Planning a wedding? These days, the savvy bride is the budget-conscious bride. Make cuts where it counts and save some much-needed money without feeling like your skimping on your big day. Dallas-based events planner, Donnie Brown offers Glam some savvy tips for your once-in-a-lifetime wedding.



Hire a wedding planner. A good wedding planner can actually save you money – even with their fee. They can negotiate with vendors and ensure you don’t over-spend in some categories. They also eliminate stress by managing your wedding for you.

If you don’t want to spend top dollar on your gown, wait until the salon or boutique you like has a clearance sale. They will usually sell their inventory at fifty percent off or more when it is time for the new merchandise to come in. Just ask the receptionist at the store when they will be having their winter sale prior to the new spring arrivals.


When selecting your invitations, remember to brand your wedding with custom logos and have all the printing done at once. The save the date cards, wedding invitations, rehearsal dinner invitations, programs, escort cards, menu cards, and even the thank you cards can be personalized and printed all at once. This is a major job if you let it get broken into individual pieces. Save time by planning for all your printing at once.

Buffet’s are less expensive than plated dinners. Or are they? Often, a plated dinner is actually less expensive because a buffet must constantly be replenished. The caterer can better measure the amount of food prepared and served for seated dinners.


Hold your wedding on an off day or month. Fridays or Sundays are wonderful and not as sought after as Saturdays. Also try off seasons in your geographic region. If you live in the northeast, perhaps you should do a winter wedding when everyone else wants spring, summer, or fall. If you live in the south, try summer and let the other brides fight over the spring and autumn dates.

Stay away from February. Floral is elevated 200-300% in the month of February due to Valentine’s Day cost increases. This makes for a difficult budget during the planning of your wedding.

For more tips from Donnie Brown visit http://www.donniebrown.net/.

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