10 Ways to Raise Money for a Wedding
1. Help the environment
Most Top 10 lists end with the best that it is offering, but let’s start this one with the best, or at least most original: 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. 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 have corporate logos or feature products at your wedding, you can avoid having to pay back personal loan companies.
3. Take a dare
One pretty bizarre idea that I saw on Romance Fire is 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 your 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
Of course, there are numerous tip lists out there that suggest you sell your stuff, either online, at a yard sale or some other way. Maybe you could hold an auction.
6.Simply Ask
You could start a website, or social networking group, and solicit donations like other people do for other charitable causes.
7. Get guests to pitch in
Similar to the registry idea, you could ask people to help pitch in for the wedding – hey, you’re gonna eat the food? You’re gonna help with the bill. 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 doesn’t raise money, it saves money, but it’s a really good idea, so I’m including it anyway. 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 rent these places for days and still spend less than a few hours at a hall.
9. A little help from your friends
This isn’t so much for the bride and groom, it’s for the guests who are getting fed and possibly drunk at YOUR wedding. 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. The happy couple gets the cash.
10. Plan ahead
Pretty much every site I’ve gone to suggests that you plan ahead and save money in advance. They also suggest that you could get a second job or offer some sort of service and save the money you make. That’s obvious, but it merits a mention because weddings are incredibly expensive things.
