Debt Reduction Advice | Debt Reduction Advice

Before the recession, the wedding business was booming in every way. People were spending tens of thousands of dollars on their weddings. From expensive wedding dresses to wedding chapel rental fees on resort islands, the cost of weddings seemed to grow without limitation.

Unfortunately there are many couples who start their married lives in debt from day one because they borrow to pay for elaborate weddings. There was an article a few years ago in the New York Times about the rising cost of getting married. Couples were traveling to exotic places to get married and paying the travel costs for family members who could not afford to attend. Tropical resorts would cater the event and some events, like those in Hawaii, could easily cost $50,000 or more.

Even couples that stayed in the United States mainland were still having lavish weddings with ten bridesmaids and full orchestras. And a wedding dress alone can be as expensive as you want it to be. For a while the off-the-rack dresses were unacceptable to many new brides who ordered custom dresses costing thousands of dollars. The dress is worn one day and then stored for decades.

It is not hard to imagine that today some of the people who paid for these elaborate weddings are wishing they had scaled back their weddings and put the money into savings instead. The recession is changing the trends in weddings and one of the changes is a return to less expensive weddings.

The return to the do-it-yourself wedding makes sense in these difficult economic times. The amount of money spent on a wedding has no correlation to the happiness of the couple. The hotels are realizing they have to be accommodating in order to attract new business and are offering inexpensive wedding packages. With these packages you can invite a limited number of guests. So instead of spending $20,000 for hundreds of guests, it’s possible to buy a nice wedding package for 20 guests.

The recession has forced people to be creative and innovative. Planning a budget friendly wedding means making compromises. There may be fewer flowers, fewer guests, but also, fewer bills coming due. Companies like Maryland Budget Wise Weddings are springing up too. This company helps couples plan an affordable wedding.

Because wedding dresses and decorations tend to be expensive, it can be difficult for the uninitiated to find reasonably priced options or to come up with inexpensive ideas. If you don’t know where to find the $500 wedding dress it can be discouraging to shop for the gown. That’s why budget wedding planning businesses are appearing across the country.

Even with weddings getting smaller and more budget conscious, the average wedding expenses for 2009 to date is $19,000. During the second quarter of 2009 the average cost was $16,500. That’s still a lot of money and too much for many couples.

But there are ways to save money. Relying on family and friends to help out is one way. Keeping the guest list small is another. Other ideas include limiting the flowers to the altar, wearing off-the-rack bride and bride’s maids dresses, printing your own invitations, letting a family member take pictures, and limiting food provided at the reception.

Some couples are choosing to elope. There are elopement-package weddings available today through wedding planners or hotels.

A simple wedding can still be elegant. It is a matter of being creative or imaginative. But the bottom line is that the wedding day lasts for a matter of hours, and going into debt to pay for it can last years.

Downsizing Weddings To Stay Out Of Debt is a post from: Thistle Debt Consolidation