Your Personal Finances

Family Issues

According to mycanadianwedding.com, the average cost of wedding in Canada is $20,000 to $30,000. But a wedding doesn't necessarily have to break the bank. Here are some smart ways to save costs on your wedding from SmartMoney.com and from my sister and me:

1. Avoid the high season. Prime season for weddings is spring and summer. Save on venue costs by holding your wedding off-season. My husband and I held our ceremony and reception at an elegant Inn in mid-March just before a Caribbean honeymoon - after all who wants to go to south in the middle of summer?
2. Choose an alternative time or day. Hold your ceremony during the day and cut down costs on a big sit down dinner. Or, consider an alternative day to the traditional Saturday. My sister and her husband married on a Friday night, avoiding an all-day rental at the location were they held their festivities.
3. Wear a dress that suits you not a bridal magazine. My wedding dress had a black bodice and a white skirt while my sister wore a short white mini dress. Neither cost as much as traditional wedding dresses, and they suited our own personalities and style.
4. Cut down on the invite list. We only invited 65 people to our wedding. We had a close relationship with every single person at the wedding. There were no distant family friends or long lost relatives invited.
5. Do it yourself. We cut even more costs by addressing our own invitation envelopes and buying frames at a warehouse store to provide as party favors. We both hired a professional photographer (from the Sun actually) who didn't shoot weddings full-time. She still took fabulous shots and gave us all the negatives- which normally you have to buy.

Planning is the key to having the wedding you've always dreamed of. Talk to a financial advisor to help you start a savings plan so you want start your marriage off in debt.

More Personal Finances -- Consumer Alert -- Credit/Debt -- Employment Issues -- Family Issues -- Home Ownership