10 Things The Wedding Industry Won't Tell You

The folks at SmartMoney.com have been thinking about you. They have an interesting article with tips for brides-to-be called "10 Things The Wedding Industry Won't Tell You". You may already know some of the things on the list. But we want to share these tips with you anyway, because there's bound to be something you might not have thought of.

You can also get new ideas from another SmartMoney article- "10 Ways To Cut Wedding Costs".

Some of the best ideas:

Limit liquor. This one is so obvious it makes our eyes roll. We've been telling people forever to stop going broke on getting people drunk. Stop it!

Something borrowed. In keeping with tradition, why not get your "something borrowed" from your local edition of Freecycle.org. Get gorgeous gently-used items for nothing or almost-nothing. Check the website for details.

Schedule off-peak. Save big moolah by scheduling off-hours, off-season (usually ends before Mid-April), and off-day. (Remember our article on Friday weddings?) Whatever you do, work it.

Look for your gown online. We'll have MUCH more on this topic next week. ;)

Slim down those invites. There are lots of ways to do this. Let's think about it. With Mapquest and similar websites out there do you REALLY need map cards? Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Or perhaps you could put your ceremony and reception information on the same card. You might be surprised at how much space is left on there once you knock out the "Brought together by the higher power, with the blessings of their parents Doctor John Theirlastname, Mary Theirlastname (Esquire), Right Reverend Joseph Theirlastname and Staff Sargeant Janice Theirlastname, and in the everlasting pleasure of your company..." yadda yadda. InvitationConsultants.com
has GREAT invites, and even they say brides can save an average of $68 dollars just by cutting out the reception card. Plus, if you can whittle your invites down to 2 ounces, (which used to be the norm) you can save another $48 dollars.

Have some tips you want to share with us? Tell us all about them in the comments section.