Budget Wedding Planning: Viva Las Savings

That's right, I said a wedding on a budget! How do I know it's possible? Because I lived it! Now, I realize that not all of you wish to be married by an Elvis impersonator and include the Fremont Street Experience as part of your wedding entertainment. But even if you are going a more traditional route, there are ways to cut costs on almost every little thing.

Such as:

Invitations

Forget the heavy paper and expensive calligraphy! Why not send your guests an invite they'll actually keep, featuring a photo of you and your betrothed. Sites like Shutterfly allow you to create your invites online for a fraction of the cost of those fancy-pants hand-lettered invitations. I recommend looking at the Wedding Announcements section and using one of those designs for your actual invitation. Gorgeous!

Clothes

It may be a romantic idea, but getting married in a big expensive cupcake of taffeta just doesn't make economic sense any more. You could just go my route and wear a $50 dress from Rampage.  Or, you can now find an almost-as-economical and  more traditional white dress at one of your favorite stores. J Crew has gotten a lot of attention for their newish Bridal Dress category, but I find the gowns to be very pricey. Ann Taylor has some lower-priced offering or there's always the sale section at David's Bridal.   If nothing less than a wedding gown will do, search "new wedding dresses" on eBay to score the fallout of a called-off wedding (or reduced price find in an eBay store) for a fraction of the original cost.

For shoes, your options are just about endless. You'll find some nice prices if you don't use the words "wedding" or "bridal" in your search. Also keep in mind that if you do go the taffeta route, your shoes will spend the majority of the time being hidden by your dress. In any case, it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend all that much on something that may only be worn once--so a pair of strappy sandals or white satin pumps from Payless could definitely do the trick.

Venue

I'm not suggesting you go so extreme as getting married at, say, your local TJ Maxx, such as the happy couple reported on in this Consumerist post. But definitely think outside the country club box when it comes to venues. Restaurants are pretty slow on Sundays...how about trying to rent out the eatery where you had your first date? Or see about having your wedding outdoors at your favorite park. Or, if you do happen to tie the knot in Vegas, I can't recommend the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel enough. It looks like the Elvis in Concert package has gone up in price since my wedding, but with three songs, a photographer, free internet broadcast and officiating by the King, it's still a pretty good deal at $575.

Food and Drink

This is a tough one to do dirt cheap. Good food and drink for a crowd costs money. So my only thoughts are, make it a potluck. Or go to Battista's Hole in the Wall like I did. Four words: Free. Unlimited. House Wine.

For more cheap wedding ideas, check out guest blogger Alexis A.'s post on The Digerati Life. 

How did you save money at your wedding? Let us know in the comments below!