Text size:

Cutting your costs in ways they won't notice

The Associated Press

June 24, 2008

Khris Cochran splurged for her wedding seven years ago. The ceremony was in a rose garden overlooking San Francisco Bay. The cake was made by a star baker featured on the Food Network. The honeymoon was in French Polynesia.

Then came the debt. She was $5,000 in the hole before she lost her Silicon Valley job in the dot-com bust.

"It took years to get out of that debt," she says. "By being so tied to the wedding dream, I ended up in a financial nightmare."

Weddings are said to be recession-proof, but the same can't be said for couples' budgets. As the economy takes a hit, many nearly-weds are looking for ways to scale back on a lavish wedding without sacrificing a special day.

Wedding spending is expected to dip slightly this year to about $28,700 per event, according to trend tracker The Wedding Report Inc. That's down just $28 from last year's high, but it bucks the 48 percent growth that surveys by the Conde Nast Bridal Group documented from 1999 to 2006.

At the same time, the fever for budget-busting weddings hasn't broken. Wealthy couples are now focusing on understated flourishes, says celebrity wedding planner Marcy Blum: "Serving Cristal, for example, as opposed to having elephants."

What's worth the splurge, and what's a smart save? Here are some ideas for richer and for poorer:

SAVE: GUEST LIST
You can always elope. Barring that, if you want to save money, trim the guest list.

"You really don't need to invite everyone you know or have a party of 20 bridesmaids," says Maria McBride, an editor at Brides magazine and author of "Party Basics for New Nesters."

If you really want a big crowd, consider a smaller wedding with a separate cocktail reception. It beats a 300-person sit-down dinner in both cost and atmosphere, says Blum. "There's no way to go about making it affordable and really fabulous, unless you're a rock star or someone you know is Kuwaiti."

If your parents really want all their friends to attend, or your colleagues at work expect invites, remember it's your day. A good rule of thumb: Have you had dinner with this person in the last year? If not, and you live in the same city, consider a cut.

Looking back, Cochran wishes she and her husband had invited only the people closest to them.

"It's not only an instant budget saver but a way to make the whole event more intimate," she says.

SPLURGE: SETTING
David Tutera, who planned Star Jones' wedding, advises couples to focus their spending on the venue and decor, including flowers. One of his clients is spending $1 million on flowers and design, including 50,000 roses.

"People walk away remembering the unique experience you create and not the food that you served," he says.

He and Blum each stressed the importance of lighting, which they say many couples overlook. "They spend tons of money on decor and they have a great band, but if they don't spend on lighting, you can't see what they've done," Tutera says.

For Eda Kalkay, design and location were the most important decisions for her October 2007 wedding. The 150 guests to her city-meets-country wedding at an estate in New Hope, Pa., were treated to a white fantasy in the woods, with globes of white hydrangea, white candelabras and a surprise performance by a gospel choir.

The price tag? More than $300,000. But she has no regrets.