How To Have An Incredible Wedding On A Budget
If you’re newly engaged or ready to start planning your long-awaited wedding day, there’s likely a great deal of excitement, followed by the heavy cloud of financial reality. According to the popular wedding website The Knot, the national average for a wedding in 2018 was nearly $34,000. That’s a substantial amount of money, no matter your age. If you’re looking to cut wedding costs, there are a few things you’ve got to know…
Choose any day but Saturday
Most people tend to get married on Saturdays. While Saturday is convenient for people who may have to travel or work during the week, it also means you’ll be paying a premium. Many wedding venues will up-charge on Saturdays and will have lower prices on Friday, Sunday, and weekdays. The price difference can stack up to be multiple thousands of dollars, so if you don’t mind skipping on a Saturday wedding, this is an easy way to save money. Venues also tend to have a lot more availabilities on weekdays.
Celebrate during off-peak season
Peak wedding season typically runs from May or June through September or October. Similarly to how Saturdays are a premium day for weddings, the summer months are in high demand, and therefore, are more costly. If you have your wedding during the off-peak season, i.e., anywhere between October and May, this is another easy way to save money and have more choices when it comes to venue availability.
Don’t invite more people than you need to
Of course, you want to celebrate with your friends and family on this special day, but do you really need to invite that high school acquaintance you haven’t spoken to in years or that co-worker who doesn’t know the name of your fiancé? The simple answer is no. If you want to keep an eye on finances, one of the most important factors is the number of guests you invite. If someone isn’t a family member, a close friend, or someone you’ve spoken to in the past year, they probably aren’t essential to your wedding day.
Use digital stationary
Elaborately designed and packaged save-the-dates and invitations are fun, but they also come with a hefty price tag. To save on printing and mailing, consider using digital stationary instead. You can design save-the-dates and invitations online, and many websites will take care of sending out emails and tracking RSVPs for you. If you have grandparents or older guests who aren’t tech-savvy, you could still print a few physical copies to give them.
Look at alternative dresses and suits
There are thousands of beautiful, wedding-worthy dresses and suits that aren’t from a bridal store and don’t have a designer label on them. So before you shell out the big bucks at David’s Bridal, consider looking at alternatives, whether from other brick-and-mortar retail stores or from online sites, like Etsy (which has the added bonus of frequently accepting custom measurements). You can also save money by choosing a white dress or suit that isn’t specifically advertised as wedding attire, such as a “white bridesmaid dress”.
Ask friends and family to help
If you have friends and family who are willing to offer their time or their skills, reach out to them and try to get them involved. Many people are more than happy to contribute, and will appreciate that you’ve asked for their help with such a special occasion. If you have an aunt who’s crafty, ask her to help with decorations. If you have a cousin who’s handy with a camera, ask them to take photos. The more tasks you can delegate, the less stressful and costly it will be.
Look for alternative venues
Barn venues are so vogue right now, and churches are very traditional, but there are plenty of other kinds of venues to consider. Alternative venues can range from farmer’s markets, to city parks, to renovated historic buildings. While you want to keep key amenities in mind, such as bathrooms, lighting, heat/AC, etc., look for venues that offer custom packages so you aren’t paying for what you aren’t using. Venues that let you choose your own food and beverage vendors will also be less costly than venues that require you use theirs.
Consider DIY projects
Flower arrangements, centerpieces, and aisle decorations can easily be turned into DIY projects. By making certain things yourself, you can save money and avoid the problems of paying a premium for decorations that you’ll probably never use again. Many people arrange their own flowers using flowers from Sam’s Club or even Trader Joe’s and you can easily spruce up tables and chairs by buying your own cloth and ribbons.
…but don’t DIY everything
A word of warning: if you try to do everything yourself to save money, you’ll also probably stress yourself out even more. So don’t try to take on everything by yourself. This is where delegating tasks becomes especially helpful. Paying for some services can be better in the long run because you’ll have more time to relax and focus on important things that need your attention.
Don’t have a wedding party
One of the toughest parts of a wedding can be playing the precarious game of choosing who will be in your wedding party without offending anyone. By not having a wedding party, you can bypass this dilemma and also save quite a bit of money. By not having bridesmaids and groomsmen, you don’t have to worry about gifts, coordinating dresses, suits, and accessories, or the cost of getting ready day-of. You can still let your friends and family know how much they mean to you and find other ways to honor and incorporate them into your wedding without splurging on a wedding party.
Do your own makeup
If you’re into makeup and do it regularly, then you should consider doing your own instead of paying someone else. You want to look good for your wedding day, of course, and you should do whatever makes you feel most comfortable, but more doesn’t always equal better. If you want a full face of professionally done makeup, go for it, but there’s no need to feel obligated. Some people even choose to walk down the aisle without any makeup at all.
Save the trees
Much like using digital invites, you don’t necessarily need to print hundreds of wedding programs. You probably don’t need them, and they’re just another thing to worry about (getting them printed, picking them up, handing them out, collecting them after, etc.). So why not skip them all together? No one will miss them, but if you have elderly guests who want them, you can always just print a few to give to them.
Use in-season flora and fauna
You may have your favorite flower of all time, but chances are it might not be in-season when you have your wedding. Flowers that aren’t in-season are more expensive because they have to either be specially grown or shipped in from somewhere else. Try to be flexible when it comes to what flowers are used. It’s likely that you can still get the colors you want, just with a different variety of flowers. Incorporating a fair amount of greenery will also help cut down on flower costs. And if you arrange your own flowers, you can order flowers in bulk from Costco, Sam’s Club, or other online flower shops.
Don’t have a plated meal
Do you remember that last plated meal you had at your friend’s wedding? Unless the food was spectacular, probably not. While formal plated, sit-down meals are usually associated with weddings, you don’t have to serve over-price roasted vegetables and grilled chicken if you don’t want to. Your guests’ taste buds and your wallet will thank you if you do something else. Consider doing a buffet of simple but tasty foods like a taco or pizza bar.
Use disposable plates and cutlery
If you aren’t having a formal plated meal and/or you aren’t having a formal caterer, you probably don’t want to deal with buying or renting chinaware either. Instead of worrying about plates being broken and having to wash dishes afterward, consider using disposable plates and cutlery! Many places, including Amazon, offer disposable plates and cutlery that are much nicer and sturdier, so guests may not even realize it isn’t real china and silverware until they pick it up.
Skip the wedding favors
Wedding favors are another tradition quickly receding into the past. You don’t need to feel obligated to hand out wedding favors if your guests chose to spend their time celebrating with you and you’ve thanked the them for coming. If you do want to have wedding favors, they don’t have to be elaborate or fancy.
Have simple centerpieces
The hard truth is no one really pays attention to the centerpieces and no one remembers them unless they’re particularly unusual, so you don’t need candles or a zillion flowers or fancy gold decorations. Some flowers, greenery, and maybe a nice bauble or two are all you really need, especially if you have table linens.
Don’t serve alcohol
Many people expect free alcohol at a wedding. Alcohol can be a nice social lubricant, but the expense can set you back quite a bit. If you don’t want to deal with drunk relatives, the possibility of underaged drinking, or the expense of providing alcohol, there’s nothing wrong with passing on this feature, especially if your wedding is earlier in the day.
Skip the cake
Wedding cakes, while pretty, also tend to be quite expensive (anything with ‘wedding’ attached to the label pretty much guarantees an automatic up-charge). Consider having a small, personal-sized wedding cake to cut, if you want to have the cake-cutting tradition, and then serve your guests a separate sheet cake, which is much kinder on the wallet. Or, skip the cake altogether and serve an alternative dessert—cupcakes, s’mores, doughnuts, cookies, etc.—and your guests are bound to notice and appreciate a change of pace from the normal wedding fare.
Use Spotify Premium instead of a DJ
Whether you want a dance floor or just some nice background music, a music streaming service like Spotify Premium can do the job in the music department. You can just plug in someone’s phone or laptop with an aux cord and skip the expense of hiring a professional DJ. You can create your own playlist of songs you’d like or you can find pre-made ones on Spotify.
Remember what the wedding is about
Finally, remember that the wedding is about two people committing their lives to each other. All the bells and whistles are secondary. You should have the wedding you want, but remember that the pressure to have glamorous pageantry is exactly that—societal pressure that you have no obligation to give into.