Main Line Weddings

Tips for budget-minded brides-to-be. PLUS: A CD to calm prenuptial jitters.

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Your Money’s Worth

Eight products and services for a budget wedding.

By Leah Ingram

Photo albums for less. You can get a professional-looking photo album at CVS (cvs.com) that looks like you ordered it from a wedding photographer—and spent a ton in the process. A 10-page book holds up to 72 digital photos and sets you back as little as $14.99. Best of all, you needn’t wait weeks: Photos are printed in a matter of minutes at the in-store photo center.


Don’t go overboard on teeth whitening. You can get a whiter smile for your wedding without spending hundreds for a professional whitening. The folks behind the Oral-B Pulsonic toothbrush ($69.99, oralb.com) did a study that showed their product, when used with regular toothpaste for twice-a-day brushings, reduced surface stains on teeth by 94 percent. That would give any bride (or groom) something to smile about.


Get cash back on wedding purchases. If you decide to save money by shopping for your wedding and honeymoon online, consider doing it through eBates.com. The site gives you cash back when you visit its online partners by clicking through the eBates portal first. Book a honeymoon on CheapCaribbean.com, and eBates will give you 2 percent back. So if you end up spending $1,200 per person on a travel package, you’ll get $48. That’s more than enough for a couple of drinks at the resort.



Cake-topper on the cheap. Don’t bust your budget having a florist decorate your cake with expensive blooms. Invest in a Cake Vase, a clear plate with tiny holes in it that fits over the top of the cake and allows you to arrange flowers like a pro while keeping the greenery safely away from the icing. Kits come in sets of three and cost less than $20 on Amazon.com.



Play tourist in Philadelphia. Rather than shelling out for a pricey private tour of Philadelphia’s hot spots, treat your guests to a Philadelphia City Pass (citypass.com): $58 covers admission to six of the city’s hottest cultural attractions, including the Franklin Institute, the National Constitution Center and the Academy of Natural Sciences. Purchased individually, they’d cost well over $100. Each pass is good for nine days.


DIY wedding music. MyWeddingMusic.com is a free service that suggests various song choices for the ceremony and reception; you can purchase a three-CD kit with 44 songs for $29.98. Or, if you own a Microsoft Zune MP3 player, spend $14.99 on a one-month Zune Pass (zune.net), and download all the songs you need for your wedding playlist.


Carry it on. Many couples are turning to destination weddings as a way to save money, but no bride wants her dress to end up as lost luggage. Instead, she can pack her gown in the Destination Wedding Kit ($49.95, getmarried.com), a suitcase-like, acid-free container that fits into the overhead compartment of most planes. The kit comes with 56 sheets of protective acid-free paper, and it doubles as a storage container after the big day.



Online invitations. Your guests will never know that you didn’t pay a lot for wedding invites from VistaPrint (vistaprint.com). The company is best known for its free business cards, but it has expanded its services to include printed materials for special occasions. How does 100 wedding invitations for $40 sound? For a bit more per invitation, order gorgeous invitation sets online via Pingg.com. They’ll even mail them out for you.



Local wedding expert Leah Ingram’s new book, Suddenly Frugal (Adams Media), is due out in December. Visit her blog at suddenlyfrugal.wordpress.com.
 

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