By Lei Lydle, Founder and Editor Last Updated: 10/15/2002

Part I: Money Saving Tips From Brides

Monique and Roger met in the summer of 1982, at a teen disco on the dance floor, dancing to "Call Me" by Midnight Star.

"Roger was such a ham on the dance floor…", Monique says. "…He reached into his pocket at the same time the song said, "here's a dime to call me" and he gave me a dime, that was the start of it all."

The couple dated for almost two years, until they both got into college and Roger joined the Navy. They kept in touch over the years and always stayed friends. Finally, this past year they decided to make it work and get married.

Wedding Logistics

Money Saving Tips

"Since we are paying for the wedding, we decided to come up with plan of attack before we started planning the wedding. Through our financial planner, we opened up a money management account. This money is taken directly out of our [checking] accounts once a month. A money management account will make us a little more money than a regular savings account. After we accumulated $2,000, our money is moved from the money management account to a cash reserve fund, which gives us one or two percentages more on our interests…"

"Although we both live in Atlanta, we decided to get married where we met and grew up, Cincinnati, Ohio. This is 500 miles away, 8 hours drive and an average cost for a plane ticket of $150 round trip. In order to save money, we need to organize our time, money and wedding as efficiently as possible. Any trip that we make to Ohio, we have appointments set weeks before we arrive with vendors, the minister, friends and family."

Following is a detailed list and description of how Monique and Roger saved money on their wedding in Monique's words:

Reception: We chose a reception site that allowed us to bring in our own bar and bartenders. This is important for saving money, since the groom's father has been a private bartender for over 50 years and he is giving us the bar for the reception as our wedding present. The reception hall is one of the places the groom's father works with. Since the groom and his father know the people who plan, organize and cater the events, we were able to save money. They allowed us to create our own menu. Because of the relationship with the groom and groom's father, they are willing to work with us on the cost of the appetizers too. The hall supplies the linen, table decorations/center pieces, china and napkins.

Limo: We are paying for 5 hours but will get a total of 9 hours for the same price, just because the limo driver was invited to the reception.

Flowers: The matron of honor is very creative and has offered to make the bouquets and boutonnieres. We will only have to buy the flowers, which can be done in bulk. We also decided to use silk flowers since they are cheaper.

Decorations: The church is beautiful, so we will only need minimal decorations that we will put up ourselves. For $20 the church will provide candle posts and globes for each pew, candelabras, and the candles.

Unity candles: We decided on oil candles so that the money we invested on these candles, will allow us to forever remember our special day for many years to come.

Bridal Gown: I shopped around until I found the dress I liked best. I went to a discount bridal salon and saved half of what the dress would cost at the other salons.

Tuxedos: The groom shopped around to find the tuxedo that he wanted for the cheapest price. He will also get a free tuxedo for himself, which saves $100. He is saving $60 on each tuxedo.

Dinner Favors: My aunt offered to make the traditional Italian favors for all the guests. This is saving several hundreds of dollars as well as time.

Invitations: We bought the blank invitations a wholesale company. The printing was done through a friend who used to work at a printing company. We saved several hundreds of dollars on the printing.

Programs: We are making our programs and printing them ourselves. The printing company who did the invitations is cutting the paper for us for free. More savings.

Wedding Rings: My engagement ring is a family heirloom that my mother offered to the groom. A friend of ours introduced us to a very good friend who owns a jewelry store. We got a very good deal on the other rings. We saved over a thousand dollars.

Photographer: The photographer is a friend of the Roger's father. Since we will mention them in the program and have chosen to receive our proofs via the Internet, we receive a discount on our cost, another savings of over $100.00.

Minister: The minister is a family friend…He is not charging us to perform the ceremony, although we will give a gift.

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