The DIY Bride - Planning Your Own Wedding Has Never Been So Easy

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This year women are deciding to cut back on wedding expenses, especially on the small things. In my own wedding I was able to significantly cut expenses by avoiding any services that had "wedding" in front of the name. A "wedding caterer" is no better than a normal caterer. The only difference you will find is the price. Always stick with high quality professionals, but stray away from anyone that specializes in weddings whenever possible because they will raise the price just because they know that they can.

A really great way to cut back on wedding expenses is to do many things yourself rather than paying a wedding planner or wedding service to do them for you. If you're the creative type and love things like scrapbooking, knitting or sewing you will enjoy designing and planning your own wedding while saving lots of money at the same time. Some of the things I did myself for my own wedding were designing, purchasing, and putting together my own centerpieces, buying "like real" flowers and creating my own bouquets ahead of time, designing and printing my own invitations (complete with gold ribbon and matching envelopes), and doing my own hair and makeup (not recommended unless you are confident in your abilities and not very stressed about your wedding).

One thing I enjoyed very much was finding vendors who were just starting out. I really love giving opportunities to small businesses and I was able to find a wonderful caterer and cake maker right in my neighborhood and had exceptional food at a fraction of the cost of a "wedding" vendor. They were full service, delivered the goods and served at my wedding and I received several compliments on the excellent food and service. I was also able to recruit a teacher-friend of mine who had also planned her own wedding to be my wedding coordinator. With the heart of a teacher and the organizational abilities to go with it she was able to lead my bridal party in creating a breathtaking wedding march and Bridal reveal.

Visit sites like YouTube.com and watch tutorial videos to learn more about wedding planning and saving money on your bridal purchases.