With the average wedding in the United States costing approximately $20,000, it’s easy to see why many people have to take out loans or borrow money from family when planning their special day. Of course, it doesn’t have to cost this much. Cheap wedding planning is easily attainable, if you know the ways to save money and still have the wedding of your dreams. Below, this article will discuss tips to lower your wedding budget, and still have a beautiful ceremony!

Cheap wedding planning should be practiced for those who are having a wedding on a budget. Don’t ever feel like you are having to settle or “make do” with mediocre wedding accessories. Just learn how to bargain shop for your special day, and you will save tons of money in the long run!

Let’s face it, the wedding planning process is geared toward the female psyche. Why else would there be so much emphasis on the elements of colors, flowers, emotions, fashion and cake? (Okay, maybe the guys can embrace the cake idea, but forget the rest!)

If you’re one of those lucky gals whose fiancé wants to have input on everything from choosing linens to the height of the heel on your pump, then read no further. Give your honey his wedding to-do list and go get a manicure. If you’d like your Price Charming a little more involved, however, then try the following.

1. Ask yourself why you want your fiancé involved. Is it because you feel it demonstrates how much he loves you, or simply because the task overwhelms you and you want help? The answer to this question will determine how you will ask your fiancé to be involved. Is it important to you that he have input into which photographer you choose or would you rather his assistance be in a more detailed-oriented realm (like picking people up at the airport or making sure all the vendors are paid on time)?

2. Keep your wedding planning conversations with him brief. He probably wants to be involved, but an hour of debating the merits of freesias or daisies in your bouquet will have his eyes glazing over. When his input is desired, keep the chat to 15 minutes. If nothing is resolved, bring the topic to the table the next day. If nothing else, you’ll wear him down from sheer tenacity. 

3. At the beginning of the planning process, ask him which aspects of the planning he wants to be in charge of. This will allow him to select areas that interest him (saying selecting a DJ verses choosing cutsie wedding favors). 

4. Get him involved in the selection of food and alcoholic beverages. If you make a “date” out of tastings, he’ll be happy to go along. And the old adage is still true–the way to a man’s heart (or at least keeping his interest) is through his stomach. 

5. Narrow down his choices to two or three before asking for his input. Present him with any more choices of photographers and his eyes will glaze over looking at all the samples. 

6. Whatever you do, ALWAYS give him say in his wedding day attire. No matter how reluctant he is to participate in the other aspects of wedding planning, more than likely he’s going to balk at you telling him what to wear. 

7. If he tells you to simply delegate some vendors/tasks to him, then do so willingly, but be sure you give him ones that align with his interests. If he’s like most men, he’ll be more invested in looking for the DJ, wedding-day transportation, arranging the rehearsal dinner and tuxes than shopping for flower girl dresses. Most guys will want to have a say in their honeymoon destination, so you might want to have him come up with options for that too. 

8. Let him know you value his opinion. He just wants you to be happy, and he may think that the way to make that happen is to defer to you on all of the decisions. If you tell him that’s not the blessing he imagines it to be and that you’re excited to have his input, then he’ll be more prone to offer it. Caveat to this: you’re going to need to listen to his input and honor his suggestions from time to time! 

9. Make it easy for him to participate. Make sure you have a mutually-agreed upon system for organizing the wedding planning so he’s not off doing one thing while you’re doing something counterproductive to it. 

10. Remember to keep dating your fiancé during the wedding planning process. Sure you’re excited and maybe the wedding day is all you think about, but maybe you should relegate some of that chit chat to conversations with your mother and bridesmaids. Set aside at least one evening a week for a “No Wedding Talk” date night. He’ll be much more interested if you don’t flood him with wedding talk 24/7.

There is little doubt that the internet has revolutionized the world we live in. The way we work, shop & socialize have all changed in recent years & now wedding planning is getting in on the act.Traditionally your RSVP’s would come in the form of mailed back response cards which you would have included with your invitations. Your wedding planning then saw you sifting through the many responses deciphering handwriting & trying to calculate exactly who is coming & who isn’t. But nowadays you can approach your RSVP’s in a completely different way, thanks to the world of cyberspace! Having your RSVP’s handled online is a fairly new development in wedding planning but one which couple’s are getting to grips very quickly. So much so that the use of such a service has surged in popularity as couples find better & more efficient ways to organize their weddings. Unlike the traditional method of posting reply cards, online RSVP’s in an inexpensive method of collecting your guest’s replies & many of these online services will offer extra functions also.But how do you go about setting up one of these RSVP sites? It so easy to set one up & you can find various sites offering free basic services or for a fee sites which will offer a more complete wedding website package. Which ever option you choose you can have it set up & running in minutes. So what features can you expect from an online RSVP service?Please note that not all sites will offer all of these features, so check what they do offer before signing up.1) Multiple Events – You can collect replies for other events which you may be holding as part of your wedding celebrations. These could include Bridal Shower, bachelor/bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinner etc. 2) Print Capabilities – You can create your own lists of RSVP’s collected & customize them as you wish. These can then be handed out to people such as your wedding coordinator, caterer, wedding party members etc. 3) Downloadable Capabilities – You can create a spreadsheet of all your replies by downloading the information into a spreadsheet format or you can simply download it to any format you wish. 4) Live, Real-Time Data – You can be notified of RSVP’s as soon as your guests have submitted them. The beauty of the internet is the fast turnaround it offers & unlike the traditional method you won’t be waiting days on end for replies to drop the letterbox. 5) 24/7 Access to all Reports – You online RSVP service is available 24/7 so you can view it at any time of day or night. RSVP’s can be submitted at any time & you will be notified immediately, unlike the postal service which doesn’t run 24/7! 6) Share and Collect Additional Information – You can customize your site to collect other information from your guests such as dietary requirements, accommodation preferences, your gift registry & much more. 7) Meal Tracking – If you are offering a selection of dish choices for a sit down dinner, you can customize the site to collect your guests preferences as well. This is a great time saver as you can then submit these quickly to your caterer. Auto Confirmation Email – After your guests have completed the acceptance or decline of your invitation & have entered their email address, they will receive a confirmation email confirming their response. This can be reassuring to many guests who will want to know that their RSVP has been delivered. 9) Secure Storage – All your personal & private information, along with your entire RSVP’s & guest information are stored in a secure account which can only be accessed by use of a username & password. 10) Password Protection – For further security you can send your guests a unique password which they will need to access the site & submit their reply. 11) Special Messages – You can customize the site to accept personal messages from your guests. 12) Accurate Totals – The site will always produce live totals for your guest head count & you can customize your reports to view those that have declined & those that have accepted separately. 2 Benefits of using an online wedding RSVP site:1) It is cheaper than mailing cards.2) Your replies will not be lost in the post or be subject to long delivery times. There is a wide choice of sites available to choose from, some are free, others will offer various features for a fee. Whichever you choose make sure you pick a site which will give your all the features you need to aid your wedding planning & help your wedding day run as smoothly as possible.

Now, gentlemen, here’s the drill. You must first find the girl. No point in doing this without the woman of your dreams. Next you must acquire the ring, choose well. You must ask her out, drop to one knee and say, “Will you marry me?” With any luck, she’ll say yes.

She may say yes, but man! That is one mechanical and boring proposal. If you are truly in love, take the time to make your proposal memorable. This is a landmark moment in relationships and needs TLC.

Yeah, you can do the simple drop to one knee and blurt out the question bit. Just don’t forget to set the mood first. Your lady will appreciate you even more for taking the time to “set the stage” if you will.

If your lady is the sentimental kind, why not put together various things that will remind her of the various events in your relationship. For example, why not put all the stuff in a box and go through the contents with her. You can have a “remember when” afternoon with each of you identifying the napkin you wrote her number on, the card from the first bouquet of flowers you sent her, and so on.. Make sure to carefully conceal one more item in the box that you will bring out. Of course, the last item is the ring. Now’s the time to say the lines you’ve been rehearsing.

Too tame you say? Why not take it up a step? Take her on a tour of your favorite places. Make it a day out. Start in your favorite restaurant, do the things throughout the day that you enjoyed most while getting to know each other (try to choose the most romantic ones). How about ending your day by recreating your first dinner date? Pop the question after dessert.

Not inclined to go out in the foul weather? No problem. How about creating a treasure hunt especially for her? Start by creating a note that may simply say something like follow the rainbow to find gold. Next lay her a trail of something she loves that she’ll definitely follow (in this example, how about skittles). Put a few more notes in between that say how you feel like, “you color my world”. Of course at the end of the trail when she opens the door, there you are, in perfect position and saying the loveliest phrase any women can hear.

Of course, you may just prefer to literally ride off into the sunset with her. Take her on a trip with to a place you’ve both wanted to go. As you watch the sun set, ask her to marry you.

It doesn’t have to be anything too elaborate, but your lady will definitely appreciate the time and effort that you put into it. It’ll also help you avoid funny incidents like losing the ring as she flips open her table napkin, if you think the deed through. In the end, it’s still all about one question and the fervent hope that she’ll say yes!