Recession 2008: Spring and Summer Wedding Budget Tips

You want to have that fantasy wedding. Everything has finally come together. You're finally about to marry that dream guy or woman that just takes your breath away. And you want a wedding that shows how much you love each other!

However, the economy's bad news has become your own personal story. Maybe you or your parents were going to pay for money made in the stock market advances of 2007, but now you've lost that extra money with the recent turnaround in the marketplace. Or, maybe you were hoping for that raise at work to come up with the extra cash, and instead your company had to lay of 20% of the staff. You still kept your job, but didn't get the raise. And bonuses, forget about it!

You don't want to wait for the economy to turn around to be married and start your life. So what do you do to still have the fantasy wedding with the budget you now have available? Here are ten tips...

1. The first tip is to have the wedding on an off date. You will be able to get better rates for almost everything during a lull or low season for weddings. Late spring and summer weddings are at the peak of the wedding season and are going to cost you the most. You can save money by having the wedding in early spring, such as in March. You could save money on the cost of renting the location, on the cost of catering, the wedding photographer, and more.

2. Have the wedding on an off day. Just like the airlines, where it costs you more to travel on certain days like Friday and Sunday, it costs more to have a wedding on a Saturday. If you can do the wedding on a weekday, you may be able to save money. Why? Since noone wants a weekday wedding, the different businesses may offer discounts to get you to give them the extra business. For instance, the caterer would now make money for two weddings that week if they have one already booked on the Saturday and you give them a second one to cater on Wednesday.