What's Your Priority?

This may seem obvious, but it's really important to prioritize when you're planning a wedding on a budget. Since it can be difficult to know where to start, I thought I'd get the juices flowing and lay out a few decisions to think about. Once you figure out the 2 or 3 most important things to you, the rest of the pieces will kind of fall into place. Start here...

Which is more important to you--
a) the location of the ceremony
b) the location of the reception

If the reception is more important to you, try to have your ceremony right there, if the location allows that. This will cut back on the cost of transportation (limo, shuttles, etc). Vice versa, if you've always dreamed of saying your vows in your family church, try to pick a nearby affordable reception spot.

Point being... be reasonable- you can't have your ceremony in the church you grew up in and then take a limo an hour away to your favorite reception spot on the water.

Which is more important to you--
a) decorations
b) entertainment

If you blow a huge portion of your budget on extravagant flowers, you might consider using an iPod for your wedding entertainment. If you really want your guests to unwind and have a good time, you might make your own bouquets and centerpieces in order to have a really good DJ.

Which is more important to you--
a) food
b) bar

If you want a really nice seafood and steak meal for your guests, you might limit the bar to beer and wine (and limit the variety). If you have a bunch of partiers on your hands, you might focus more on the bar, skip the passed hors d' oeuvres and have a more unconventional meal like Italian style (pastas & salad) or pulled pork (pig roast).