Planning a wedding or know someone who is? The Knot Wedding Shop is featuring a big sale on everything you might possibly need. Take 15% off (sitewide) with code 15GALS at checkout. This offer ends May 20th.

Bridesmaid gifts are on sale up to 70% off. Personalized totes normally $24 are marked down to $2.99, plus you can personalize the totes for free!

Other bridesmaids’ gifts are on sale, as well, including travel gifts, compacts, bracelets, necklaces, jewelry boxes, crystal tees and tanks from $8.99, cosmetic bags, and more.

Have you checked out my Frugal, Fairy Tale Weddings series yet? It’s all about how my husband and I had a $20,000 wedding for just $5,000!

Did you miss any of the previous posts in this series? Check them out here:

• Frugal, Fairy Tale Weddings, Part 1
• Frugal, Fairy Tale Weddings: Rehearsal Dinner (Part 2)
• Frugal, Fairy-Tale Weddings: Early Preparations (Part 3)
• Frugal, Fairy Tale Weddings: Invitations, Dresses, & Tuxedos (Part 4)
• Frugal, Fairy Tale Weddings: Flowers and Decorations (Part 5)

Our series continues…

The Location of your Ceremony:

Many wedding ceremonies are conducted in church, but outdoor weddings, destination weddings, and other creative locations for weddings are popular today as well.

• Does your area have a landmark like a lighthouse? When my sister was married last year, she and her husband had a beautiful outdoor wedding at a lighthouse for a fraction of the cost of other venue options. Her reception was in a large room of a nearby restaurant.
• Consider an all-in-one place for the ceremony and reception: rent a barn, a large home, etc.
• Consider having your ceremony on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon: it is much less expensive and becoming more common.

Here are some questions to ask when deciding on a venue for your wedding:

• What is the fee for the use of the church, facility, or property?
• May we bring in our own pastor or officiator for the ceremony?
• If it is a church: Do you require pre-marital counseling in order to use your facility for our ceremony?
• Does the church provide (or require) a wedding coordinator? What is the fee?
• Does the church require you to use its musicians? What are their fees?
• Is there a Bride’s Room?
• Is there a room in the church available for our reception? What is the fee?
• Does the church have caterers who work with its weddings?
• Is there a custodial fee?
• Is there help with set up and take down?
• When can we start decorating?
• When must we be out of the building the day of the wedding?
• If you are having the reception at the church, check on the availability of the following items:
  • Tables and chairs
  • Serving pieces and dishware
  • Vases
  • Table cloths
  • Table centerpieces

The church my family was attending at the time that my husband and I were married was not large enough for our wedding, so we had to find another church in town. We ended up at a Lutheran church that boasted the very longest center aisle in town, the most glorious pipe organ, and the most beautiful sanctuary. That’s the style my husband and I preferred. We worked our way through the questions I just listed and discovered the following information:

• The fee for the use of the church was $200.
• We would be allowed to bring in our own pastor and musicians.
• A brief pre-marital counseling session with the pastor was required, but was free.
• We were required to use the church’s wedding coordinator. She was paid a flat-rate fee, and after a certain number of hours, she was to be paid per hour ($15/hour, as I recall). By the way, she was worth her weight in gold both during the rehearsal and the day of the wedding. It’s worth it to hire a wedding coordinator! 
• We would be given dressing rooms for the bridal party.
• There were a few decorating items we would be able to use without charge.
• We were not allowed to use flash photography during the ceremony.
• The church had banners hanging from the ceiling, and they could not be changed, but it just so happened that the colors during that season of the church year coordinated nicely with our color theme.

A few other money-saving tips regarding the ceremony:

• Be sure to think through all the expenses related to your ceremony. You must pay your pastor or officiator, your musicians, your wedding coordinator, and possibly a custodian. Talk with each person to negotiate their rate of pay. My husband is a church organist and has been paid everything from $100-$350 for a wedding. Depending on your area, $150 is the minimum you should expect to pay an organist or other musician. If you require a large amount of music, you might need to up the anti a bit.
• We designed and printed our own wedding ceremony bulletins. I designed the bulletin and my brother, who works for a printing company, gave us the gift of the printing.
• Because the church was beautiful, we didn’t need to spend a fortune on decorations.
• We did several price comparisons before selecting an aisle runner. Look for deals and ask for discounts.

Remember: your wedding day is a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully!) event, but it should not break the bank! At the end of the day, you will be just as married, whether you had your ceremony in Westminster Abbey or on the beach, and whether you a three-course meal or cake and punch at your reception. Your goal should not be to impress your guests, but to get married! Keep this in mind throughout your entire planning process, and let it inform all of your purchasing decisions.

Coming up next: The Reception 

P.S. TheKnot.com is having a sale on Bridesmaid gifts right now: you can save up to 70%. Plus, today is the last day of FREE shipping on orders over $99.

This particular deal stuck out to me for bridesmaids gifts: $5 Tote Blowout Sale! That’s an awesome price for a fun bridesmaid gift.

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What ways did you find to cut the cost on your wedding venue and ceremony? Leave a comment!

Enjoying this series?  Subscribe for my free daily e-mail updates or follow me on Facebook or Twitter so you don’t miss anything! 

Did you miss any of the previous posts in this series? Check them out here:

• Frugal, Fairy Tale Weddings, Part 1
• Frugal, Fairy Tale Weddings: Rehearsal Dinner (Part 2)
• Frugal, Fairy-Tale Weddings: Early Preparations (Part 3)
• Frugal, Fairy Tale Weddings: Invitations, Dresses, & Tuxedos (Part 4)

Our series continues…

Flowers

• Do you have a friend who can arrange flowers? If so, you can order flowers from Sam’s or Costco and save hundreds. Set up a space in your basement or at the church to assemble everything. Don’t forget to set aside refrigerator space for bouquets, corsages, and other fresh flower arrangements.
• If the church purchases floral arrangements for Sunday morning, check with them to see if they would be willing to order the flowers in your colors.
• Use long single stems instead of a bouquet. calla lilies and gerber daisies work well for this. You can also use silk flowers instead of fresh.
• Consider using silk boutonnieres for the groomsmen and one fresh flower for the groom.
• If you’re buying silk flowers for boutonnieres, pew bows, or any other decorating, don’t forget to use the 40% off coupons at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Joanne Fabrics that come in the mail or are available on their websites. Print the coupons, pass them out to your wedding party (or family), and ask them to come to the store with you.
• Save any fresh flowers you used for the wedding, dry the petals, and turn them into a keepsake potpourri for your home.

Decorations

• Borrowing is going to be your best cost-saving method. But you must be committed to taking care of the items and replacing anything that is broken, lost, or damaged while in your care. Also, keep a running list of what you have and to whom it must be returned. (We were able to borrow fabric table cloths, mirrors for centerpieces, candle holders, and hurricane lamps from another church in our town.)
• If you know of someone who was recently married, and you admired their decorations, ask if you can borrow some of the items.
• Let your friends know what you are looking for. In our case, we were trying to recreate a tea my sister and I had experienced at The Orangery at Kensington Palace Gardens in Londonand we needed a lot of silver serving pieces. A friend knew of a friend who was willing to loan us over 50 pieces of silver that she had in storage from her mother. What a gorgeous presentation!
  

  The Orangery, Kensington Palace, London

• If the church uses banners in the sanctuary, are you able to trade them out for colors that coordinate with your color theme?
• If you have a wedding date set, take a look at the holiday(s) that fall before it and choose a color scheme that will enable you to hit clearance racks for many of your decorations: Black and red after Valentine’s Day; pastels after Easter; red, green, silver, gold, maroon, navy, and deep purple after Christmas.
• We purchased candles, candle holders, flower girl basket (heart-shaped, from Walmart), and gobs of white Italian lights on clearance after Christmas and Valentine’s Day for our March wedding.
• After Christmas at Walgreens my mom bought helper gifts such as lotions and bath sets at a fraction of the retail cost. She purchased white flowers at the dollar store after Christmas. White/ silver, and other color bolts of discounted ribbons at Hobby Lobby after Christmas. These go on sale at 50% off at Hobby Lobby even before Christmas. Don’t neglect the Christmas aisle when looking for ribbon even in August.
• Don’t forget to check Dollar Tree or Dollar Bill when you’re gathering your decorating supplies. We purchased quite a number of items from them. The larger stores actually have quite a nice selection!
  
• Purchase decorations and serving pieces for your wedding and reception that you plan to use in your new home: pedestals, vases, silk flowers, table covers, serving ware, cake plates, trays, etc.
• If the church has trees and greenery in the sanctuary and narthex, find out if you can move them around to work with your decorating theme (provided you return them to their original locations following the ceremony).
• Does the church have a bridal closet or a stash of wedding suppliesthat are available to you? You are looking for the following items:
  • A runner
  • Unity candle stands
  • Candelabras
  • Silk flowers
  • Tulle
  • Arrangements for the altar
  • Pew bows
  • Greenery (ivy vines)
  • Strings of lights
  • For a winter wedding: Christmas trees

What ways did you find to cut the cost on flowers and decorations for your wedding? Leave a comment!

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Enjoying this series?  Subscribe for my free daily e-mail updates or follow me on Facebook or Twitter so you don’t miss anything!