My Total Budget ___________

The good news is you can do it. You can plan a low budget wedding that is beautiful and memorable, but yet not so costly. You might be wondering How? Therefore the following are a few ways to keep your wedding budget low:

1. Prioritize. Setting your expectations from the beginning and prioritizing your wishes will help you to keep your wedding budget low, yet still have the wedding you were hoping to have. If wedding portraits are top priority set aside the highest percentage of your budget for that purpose. If you do not mind less flowers or no reception then you could cut those budget areas to help give more budget for your higher priorities.

2. Shop Around. Shopping around and finding bargains is another way to save on your wedding budget. Many times you will spend more if you buy the first dress you see rather than shopping around to find the best dress for the amount of money you want to spend. Price several caterers before sticking with one. You will be surprised at the variations in price you will find if you take the time to find out costs from several places. You can do this for flowers, photographers, caterers, locations and more.

3. Lower your guest list. It is inevitable the more people you have at the wedding and / or reception the more costly the wedding will be. If you can weed down your guest list to your closest friends and family you can drop your costs significantly, saving money on both food and the location. Obviously the bigger the wedding party and guest list the bigger the location must be to accommodate, not to mention that you will have to have enough food to feed everyone at the reception.

4. Skip the full bar. Sure, it may seem nice to be able to offer drinks of their choosing to your guests it may not be the best for your budget. Limiting your guests to beer, wine, or a special selection of drinks can help you save in this area of your budget.

5. Serve cocktails and hors dhoeuvres rather than a full meal. Food costs money and therefore if your lessen the amount of food you are serving you will significantly lessen your budget as well. You will need to keep this in mind when setting the time of your wedding as it is proper and customary to serve a full meal at certain times of day, while other times are known to be times when hors dhoeuvres are just as acceptable.

6. Do it yourself. There are many areas of your wedding where creating your own do it yourself projects can save you money. Invitations for instance, there are amazing at home options that you can now print from your personal computer saving you a ton of money. Doing it yourself is a great way to save on decorations as well. You can arrange your own flowers, create your own centerpieces or even make your own favors and gifts.

These are some great ways to keep your wedding budget low and by doing so you do not have to sacrifice what is important to you. Remember the first step, prioritizing and then consider the others if you still need to cut your budget. Pick and choose the areas of your wedding that you are willing to sacrifice. Remember you will not be able to have it all, but you will be able to have what is most important to you and still keep your costs low.

Erica Brooks, owner of StressAwayBridal.com offers brides low budget wedding ideas and inexpensive brides accessories. Visit today to get Inexpensive Wedding Ideas and Tips Weekly, containing free ideas, tips and subscriber only discounts to help brides to save time and money while planning the wedding of their dreams!