From buying a used dress to renting a wedding cake, Time Warner Cable News’ Tara Lynn Wagner continues her Business of Marriage series with ways to cut some of the bigger costs.
There are two silhouettes that have come to symbolize a wedding: the cake and the dress. Let's start with the later.
"Well the gown is a huge ticket item when you’re planning your wedding. You want it to feel really you. You want it to feel really special. You don’t want to spend a crazy amount of money," says Jessica Silvester, senior editor at New York Magazine.
The good news is, you do not have to. There are many ways to get your dream dress without dropping designer dollars. For one thing, sort through sample gowns.
"A sample gown means that it’s brand new, however, it has been tried on by other brides in the store. They’ve never been worn by a bride. They’ve never been altered. They are still brand new, but they are significantly discounted," says Elise Petit, store manager of Glamour Closet.
To make that discount even deeper, go for a dress that's already taken a trip down the aisle.
"A lot of people these days are doing resale. And you can find great deals by looking online or buying a used dress. I mean they were worn just one day," says Jeanette Pavini, savings expert at Coupons.com.
When it comes to the cake, saving is as easy as pie. For one thing, you can go with the house brand, so to speak.
"Most venues will include it in the package per person price. Using what the venue has is going to save you money," says Jeanine Krafchin, catering director at the Garden City Hotel.
Another way to keep your cake from taking too big of a bite out of your budget is to rent one. Since buying one of Madison Lee Barricelli's intricate cakes can cost thousands of dollars, she suggests renting a fully decorated display cake and serving your guests sheet cake for a much sweeter deal.
"So you pay a rental fee, I put one slice of cake inside. You cut it. You get the pictures as if it was a full real cake. They take it in the back, the sheet cake gets cut and nobody’s the wiser," says Barricelli, owner of Madison Lee’s Cakes.
While renting a cake is not all that common, Barricelli says, "I have people that say ‘You know actually, we want to start off the wedding with a real cake because it’s a real marriage."
She says many people do opt for smaller cakes and serve their guests sheet cakes to cut costs.
Finally, consider taking dessert in a different direction by cutting the cake altogether.
"You can have donuts. You can have macaroons. You can have cupcakes. People are so thinking beyond that traditional silhouette of the cake now," says Silvester.