container as you build the display to ensure that there are no gaps.  This video may provide some good insight on how to do all of this.

Want to wear the latest and greatest Jewelry or Designer Hand Bag for your wedding but don’t want to spend Designer Prices? Here’s a great way to save on wedding Jewelry. Bag Borrow or Steal now has their own wedding section of Hand Bags and Jewelry that you can borrow for your wedding, and the prices… not bad for a weekly rental. So why go out and spend $500 or more on the latest designer purse or jewelry when you can borrow it for the fraction of the price? Here are some examples of designer products that Bag Borrow or Steal has to offer that will help you save on your wedding.

Gucci Horsebit Pave Diamond Ring “Sexy meets sophisticated in this Gucci 18kt white gold ring glittering with pave diamonds. Size 6 1/2.”, $170.00 for the week.

Vera Wang Victorian Diamond Necklace, “From the Vera Wang ‘Victorian’ collection — Japanese Akoya pearls adorn this delicate 18-karat white gold necklace from Vera Wang. Diamonds lend sparkle to the pendant. Total diamond weight: 0.28 carats.”

Leiber ‘Glisten’ Clutch Bag, “Sparkle with the stars. You’ll get top billing with this glittering, fully beaded rhinestone clutch from Leiber. Finished with silvertone hardware and a jeweled clasp. Includes chain strap that can be tucked inside. Dimensions: 6″L x 1″W x 3″H.” $95.00 for the week.

In a previous entry we talked about ways to save on your wedding flowers.  One of the tips suggested was to pick flowers that are “in season”.  For instance, Forsythias, Hydrangeas, Roses and Tulips are in season during the winter.  While Calla Lilies, Ivies and Baby Breath are typically always in season.  Picking a flower during it’s season can help reduce the overall cost of your wedding.  However, one Bridal Flower tip that we forget to mention is in addition to flowers being in season with respect to their bloom / growth, you must also be aware of what flowers are in high demand due to the season that your wedding is planned for.  For instance, yellows and oranges are typically in higher demand in the fall season, while reds are typically in greater demand during the winter, and more particular, around Christmas.  The high demand for certain colors can often times double the cost of a flower.  When meeting with a florist, ask whether or not the flowers you like will be in high demand… Additionally, once you settle, make sure you lock in a rate, and give a deposit so that if the price of the flower goes up, you will not be penalized.

Alcohol can add a big expense to the total price of a catering hall.  At many places, an open bar will set you back an extra $25.00 or more per person.  If you plan to have 150 guests or more, they will add an extra $3,750 to the cost of your wedding.  Some alternatives which will allow you to reduce the alcohol expenses at your wedding are:

• Bring your own Alcohol.  Many reception halls will allow you to provide your own alcohol and they will provide the bar tenders.  For these catering halls, it is often best to find a local liquor store that will not only provide the alcohol at a below retail price, but will take back unused bottles of liquor.  Often these same places will make several “runs” - they will check up on your alcohol and replenish anything if needed.

• Cash Bar - Not my favorite alternative, but if you’re in a bind for cash, it’s better than no bar at all.  If someone wants to boose it up, they’ll have to pay… Something to keep in mind, you are going to spend an incredible amount of money on your wedding and this one simply thing unfortunately can leave a bad impression in the minds of your guest.  The last thing people think about before going to a wedding is bringing cash for tips and the bar… so, it could be a potential inconvenience for your guest.

• Drink Tickets - Don’t want to pay for an open bar, but don’t want to make your guests pay for all of their drinks - go half way.  Many reception halls will allow you to prepay for the alcohol you can afford and assign drink tickets.  Your guests can use their tickets to “buy” drinks or give it to a friend… When they’re all out of tickets, it’s a cash bar for them.

We recently posted an article discussing a great way to save on your weddding dress.  Here’s another great idea, sample sales.  What happens to those wedding dresses that people try on during the season?  At the end of the season, they are sold at a discount.  Last season at the Vera Wang Sample Sale, gowns were sold for 50% to 75% off the original price! Don’t be fooled… there’s nothing wrong with sample dresses, they are in excellent condition and, but simply can not be sold at a retail prices because they’ve been tried on.  Sample sales are a great way to get designer dresses for only a fraction of the cost.  And you’d be surprised about how many of them go on!  Here are some popular Wedding Gown Sample Sales in the New York City Area alone:

• Amsale Bridesmaids Sample Sale
• Saks Fifth Avenue Bridal Gown Sample Sale
• Vera Wang Wedding Dress Sample Sale

We’ve received some questions regarding the best ways to save on a wedding dresses.  From our experiences these are the steps that you should take to save on a bridal gown.

1. Search the internet and magazines to find the wedding dress that you really love.
2. Know who the designed the wedding gown and what the style number is, you’ll need this.
3. Go to a local store to try on all of wedding dresses that you think you may like to wear.  For the gowns that you like, be sure to note the size that fits you best.
4. Get a quote for the gown, but don’t buy the wedding dress from them until you’ve completely shopped around and feel comfortable with your decision.
5. Next get quotes from companies that sell wedding dresses online.  Get a written quote from as many of these places as possible.  You can get the quote via email or fax.
6. Finally, after finding the best price around, order from a company that will beat their competitors prices by 5%.  Several places that will do this are:

• RK Bridal No Frills Package
• Pearl’s Place

Dependent upon your catering hall / venue, you may have to pay for your wedding cake, or it may already be already included in your price per person.  If the former is true and you have to pay for your wedding cake, there are a number of options to consider in order to lower the cost of your cake.  Here are some ideas to consider to lower the cost of your wedding cake.

• A simple, plain cake is very cost effective to create, and by simply decorating the cake with fresh flowers, makes for a very elegant wedding cake.

• The more time consuming and expensive part of a wedding cake is it’s decoration.  Obviously the larger the cake, the more time spent decorating it.  Consider designing a smaller wedding cake, while cutting and serving a large plain cake?

• Avoid a circular cake, a square cake can cut more equal portions and thus less waste in cutting serving sizes.
• Purchase a cake from an independent off location (not at the reception hall) baker.

• Don’t save the top tier of the wedding cake.  Often times couples save the top tier of their wedding cake to eat on their anniversary.  Do you plan on eating that year old frozen cake?  Why not server the top tier to your guest?

Have any other wedding cake savings ideas?  Leave a comment.

In addition to the other must have wedding items, wedding flowers can be a costly expense. If you’re planning on having fresh flowers for the wedding ceremony (whether it’s a church, temple, venue), each member of the bridal party (boutiques for the bridesmaids and flower girl and boutonnieres for the Groomsmen / Ushers / Ring Bearer / Pageboy), floral arrangements / centerpieces for each table at the reception hall, flowers for the parents - it all adds up. Here are some ideas to save on Wedding Flowers.

• Choose Flowers that are in Season

• Choose Less Expensive Flowers, or use less expensive flowers as color fillers with expensive flowers.

Top 10 Most Expensive Flowers:

1. Casablanca Lily
2. Gardenia
3. Hydrangea
4. Lily of the Valley
5. Lisianthus
6. Orchid
7. Peony
8. Rose
9. Stephanotis
10. Tulip

Top 10 Inexpensive Flowers:

1. Alstroemeria Lily
2. Baby’s Breath
3. Carnation
4. Chrysanthemum
5. Daisy
6. Freesia
7. Gladiolus
8. Queen Anne’s Lace
9. Sunflower
10. Sweet William

• It’s tacky, but consider decreasing the size of your Bridal party to reduce the number of bouquets that must be purchased. Boquets are typically $80 - $120 each!

• Instead of using flower arrangements for center pieces, consider using candles (possibly on top of mirrored tiles) and scatter rose petals or fall leaves to bring color to the table.

• Choose in season flowers - this will reduce much of the overhead that the florist will incur.

After your wedding is over, the only thing that is left are your memories, photos and videos. Hiring the perfect Wedding Photographer is a must, I would highly suggest taking short cuts in this area. However, I would suggest choosing some cost savings options that most photographers provide. Here are some things to consider:

• If you’re getting digital pictures taken, find a photographer who will provide you with a digital copy of your photographs. If you’re getting classic film photos taken, find a photographer who will provide you with the negatives.
  • Your wedding photographer is going to provide you with many album package options. These packages can range in price from $500 - $5,000. Most photographers simply pick out a variety of photos that they think you would like, have you make the final decision and then send them out to a lab for touch up and print. If you’re looking to save money, there are a number of labs that you can contact directly to avoid the photographer’s price mark up.
  • Additionally, by getting access (in contract) to all of the digital photos or negatives, you can avoid having your wedding pictures being taken hostage. Often times an unethical photographer will hold on to the photo negatives and charge outrageous prices for any prints that you may want. A year after your wedding, you decide you want one more 8 x 10, are you prepared to pay $40, $50, $60 for each 8 x 10?

Photo Source: JVP Weddings

Another great wedding saving tip to consider - Plan your wedding date on the off season.

Tip: Plan Your Wedding in 6 Months!

Another option to consider is planning a wedding in six months! It can be hard to do for a lot of people, but if you create a plan and stick to it, it can be done. The great benefit of planning a wedding in six months, is that a lot of people won’t do it… and venues know this. They also know if the date is not already booked, then it probably won’t get booked. As a result, venues are often willing to offer a very tempting price on a date that is not already booked. Sometimes these prices can be up to 1/2 the amount of the original cost per person.

Consider this - Save Money on your wedding photographer by getting digital photos on disc.