Budget Weddings During the Holidays

Why Planning a Wedding in the Holiday Season May be Best

Nov 7, 2009

While it may not seem the obvious time of year to plan a wedding, there are many advantages to getting married during the holiday season.

Holding a wedding around Thanksgiving or Christmas is, in many ways, is cheaper than getting married during the more popular summer months. It can help save money on food and decorations, and more importantly, it could mean that out-of-town friends and relatives may be able to attend who otherwise couldn’t afford to visit.

Take Advantage of Family Holiday Gatherings

Since Thanksgiving and Christmas are both traditionally times for family to gather

together, many friends and family members who live far away are likely to be planning a trip home anyway. Taking advantage of travel that is already planned will help ensure that fewer invited guests will be unable to attend because they could not afford gasoline or airfare.

In current times, many people can also not afford to take additional time off from their jobs. A lot of these folks opt to take any available paid time off to coincide with family holiday gatherings. Planning a wedding around these times means more guests will likely be able to attend.

For weddings planned a year or more in advance, shopping post-holiday sales is the best way to collect decorations for a Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s wedding. A wide array of holiday decorations can be obtained in the days and weeks to follow for 50% off, 75% off, or more!

Shopping these sales as soon as possible after the holiday is imperative; selections often get picked over very quickly, and the very best stuff likely won’t last long!

If shopping after the holidays is not an option, it important to do as much comparison shopping as possible and to always be on the lookout for sale prices. While pre-holiday sales are not as cheap as post-holiday liquidations, patience and sensible shopping can net some very reasonable prices.

Look for basic decorating supplies, such as ribbon, garlands, silk floral, and candles. (Wire-edged ribbon is extremely useful and versatile for decorating purposes, and is very common around the holidays!) Holiday themed linens such as tablecloths, runners, and placemats are also good things to look for. To maintain an elegant look, avoid kitschy knick-knacks and anything that would be classified as “cute.”

Thanksgiving and Christmas are both holidays that traditionally center around a large feast of a meal. For this reason, traditional holiday foods typically hit their lowest sale prices of the year during the holidays. This makes holiday weddings ideal candidates for DIY catering, saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars!

It is especially important to take advantage of holiday sale prices on the most expensive portion of the meal – the meat! Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams are not only widely pleasing to most people, they can also be purchased for 50% or more off during holiday sales.

Comparison shopping for food prices is very important. Every grocery store will have sale prices in the weeks leading up to the holidays, and it may take some research to find the best deal.

Planning a wedding during the holiday season has the potential to save money not only on the wedding budget, but on guests’ travel budgets as well. In a time of economic hardship, holiday weddings are a great money-saving solution!

HOL101

The copyright of the article Budget Weddings During the Holidays in Wedding Planning is owned by Rhonda Rowley. Permission to republish Budget Weddings During the Holidays in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.