Luxe Wedding On A Budget

There are really no prizes for the most spent on a wedding. One doesn’t get a picture in a fancy luxe wedding, and all you are left with is an empty bank account.

With the prices skyrocketing, everyone wants to pull off a grand wedding at budget prices. Even though it’s a once in a lifetime ceremony, couples should try to have the best do possible within a budget, so you can save massive amounts of money for your wedding! With simple planning, little hard work, detailed

budgeting or shopping, one can imagine the wedding with all glitz and glamour, at a fraction the price!

Get, Set, Let’s Get Wed

Here are ways on how to get a posh look without going broke.

1. We’d put our money on a modest decor, by choosing a venue with a lot of character of its own. Well, a zoo, museum, gallery, botanical garden, historical site or renting a vacation home can be your best bet! The money you save up from having a private wedding ceremony can be put to a luxury honeymoon or anexpensive wedding ring. You can be cost-conscious by having a wedding cum cocktail cum reception, which should be an intimate affair.Ashu Garg, the founder of Good Times Concept Events gives us very useful tips for venues and functions he says “From roka till wedding, people go searching for venues to start the functions. Thus could be cut down by doing all the functions in one day. Wedding a hectic affair, why not just do it all in a single day. Once the roka is done, families can book the wedding venue and do ring and haldi in the morning and wedding in the evening. This would bring down your budget immensely. Booking a venue is no less than 7-10 lakhs, so multiply this with each function. One can get married at the religious place and share the cost for the reception later on.”

2. Invest in the lighting, flower garlands and dress up the chairs for a special look. Use rich hues, the colour effect works wonders. Ashu’s take on the DIY décor is, “Many expenses involving small and handy decor could be done by you and your relatives. Like decorating the thali for ring ceremony. Or decorating the entrance area for the groom. Rangoli could be made of the flowers that are used in the wedding. Like colorful dupattas at wall could be draped around the ceiling making it fall on the floor at mehendi function. Flowers used at Sagan could be used to design floral jewellry for other day.”

3. Skip the wedding gifts which you will end up returning or giving away, you could register on a trip you have been dreaming about, and get your guests to make their contributions.

4. Make a checklist at every stage, to be sure if everything is within your budget! Ashu emphasises on budgeting-“ Negotiate as much as you can – Wedding fraternity is also searching for clients to survive so make the best out of it. Take your time do not rush and never go blind trusting them. Do your homework, meet people discuss, compare and then take the call. Never forget to check their work done before, you may ask for client’s testimonials too for authenticity.”5. Choose a great backyard and you would not need flowers to decorate your venue at all. And personally shop around for candles, vases, candle holders at local grocery stores, you again save up here! And instead of a caterer, get a cookto dish out gourmet appetizers and mains at half the price. You can get a cousin

or friend to order the grocery, ingredients online or from the local vendors. This way you are sure of the food, the chef and the organic ingredients, needless to say the bellies will thank you!Ashu suggests, “Know where to put your money – as rightly said earlier guests remember a wedding if the food is good. Save costing on Décor. Expensive floraldécor could be replaced with eco- friendly products like using broken bangles in décor and inexpensive cloth material could be used. Invest on food. But make sure the pax is at minimal as lot of planners would make a fool out of you while booking. For instance if you are expecting 500 guests then keep your pax for food only 250-300. As most of the times people prefer wedding snacks and desert more than the typical meal.” He further adds, “Stick to one menu. This shall cut the cost intelligently. One does not need to raise the quantity of the cuisines. Instead focus on the quality. Starters are a great options to explore in weddings. Guests usually end up filling their tummy by starters so focus on the starts and keep the dinner menu not so lavish.

6. Limit the alcohol– Do not over feed the guests out of excitement. Cocktails area great idea, enabling you to offer something fun within a set price bracket. As a rule, long is good, strong is not!”7. Don’t spend a bomb on a DJ, instead of a six piece band get a great playlist! Assign your kith n kin to organise an awesome dance party, simply put in place a fine speaker, a mixing deck, ipod with good dance songs. Also instead of hiring an expensive photographer, simply get your guests to snap pictures all through the day or night during the wedding ceremonies and upload them to your custom site. And voila, you get many different photographers. Ashu suggests we “Recall and call your old friends– We tend to forget the nearby options while arranging things for the wedding. Recall your old friends who could of help may be in catering / photography / designing etc. So recall them and invite them that could also give your great discounts.”

8. Buy a dress or rent it or borrow a gorgeous piece from your friend. Ashu our expert suggests, “Be a smart buyer – wedding attire is to be worn just once! And the lehenga and sherwaani are not less than 50 k. So opt for renting one. Never over buy stuff out of happiness. Your measurement keeps varying so just shop for things which are actually needed. Know what you would really require. Wait for sales!”

9. Use technology for inviting your kith n kin. Ashu says, “ World is technologically upgraded. So instead of wasting money over paper invites, make best use of emails and sms. Follow ups can give a personal touch! Avoid making those one time readable expensive wedding cards.”

10. Choose the wedding time wisely! Ashu says, “Go for off season – Oct to dec and May to june are heavy wedding dates available. So opt for one which falls in off season. This gives a huge cost cutting as the bookings are easily available in lesser amount.”And just like that, you can half the wedding prices and double the hip factor! Go stun your guests!