Top 10 Ways to Raise Money for a Wedding
1. Help the environment
Most Top 10 lists end with the “best” of what the list is about, but I am going to start with the best idea I’ve heard for how to save money for a wedding: recycling aluminum. Check out the website called Wedding Cans. It sounds weird, but only a month after the woman started the project, it was making news. Look at the journal on Wedding Cans for the press it’s been getting.
2. Get Corporate Sponsorship
This is another sort of strange idea that I came across on Wise Bread. It might stink of “selling out” something that’s supposedly “sacred,” but aren’t we adults here? Weddings have been as commercialized as Christmas, so grow up. If you agree to display corporate logos at your wedding, you might be able to avoid personal loan companies to pay for it.
3. Participate in a dare
An article on Romance Fire suggested to “take a video of yourself conquering a known fear if the price is right .” In the tradition of “Jackass” and “Fear Factor,” you could play on people’s fear to get some extra financial help in your nuptial ceremony.
4. Use the registry
Worst-Case Scenarios suggests that instead of registering for gifts that you will use after the wedding, register for ceremony components such as a limousine service, floral arrangements, food and beverages.
5. Sell Stuff Off
This one is easy – you hold a yard sale, sell stuff on eBay, etc, to make money. Maybe you could hold an auction.
6.Simply Ask
Another very popular idea out there is that you should start a web site or a group on a social network and simply ask for people to donate to your wedding.
7. Have everybody pitch in
Similar to the registry idea, which has people helping pay for the wedding instead of just buying gifts, you can ask certain people, close friends and family members, to pay for one thing. Have someone buy the cake, another person buys the favors. Pick the stuff you want and tell people that’s what you want as your gift.
8. Vacation home instead of wedding hall
This is how to save money instead of make it, but it’s a good idea. Wedding reception halls can cost thousands of dollars per hour to rent. Look for vacation homes nearby, and have the reception at a beautiful home or yard. You can stay for days on what will only get you hours in a wedding hall.
9. With a little help from your friends
This raising money for a wedding idea isn’t directed at the bride and groom, but rather at the wedding party and the couple’s friends. A common custom in some places is to hold a “Jack and Jill,” which is a big party in honor of the bride and groom, and charge $5 or so to get in. Then, the money is given to the couple.
10. Planning ahead
Every expert says to save money in advance to pay for your wedding. They also suggest getting a second job or offer a service and put money aside. That’s obvious, but it merits a mention because weddings are incredibly expensive things.