Since your ceremony and reception location fees add up to one of the biggest pieces of your wedding budget, it’s natural to wonder if you’d be better off doing everything at home. However, before you jump on the home-wedding bandwagon, you’ll need to consider the following points:

Home Repair

First of all, is your home (or your parent’s house) in good enough condition to host this kind of an event? When you host a wedding at your home, you’ll have dozens of guests tromping through your home, so any structural defects – including broken steps, missing porch boards, etc. – will have to be taken care of. And unless you’ve meticulously maintained your lawn, you may need to put in a little landscaping work to make your home presentable. All of these repairs add up, so don’t assume that using your home for your wedding location will save you money.

Restrooms

On a related note, when you host your wedding at home, you’ll need to provide adequate bathroom facilities for your guests. If you’re inviting 100 people to your wedding, don’t expect them to all share your one toilet! You may need to call in for reinforcements – ie, Port-a-Potties – which can take another chunk out of your wedding budget. Just be sure you make your intentions known to your guests, or the people who are familiar with your home may try to sneak past the rented facilities in search of those inside your home.

Catering Facilities

Most traditional ceremony locations come with professional kitchens, making the job of the caterers much easier. They’re able to use the ovens and warming racks to keep your food at a safe and yummy temperature until you move into the reception. However, I’m guessing it’s pretty unlikely that you’ve got a full professional kitchen at home, so you’ll need to make arrangements for how your food will be delivered and stored before your reception. Be sure to check with your caterer well in advance – many charge extra for this type of service, while others may refuse to do home weddings entirely.

Handicapped Accessibility

Before you commit to hosting your wedding at home, be sure to assess its handicapped accessibility – especially if you have elderly relatives with physical limitations attending your event. If you plan to have the ceremony outdoors, will elderly relatives be able to safely pass to the wedding site, or will they have to navigate tough hills and uneven terrain. And again, take a look at your restroom situation. If you only have one restroom and it’s up a flight of stairs, you may need to rent a Port-a-Potty that’s handicap-accessible.

Despite all these considerations, having your wedding and reception at home can be a great idea. It’s much more personal than a banquet hall, and may wind up being cheaper than traditional wedding location options. However, it’s important to take all these different factors into account before you make your decision – with proper planning, it is possible to host a fun, romantic wedding from your home.

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Let’s face it – wedding favors are getting out of hand! What started as a simple way to help your guests remember your special day has evolved into engraved cups and personalized gift bags, all of which will cost you big bucks. Stop the madness! Protect your budget and your sanity with the following homemade wedding favor ideas:

Simple and Sweet

One of the simplest wedding favors you can offer your guests is a small bag of candies, personalized with your names and wedding date. Plus, these tasty treats will help your guests pass the time between the ceremony and the reception meal.

To start, you’ll need several yards of colored tulle fabric and matching ribbon, both of which can be picked up at a fabric or craft store. You’ll also need several bags of candies – M&Ms, Jordan almonds and Hershey kisses all work well. Just make sure that the candies are individually wrapped or otherwise protected from melting into each other. Cut the fabric into 8″ x 8″ squares and pile a small amount of candy in the middle, then gather the outer edges of the fabric together and tie them with the ribbon. Place one at each place-setting at your reception for your guests to enjoy.

Photo Memories

Offering guests a way to take home a picture of your wedding is a great way to help personalize your event. Swing by your local dollar store and pick up a small picture frame for each family or couple that’s attending your wedding. Set up a special table at your wedding with a Polaroid camera and the frames and invite guests to take a picture with you to place in the frame.

A few notes to help make this a success. First, consider setting out a set of instructions to help guests figure out what to do, or consider asking a family friend to make an announcement to guests before you arrive at the reception. And purchase a few extra frames, just in case some of your guests miss the “one frame per family” rule.

Gifts that Grow

Another great idea for budget wedding favors is to give your guests packets of flower seeds to take home and plant in honor of your wedding. Seed packets can be found in your local home and garden store for $1 or $2 a piece, and – depending on which flowers you’ve chosen for your wedding – you may be able to get flower seeds that are the same as the flowers in your bouquet.

If you have a little bit extra to spend, you can also pick up small terra cotta flower pots for $.50-$1.00 each. Use paint to decorate the outsides of the pots with your names and wedding date, then stick the flower seeds in the pot and place them on the tables at your reception. At some point during the night, ask your guests to plant them when they get home to create fond memories of your special day.

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Even though most people in the United States think of white for wedding dresses, there are a number of other options to consider. In particular, if you come from a particular ethnic background, there may be other colors that are considered far more advantageous. The Chinese, for example, consider red wedding dresses to be symbolic of good luck and fortune for the bride. Don’t limit your dress color options simply because of what you’ve read in a bridal magazine or in other writings on the subject.

Wedding dress colors around the world

Before Queen Victoria chose to wear white, the color was often associated with death and mourning. Brides of this era typically wore their nicest dresses – whatever color they happened to be. As mentioned previously, many Asian cultures consider red as a highly auspicious color for a wedding dress. You may also find that some cultures prefer green or gowns that have many bright colors and decorations.

Therefore, choosing a wedding dress color isn’t as straightforward as you may have previously thought. As you might expect, you’ll need to think about your family and faith-based expectations, as well as which colors best enhance your appearance. While a bright red dress might suit your personality best, you may need to consider a white dress with a red sash if you come from a strictly conservative family.

Brightening up a plain dress

If you’ve chosen a plain, monochrome dress, there are plenty of ways to provide a little color variance. For example, if you’re going to wear a white dress, you may want to use different fabrics and designs in order to create some contrast. You may also want to use lace, satin, embroidery, beadwork, and various trims in different colors for this purpose. You may also want to consider where the ceremony will be performed, as well as the color of the tuxedo the groom will be wearing.

Finding a color that suits you

While many people think of stark white for wedding dresses, you can also use different shades to complement your complexion. For example, if you look good in blue, you may want to choose a white dress that has a pale blue tint to it. Even though the gown will still be white, the bit of extra color will help enhance your natural coloring. In a similar way, you can use white or cream colored accent pieces to tone down the impact of a brightly colored gown. For example, if you want a blue wedding gown, you may be able to use a darker shade for the bodice shell and then use white lace over it.

Today, there are still some cultural and ethnic restrictions that will determine what color wedding gown is acceptable. That said, in some situations, you can choose a different color or even a paler shade to achieve a workable compromise. On the other hand, the wedding dress that you choose is very much a personal matter. It may take some research and effort to find the perfect color and accent pieces to help you achieve the look you’re going for.

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