Here Comes the Bride (In a Used Wedding Dress)
Planning a wedding can be terribly expensive, and many brides and grooms-to-be are now trimming expenses in light of the economic downturn, not surprisingly. A couple of years ago, the average cost of a wedding was $26,450; these days, it's just $19,212, according to a recent survey conducted by a market research company. Cutting back on your wedding budget has its advantages, though. Initially, you were worried it would be really rude to not invite your freshman year roommate, especially since she invited you to her wedding, not that you gave any serious thought to spending a Saturday night at a Ramada in Wichita. But now you have a perfect excuse for keeping her off the invite list. You just can't afford it! Planning a destination wedding achieves much the same effect. Since many people are now resistant to the idea of spending thousands of dollars to attend weddings in far-flung places, holding the event elsewhere will ensure that people you don't know/like will stay home, particularly if the "destination" you have in mind is a remote island in the Indian Ocean.
Today's Wall Street Journal has a few bits of advice on how to reduce wedding expenses and much of it is perfectly sensible. You'll save a ton of money by buying a second-hand wedding gown or borrowing one from a friend, for example, and if you pick locally-grown flowers that are in season—as opposed to rarer ones that have been imported from abroad—you may end up saving a bundle. You can try negotiating with vendors; they're often willing to offer lower prices if you just ask.
Some of the advice is bit more dubious, though. Given it's challenging enough to keep a marriage together these days, following the lead of one Texas woman and constructing your wedding rings out of "friends' broken jewelry" may not be the most auspicious way to get your marriage started on the right foot. And while it's nice to hear that national parks only charge $50-$150 for a wedding permit, if you need to hand guests a bottle of insect repellent and/or a leaflet on what to do in the event a bear attacks before the ceremony begins, well, you may want to consider holding off until you can afford holding a destination wedding the Ramada in Wichita.
