The Open Bar vs. The Cash Bar

This is often a touchy issue with couples planning a wedding and its easy to see why. If you’re not careful an open bar can end up costing around $20 per guest. If you have 100 guests, well that’s easily $2000 of your budget, no wonder couple love the idea of a cash bar (where guest pay for their own drinks) Wedding etiquette suggests that a cash bar should be avoided, but is there a compromise that can save the couple some money yet still allow them the option of providing drinks for their guests?

1. Carefully plan your open bar. Stick to champagne, wine and beer and avoiding spirits and shots as this can easily add up.

2. Limit the time that the bar is open.

3. If you will be buying the alcohol yourself do it at the right time of year when there will be specials on such as New Years Eve or before a national sporting event.

4. Find out if your local alcohol stores have any free vip customer loyalty memberships where you can pick up great discounts.

5. Negotiate the removal of the corkage fee.

6. Prearrange a certain time for bartender to stop uncorking bottles as you don’t want to end up paying for ten bottles of only partially used bottles.

A new take on the wedding menu

Gosh I just love this idea!  Posted a while back on the Martha Stewart website, it’s a different take on the regular standard shaped menus.  Once you have finalised your reception’s menu, have your menu’s professionally printed into a circular shape to fit the indent of the dinner plates. You must choose the plates and table decor before printing the menus and take a sample of one of the plates to the printers so that they can get precise measurements.   Ideally, it is more visually appealing if the menu’s colour design matching the tables colour palette. Gosh it’s just so beautiful!

Wedding shoes with a little colour

If your wedding dress is the traditional white colour, don’t feel the need to opt for white shoes. Experiment with different colours, such as light pastel shades for a little colour. You may opt to choose a colour that compliments your bridal bouquet.

An alternative approach is to opt for white shoes that have contrasting colour in the embellishments. The point is, don’t feel the need to stick to traditional. Have a little experiment and find out what works for you.

Cut down on the cost of wedding flowers

Wedding flowers can end up being costly if you are on a budget. A good way to still be able to afford the flowers that you want without spending a small fortune is to cut down on the size of your bouquet. A small bouquet can still be as stunning (or better) than a larger bouquet. You could also trim down the size of the bridesmaid bouquets, or alternatively, they could each carry a gorgeous single rose down the aisle.