Budgeting your  Wedding with Style

Planning a wedding with a limited budget requires creativity and careful planning.  Freelance writer Fern Glazer talked to the pros to find out how to do it without sacrificing style and elegance.

While every couple planning a wedding has some kind of budget constraint, in these tough economic times, more and more couples are finding they have far less to spend than they’d hoped. But just because your wedding fund has shrunk like a wool sweater left too long in the dryer doesn’t mean you can’t have a big, elegant affair.  “Sometimes the limitations somehow guide you to a new choice that’s ten times better than what you originally wanted,” says wedding expert Sharon Naylor, author of 1001 Ways to Save Money and Still Have a Dazzling Wedding.

Naylor says the biggest place to save is on the cuisine, which is often 60 percent of a wedding budget. For example, she suggests serving inexpensive entrees like pasta or chicken topped with gourmet sauces as opposed to expensive steak. “Talk to your caterer about different sauces … find a way to replace a pricey item and then dress it up,” she says.  And here’s another trick:  serve food on eye-catching plates.  “Ask about platters … presentation in the plating will make less expensive dishes look amazing.”

Andrea Correale, president of Elegant Affairs Caterers in Glen Cove agrees: “If it looks great and tastes great, then it doesn’t feel like you’re skimping.”  For couples on a tight budget, Correale suggests passing just a few choice hors devours at the cocktail hour instead of having lots of stations, choosing just one really great main course instead of three and serving only a spectacular wedding cake for dessert instead of an entire Viennese table.  Another way to significantly cut costs is to opt out of dinner altogether and throw a daytime affair, which would involve lighter fare.  Brunch weddings are a great way to save, for example.

Reception music, which can eat up a huge chunk of your budget, is another key place to save, say industry experts. While hiring a DJ is less expensive than a band, couples can cut costs by working with a dance club DJ rather than one who specializes in weddings.  But be careful:  “A DJ is cheaper than a band, but a bad DJ can ruin your wedding,” cautions  Marc “DJ Chef” Weiss, a Long Island-based professional who DJs and cooks for special events and private parties.  “Ask your favorite local club/bar DJ who probably doesn’t do a lot of weddings if he or she is available.”  But do seek out a recommendation from the club proprietor, as well, to make sure the DJ is reliable.

Another easy way to cut costs (and help the environment) is by passing on pricey paper invitations and sending free (or nearly free) electronic announcements through websites such as Evite.com.  “We are seeing a major shift towards bride’s choosing electronic invites,” says a spokeswoman for Evite of the increased popularity of this cost-saving option. “We currently have eight wedding-specific designs but plan to triple that number over the next couple of months.”

No matter what the financial limitations, couples shouldn’t resign themselves, say wedding insiders. “Keep confident that you can beat the system,” says Naylor, adding that focusing on what is feasible, rather than what’s not, is the better way to plan your wedding.