Savings secret #4 in Dream Wedding on a Dime; 7 Secrets for the Budget-Savvy Bride is “Recycling Saves More Than the Planet.” Choosing items you can use in everyday life, buying pre-owned, selling products, and donating to charities all help conserve our planet’s resources, plus have a positive impact on the bottom-line cost of your wedding.
Here are 23 ways you can be both ecologically responsible and soften the impact of a wedding on your pocket book:
- Buy as much as you can used. (Find items with free shipping at used.MyOnlineWeddingHelp.com.)
- Choose items that can be used later in your day-to-day life.
- Sell your wedding products after the big day.
- Plan to donate wedding items and legally deduct them on your itemized tax return. (See 5 Wedding Tax Deduction Tips, Plus One to Avoid.)
- Buy used fancier display stands, and then resell them. (A current selection of decorative used stands and plates are at MyOnlineWeddingHelp.com/used-stands.)
- Have unusual yet inexpensive presentation dishes such as pumpkin shells or shot glasses.
- Buy used imitation flowers, and resell them after the wedding to keep your costs low.
- Carry unique-to-you “flowers” by making the bouquets from buttons, brooches, or paper instead of flowers.
- Reset a stone or melt down your old jewelry.
- Buy pre-owned rings.
- Choose accessories you can reuse in everyday life.
- Donate your wedding ensemble to a local charity that helps those who cannot afford a wedding.
- Buy a donated gown.
- Buy a used gown from a resale marketplace such as eBay. (Those with free shipping are at Used.MyOnlineWeddingHelp.com/wedding-dresses-used.htm.)
- Buy used wedding shoes.
- Let the groomsmen choose informal attire they can wear in everyday life, such as a mix and match of nice blue jeans, suspenders, and button-down shirts with jackets and ties.
- Pick nice-looking but inexpensive suits that are also appropriate as normal dress wear.
- Buy the groom’s suit or tuxedo pre-owned.
- Buy used petticoats on eBay. (Current listings with free shipping are at Used.MyOnlineWeddingHelp.com/slips-petticoats-used.htm.)
- Have the groomsmen wear their everyday dress suits and “oomph them up” with accessories.
- Share with another bride.
- Buy new or used tablecloths and napkins online and resell them.
- Buy table skirts and clips at discount prices online, then resell after the wedding:
– Skirts: MyOnlineWeddingHelp.com/skirt
– Clips: MyOnlineWeddingHelp.com/clips
The above is based on content from the ebook Dream Wedding on e Dime; 7 Secrets for the Budget-Savvy Bride.