Make your big day special without the huge expense
(ARA) – It’s no secret, weddings are notoriously expensive and brides are infamously frivolous. Most women dream of their perfect wedding for years. Though pockets may be tight as couples look for ways to make smart, long-term financial decisions, it doesn’t mean the happy bride and groom-to-be have to sacrifice on their big day. It’s easier than ever to have a budget-friendly dream wedding.

Follow these five simple ways to keep it frugal and fabulous:

Be thoughtful and unique.
Apply the simple law of supply and demand to your advantage. Seasons, times and locations that are “hot” for weddings will inevitably break the bank because they can. Avoid paying a premium for your “day” by considering options like a cozy mid-winter Sunday brunch or an outdoor Thursday evening cocktail reception in early fall. Think about choosing a time of year or location that is unique and special to you for an unforgettable wedding that gives an extra boost to your budget. You will find that it pays to be different.

Be crafty and do it yourself.
They say time is money, but that is not always true, as small investments of your time can save hundreds of dollars in wedding planning. From invitations to seating cards, programs and ceremony or reception decorations, an abundance of beautiful do-it-yourself wedding project kits are available on-line and at popular retailers. Also consider saving money by purchasing flowers from an online wholesaler and then assembling bouquets yourself. If you’re not set on floral centerpieces, try buying ornate glass bowls from an antique shop to fill with beautiful items (rose petals, sea shells, floating candles, etc.) that coincide with your theme.

Not the craftiest of sorts? Tap into the creativity of close friends or family members and recruit them for a wine and cheese night accompanied by invitation, favor or centerpiece assembly.

Be beauty conscious, early on.
When it comes to bridal beauty, timing is everything. It’s an easy element to put off until last minute, but recognizing your beauty needs at the beginning of your planning can save you a lot of money. If a bright white smile is on your checklist, prep a couple months before your wedding and take advantage of less expensive tools versus more expensive, last minute teeth whitening. Celebrity dentist Dr. Debra Glassman recommends brushing with Starbrite toothpaste and chewing two pieces of sugar-free Orbit White gum after meals and drinks like coffee or red wine as an affordable way to keep smiles white and wedding ready.

Also, a few months before the big day, consider consulting a make-up specialist about your wedding day make-up and then keep an eye out for major department stores sales to stock-up on the necessary beauty essentials.

Be your own disc jockey.
Bands and DJs can be expensive. Instead, use your MP3 player. Handle your wedding day music needs the “no hassle” way by loading your player with everyone’s favorite tunes and renting speakers from a local party store.

Choose your music-obsessed teen cousin or a juke box-loving friend to be in charge of the music during the reception in case the system freezes or you need to accommodate a special song request. Keep your mix upbeat and include classics as well as modern songs, so you’re sure to appeal to all crowds.

Be thrifty and do your research — online.
It pays to be tech savvy when you’re planning on a dime. Virtually everything found in stores can be bought online and often for less. Coupon Web sites provide discount codes to online merchants and can be easily found by typing the retailer’s name and “coupon code” in your search engine. Deals range from major price cuts to free shipping, so think beyond the ceremony — a rehearsal dinner dress, bridesmaids gifts, even centerpieces can all be found online.

Using the Internet also allows you to research wedding vendors from the convenience of your laptop. Free online resources like www.OneWed.com, the Web site with the largest searchable online database of local wedding vendors, let you easily browse thousands of vendor profiles, with ratings and reviews from brides across the country.  Save time and money by taking advantage of previous brides’ feedback when choosing your preferred vendors.

Cheers to your big (affordable) day.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

If you are planning a wedding and plan to have a unity candle as part of the ceremony, you might want to think outside the box.

Traditionally, the unity candle involves three candles. The bride has one, the groom the other, and their two lighted candles light the third candle. This is done to represent the coming together of the two people to make one unit. In some alternate methods, family members are invited to participate in the unity candle lighting, often the mothers of the bride and groom, or other close members of the family. Each family then lights a candle, and together they light the unity candle to symbolize of the coming together of the families.

Now, there are a few twists you can add to this fairly conventional aspect of a wedding ceremony. You can provide each guest with an unlit candle when they arrive at the ceremony. After the couple lights the unity candle, they can ask the guests to move to the front of the church (or wherever the ceremony is being held) and light their candles with the lighted unity candle. This can take a bit of time and might be best with a smaller guest list. But it is a meaningful way to not only get your guests involved in the ceremony itself, but also symbolize the union of family and friends with the marriage.

If there is a large guest list and it would be a prohibitive waste of time to do a candle lighting involving everyone at the ceremony, some brides and grooms like to bring the unity candle to the reception. Light the candle again and provide each guest with a small votive candle (the candle holder will be on the tables at individual table settings). As guests come into the reception area or hall, they can light their votive and take it to their table to place into the votive holder. This small votive candle can double as a wedding favor, particularly if you decorate or enhance a plain votive candleholder in some way to coordinate with your wedding.

Of course, you can forget having a unity candle at the ceremony altogether. Many brides these days are trying to reduce the length of the ceremony and spend more time planning the reception. In that light, some choose to do away with a unity candle altogether. You can certainly do this, or you can cut it out of the ceremony and make it part of the reception.

To do this, you can use the votive candle option suggested above, or you can simply incorporate the unity candle lighting into the reception activities themselves. For example, you might choose a quiet moment in the reception to have a lighting of the unity candle. It might be during a short prayer prior to the serving of the meal, or right before the cake is cut. In this case, the unity candle can then be used as decoration on the cake table. As the bride and groom cut the cake and pieces are served to guests, the candle can also serve as a reminder of the couple’s new bond and that the bond is shared with all the guests as well.

Although having a unity candle at the wedding or reception isn’t necessary, it is certainly an option that many brides and grooms opt to include. But it’s important to remember that as with so much surrounding wedding planning there are ways to make it unique and interesting and special to the couple getting married.

However, the right wedding invitation need not cost an arm and a leg. It is not wise to spend a fortune that can be used somewhere else. The range of kinds and styles of discount wedding invitation is vast. Choosing a particular one can be very confusing. There are discount wedding invitations and if you follow the guidelines below you will definitely never go wrong in choosing one. The key is to be prudent and not letting yourself get carried away. You can even save more money if you follow these guidelines.

Choose your wedding invitation style well. As mentioned earlier, your primary consideration in choosing a wedding invitation style is the theme and motif of your wedding. Is your wedding grand or simple? Will your wedding be light or formal? Other than that, it all depends on personal taste and budget. But whatever your taste or budget range is, you will definitely be able to find a good wedding invitation.

Determine the kind of wedding you’ll have. Your type of wedding invitation will largely depend on whether you will have a traditional or modern wedding. Traditional weddings would require a more formal invitation. On the other hand, a modern wedding will call for a more modern kind of wedding invitation. Traditional wedding invitations would only contain texts. It wouldn’t contain any graphics. Traditional wedding invitations are usually upright and folded with the words engraved on the right side. Cards used in traditional wedding invitations are usually white or cream and the letterings are in silver and black. If you are having a themes wedding then choose a wedding invitation that is appropriate for your chosen theme. For example, you can have a sixteenth century scrolled parchment wedding invitation if the theme of your wedding is Tudor.

Choosing a supplier. Wedding invitations can be obtained by mail order, printer, stationers and stationery designers or you can buy online. Choose a supplier that provides value added services and features so you will get real value for your money. Some suppliers will help you right the wording in your wedding invitation. Some will even help you with wedding etiquette rules and would help you if you are confused about all the etiquette rules involved in sending out wedding invitations. It would also be nice if the supplier has trained and experienced wedding etiquette and social correctness experts. Choose a supplier that offers personalized service so you can be sure that you are not getting run of the mill wedding invitation.

A good discount wedding invitation supplier will also respond to your inquiries and requests promptly either through email or by phone. But your privacy must always be requested so make sure that any personal information you provide to them is used for the sole purpose of processing your order. Your order must be transmitted across a secure server, so your billing information is kept private.

With today’s economy, one of the least expensive forms of wedding invitations has been designing your own invitation and printing it out on your own printer. Many of the current color printers on the market today have excellent quality and you can purchase your own paper design at places like Office Depot or Paper Chase. JBT Graphic Design is just one place online that you can have your design typed up and use it to print at an extreemly affordable price.