With the economy the way it is lately, it’s more important now than ever to be budget conscious when planning your wedding.  Today’s Money Saving Monday was inspired by a question posed by a friend of mine, “How do I save money on food for the reception?”  Here are a few ideas I came up with:

- The simplest way to reduce your food budget (and your overall budget for that matter) is to reduce the size of your guest list.  This can be a difficult undertaking, but is truly the simplest way to save money in regards to food. 

- If cutting the guest list just isn’t an option, consider doing heavy horderves combined with a few different stations as opposed to a seated dinner.  This is what we decided to do at our wedding and in addition to saving money, it really made for more of a “party” atmosphere with people mingling and moving on to the dance floor early on. 

-Ask your caterer what budget friendly options they have.  Deborah Fluhart from the University Club Nashville was so helpful to us when we were choosing our items.   She pointed out ways we could save such as substituting a pork station as opposed to beef. 

-Go non-traditional and have a morning wedding.  A brunch-type reception will not only save you some cash, but will also set you apart from the crowd.  Don’t forget by having your wedding at a non-peak time you are also more likely to be able to negotiate better prices with the rest of your vendors!

I hope some of you are finding these tips helpful!  When planning a wedding in turbulent economic times, every penny counts!

Ohh and I almost forgot!  A week or so ago my good friends Amanda and Chasity tagged me with this blog badge of honor. 

Here are my seven nominees

1) The Everydayness of Stephanie

2) A Delightful Day Event Planning

3) The Sweet Life

4) Just Who I am

5) I Heart Sunshine

6) Days and Nights in Ft Worth

7) The Writer’s Right

And just because no post is really done without a pic, here’s one I took of my new “blonder” due on Saturday.  I told my hairdresser I’m sad Summer is over, but at least it can live on in my hair, LOL!