
Planning a wedding can be hectic and expensive. As a photographer I have seen many different types of weddings. Low-budget weddings to extravagant wedding, intimate and private weddings to hundreds of guest, and of course the bride's dress. If you are planning a wedding it's always good to hire a wedding planner, but if you're on a low-budget here are a few tips.
1. Set a budget! Whether it's $500 or $50,000 you need to set a budget.
2. Hire a wedding planner. If you cannot afford a wedding planner ask one of your trusted friends to help you plan it. It's important that this friend is organized and trustworthy. When sending out invitations you can put this friend's name and number as the contact person for questions and details. I am always surprised by how many calls the bride and groom gets on their wedding day from people wanting directions to the venue!
3. Hire a professional photographer! I'm not saying this because I'm a photographer...well maybe, but this is a special day and you want to make sure you have pictures to remember this day for the rest of your life. When hiring a photographer for your wedding it's always best to hire someone you know to be professional or by asking someone you know who recently got married. If a friend or a family member refers a photographer it's probably a good sign that they were happy with their photographer. It's also good to hire a videographer, but that will depend on your budget.
4. Choose your wedding party. No need to go in depth with this one.
5. Choose and reserve the location for your wedding. It is also important that you know the rules and regulations of the venue. If your reception is in a church some churches may not allow you to serve alcohol. Although rare, some churches actually won't allow your photographers to use a flash.
6. Reserve hotel rooms for out-of-town guests. Depending on the number of out-of-town guests you want to reserve hotel rooms. It's always best to reserve several different hotels with different prices because not everybody can afford a five-star hotel.