There are numerous expenses associated with a wedding.  But in most cases, the most expensive part is not the ceremony itself.  It is the reception.

Food, drinks, and decorations for the reception can really add up. The entertainment can easily become expensive as well.  Live entertainment doesn’t come cheap, and a good DJ can be pricey too.  Finding a good deal on wedding entertainment can be a huge help to your wedding budget.  Here are some ideas:

Call on Friends and Family

Is someone in your family in a band?  Do you have a friend who can serve as a DJ?  If so, you might be able to get entertainment for cheap, or possibly even free.  You could even make your own CD of the couple’s favorite songs and have someone play it.  You may have to rent some sound equipment, but that will usually be cheaper than hiring a band or DJ.

If you or someone you know has a karaoke machine, you could invite your guests to participate in a karaoke contest.  This is always lots of fun.  Letting guests vote for the winner with their applause and providing some prizes makes it even more interesting.

If you don’t have friends or family who can provide the entertainment themselves, they might have connections that you can benefit from.  It never hurts to ask around.  When you put the word out that you need entertainment but are on a budget, those closest to you may even come to you with suggestions.

Find Bands That Are Looking for Experience

Bands that aren’t well established can be booked less expensively than well known acts.  Considering those who need gigs for the experience can save you money, and you might be surprised at how professional they are.

Bands that consist of high school or college students are often willing to play weddings at low rates.  Your local high school’s jazz ensemble might even be available for little or nothing.  Contact the school’s band director to see if that is an option.

Do Something Unexpected

You don’t necessarily have to have music as entertainment at your reception.  If you can get a different type of entertainment less expensively, it is worth considering.  Doing something different will make your wedding more memorable.

Some ideas include jugglers, stand-up comedians, and games.  The key is to keep the entertainment consistent with your wedding’s theme.  Casino and card games, for example, work nicely with a Vegas themed wedding.  Magicians can fit in with a number of themes, but are generally best suited to informal ceremonies.

When budget is a primary consideration, it is important to be flexible when it comes to your wedding entertainment.  It also pays to think outside the box.  You don’t have to have the same kind of entertainment that your friend or sister had at her wedding.  Coming up with innovative entertainment for your wedding reception will set your wedding apart, and can save you a lot of money.

Flowers are a beautiful part of a wedding ceremony.  They adorn the groom and his attendants, they travel down the aisle with the bride and bridesmaids, and they decorate the church and reception hall.  And if you believe in folklore, the lady who catches the bride’s bouquet will be the next to marry.

Flowers are also associated with folklore in other ways.  In the Victorian era, men sent flowers with special meanings to women as a means of communication.  Back then, the meanings of flowers were common knowledge.  These days it’s more acceptable for a man to just come out and tell a woman how he feels, and these meanings are not as well known.

Knowing the meanings of different flowers can help you choose the best ones for your wedding day.  Following are the traditional meanings of some of the more popular wedding flowers.

Roses

Roses are very popular flowers associated with romance, so it is fitting that they are often used in weddings.  Specific meanings vary by color.  Red roses are known as symbols of love, pink ones symbolize elegance and admiration, and white roses represent innocence and purity.  Yellow roses are associated with friendship and joy, orange roses represent enthusiasm and passion, and lavender roses symbolize love at first sight.

Daisies

Daisies are often used at informal weddings, but they may also make their way into more formal ceremonies.  These flowers represent innocence and beauty.  Gerbera daisies represent those things too, but they also stand for cheerfulness.  Daisies are available in a wide variety of colors, making it easy to incorporate them into any wedding color scheme.

Lilies

There are many varieties and colors of lilies.  In general, lilies stand for innocence and purity, but some specific varieties have their own special meanings.  Bold and beautiful stargazer lilies, for example, symbolize aspiration, and the pink ones have become known as a sign of prosperity.  The smaller Peruvian lilies represent friendship and devotion.

Tulips

Tulips are adored for their simple beauty and wide variety of colors.  The flowers generally represent perfect love, but some colors have additional meanings.  Red tulips, like red roses, stand for true love.  Purple tulips are symbolic of royalty, and yellow ones send a message of cheer.

Carnations

The carnation is one of the oldest flower varieties in the world, and it is very popular in wedding arrangements.  Carnations come in numerous colors and are symbolic of love.  The colors of carnations have meanings similar to those of roses of the same color.  Red stands for deep affection, white represents purity, and pink symbolizes gratitude.

Other Popular Wedding Flowers

There are several other flowers that are often used at weddings.  Irises are lovely flowers for a wedding, and they represent faith and hope.  Graceful and delicate orchids represent love, beauty and strength.  Sunflowers symbolize loyalty and happiness.

Selecting the perfect flowers for your wedding can be a tough decision, because there are so many beautiful flowers to choose from.  Learning the meanings behind the flowers can make that decision a little easier.

To me planning a wedding is difficult, I mean trying to remember everything, WOW! Suppose you forget the wrong thing or don’t plan sufficiently, things can go a little crazy.  Important items could be forgotten, or improper timing could cause you to be late getting out of the reception hall, resulting in overtime charges.

Taking some precautions when planning your wedding could help you avoid simple mistakes.  It can also reduce your( nad everyone else’s) stress levels leading up to the big day.  Here are five things you can do to help avoid wedding mistakes.

1.  Limit your guest list.  Much of your wedding planning will be based on the number of guests you invite.  If you keep adding on guests, you could drive your costs up.  It could also result in not having enough room for everyone at the ceremony or reception.-This happened to me , we actually ran out of food.

As a general rule, you can expect 80-85% of the people you invite to show up.  But it is important to take into consideration the fact that those who do come may bring unexpected guests.  So it’s usually best to plan as though everyone will be there.

2.  Know all rules and regulations.  Laws pertaining to marriage licenses, for example, vary from state to state, and possibly even from county to county.  They are only good for a specified time period, and some localities impose waiting periods before you can get them.  Checking up on all of the legalities ahead of time can help eliminate unpleasant surprises on your wedding day.

If you’re having a church wedding, it’s important to make sure you know what types of dress and music are acceptable.  There may also be specific requirements regarding the ceremony itself.  Your officiant can fill you in on all of these things.

3.  Make sure that all vendors know the details of your ceremony.  Obviously they’ll need to know the day, time and location, but there may be other things they need to know as well.  It’s not a bad idea to visit each vendor a week or so before the wedding to go over everything, just to make sure you’re on the same page.  And it’s also smart to bring along a list of vendor names and phone numbers on your wedding day, just in case problems should arise.

4.  Do all beauty treatments a couple of weeks in advance.  A dye job or tanning session gone wrong can put a major damper on your wedding day, especially if it’s done a day or two before the ceremony.  Doing these things ahead of time gives you time to fix any problems that might arise (or lose the sunburn).

5.  Be prepared.  While you can’t foresee the future, having backup plans and supplies to use if things go wrong might save the day.  If you’re getting married outside, secure an indoor location in case the weather doesn’t cooperate.  Put someone in charge of bringing in an emergency kit with sewing supplies, toiletries, first aid supplies, and other things that members of the wedding party might need is also a good idea.