When you are planning for your big day, whether a destination wedding or a small ceremony, money should be the last thing on your mind. Your wedding day should be filled with love and laughter, with family and friends at your side to witness the special occasion.
However, this could turn out not to be the case in some situations. A wedding can be a costly enterprise, especially when not handled correctly. Expenses could pile up, souring your mood both before, at, and after the ceremony. The bottom line is to make sure that you have a wedding within your means. That might not be enough, especially if you aren’t getting outside help. Thus, you need to find ways to cut costs without compromising your ceremony’s quality.
In this article, we provide you with actionable tips to make sure you do not go broke while financing your wedding. So, if you want to learn how to save money on a wedding, buckle up and let’s get started!
Major Wedding Expenses
To reduce your wedding cost while also improving the user experience, you should be preemptive. Thus, you should consider the possible expenses that will come up along the way. This will help you save money and choose less expensive alternatives on that day. Although how you choose to celebrate your big day is up to you, some expenses are fairly standard. You can choose to go above and beyond to spend even thousands of dollars in wedding planning. Whatever be the case, here are the standard expectations you should have:
Venue
Money to be spent on the ceremony and reception venue is always top on the list of expenses. There is no generally accepted sum you can pay for the wedding venue. However, you should not expect to pay more than $500 for a church venue.
Beyond that, folks often do not have their reception at the same place they decided to get married in. For the big day, couples routinely choose different locations for both occasions. This essentially adds up to the cost of the venue.
Apart from the money you pay for the venue, you have to decorate the wedding venue. You should work with your wedding planner to come up with less expensive wedding venues. More of that will come later.
The Dress
Women are often sentimental and attached to the wedding gown they wear to get married on their wedding day. For some, this is quite high up on their list that they do not mind forgoing a wedding party to get the perfect dress.
Food
You can be sure that everyone on your guest list will be looking out for this. People often get to share food (or some type of refreshment) beginning from the bridal party to the main ceremony itself and definitely during the reception. All of these add up to the costs of the wedding.
Apart from the general refreshment you have to provide; the wedding cake is also a huge consideration.
The Flowers
One of the often-overlooked parts of the wedding costs is the money spent on flowers. Depending on the couple’s preference, flower costs could be quite exorbitant. Thus, in looking at ways to save money, you have to consider this.
Incidental expenses
These include the cost of a wedding photographer, printing the wedding invitations, the open bar’s cost, and so on. Also, the quality of your guest list could significantly impact your cost. This is because you would want to impress high profile guests.
If the above discussion scares you, you need not fret. In the next section, we discuss tips you can apply to save money.
Ways To Save Money On A Wedding
Cutting costs and saving money on a wedding can be quite simple. However, most people create unrealistic standards based on what they see on social media. For your big day, if you are willing to pay attention to what works just for you and your spouse, notwithstanding the standards set by others, then you should be fine. Below are our suggestions for saving money on your wedding.
Create A Wedding Budget
You need to make sure that you have a budget handy from the very start. This is one irrefutable tool to help you save money. You should be aiming to have a budget-friendly wedding. The first step is to look at your savings. Then decide how much of that you can put into the ceremony.
Furthermore, speak to your partner and find out how much they can commit also. With this in mind, you can keep things in perspective as you draw up your budget.
While planning on and drawing up the budget, you can look at the expenses we discussed in the previous section. Eventually, the entire project’s cost could run into hundreds of dollars. However, drawing up a budget is one way to get the cost down.
For the expenses that are not on the list, such as the cost of the bridesmaids’ bouquets, the rental fee for any structure you’d use, you could still add them to the budget. You may want to ask around to be definitive about these items’ exact costs. If you are unable to, then make an educated estimate regarding how much they’ll cost you and then go along with that.
Look For Inexpensive Venue Options
The wedding location is often a big deal for most folks. In fact, it almost competes with the wedding gowns for primacy. However, you need to be pragmatic and smart in choosing a venue. Regardless of how much you want to impress those on your guest list, always prioritize money saving options. Hence, ideally, you should look away from obvious (and expensive) locations if you want to save costs.
Some of the lesser-known choices that could work include a country club or golf course. The suitability of this option could depend on the weather state on that day. However, while planning, you can come up with something that works. Furthermore, having the ceremony or reception on a family member’s property is also one route that could save you money. Finally, a restaurant or local diner works just fine, too. The diner can take care of the menu on that day. This would be a win-win situation on both ends.
If you are considering having your wedding in New York or anywhere around that area, you may want to consider the Four Seasons Hotel in New York. Starting cost is $235 per person and $35 000 if your guest will be up to 150.
Cut The Cost Of The Cake
It may be inconceivable to you, but no rule says you must have a wedding cake on your wedding day. However, if you must, there may be no need to go overboard with it. One of the ways to save money is to go for a simple cake. A four-tiered cake may be elaborate and will definitely cost a lot. Even more so, your guests might be unable to tell the difference anyway. Hence, keep the cake idea simple and save money on your wedding.
Beer And Wine Work Just Fine
Regardless of anything you’ve heard to the contrary, you can serve just beer and wine at your reception with no issues whatsoever. There is no need to go out of your way to have an open bar. Of course, it would be excellent if you could, but when it is not financially prudent to do so, there is no need to start something you cannot complete. Thus, forget about a cocktail hour. Just find your locale’s favorite beers and wines and have them available. It’d be great if your guest list is small so you can anticipate what your guests would prefer. Even if you cannot tell what your guests would love, just go along with the logical options. You can never go wrong with beer and wine.
Consider Renting What You Need
if you are looking for ways to save money, then you need to make peace with the fact that you cannot buy everything. You may have to rent some (and even borrow others.) For instance, for the wedding gown, there really may be no need to buy one. This is especially if you have no intention of wearing it after the wedding day. Not to worry, there are great options for getting a great wedding gown or even a tux. You can rent either at discounted rates and return after the ceremony. No one will be the wiser.
Save On The Flowers
No doubt, flowers add to the beauty of a wedding. It may be hard to imagine a wedding ceremony without bouquets and bouquets of flowers. However, most people do not realize that flowers can be quite expensive. Suppose you insist on getting fresh flowers or rare breeds, the cost doubles or even triples. Hence, in figuring how to save money on your wedding, you should be looking to cut your flowers’ cost.
Employ the services of the local bridal florist to ease costs. Alternatively, you can get flowers from your own garden. You may also want to pay attention to seasonal flowers such as sugar flowers. This way, the flowers will be readily available when you need them.
Work With Family And Friends
You would need all the help you can get while planning a wedding. Typically, family and friends show up to offer moral support during the ceremony. However, beyond that, you can leverage on your immediate circle as one of the ways to save money on your wedding. You can have relatives and loved ones fill in roles such as bartending, photography, decoration, etc. Ordinarily, if you have anyone who carries out these activities professionally, you may want to engage their services. You would surely be getting discounts through that means. However, you could just co-opt them into helping out even if they have no professional experience. Since they were going to be guests anyway, pitching in to help in this way should be no problem for them at all.
Conclusions: Saving Money On A Wedding
You should know that there are no general rules on how to save money on a wedding. While, just like our guides on how much to spend on a wedding gift and how much to spend on a wedding ring, the suggestions here are tested and trusted, you should still consider your particular circumstance. For instance, you may want to hold your credit cards close during the period. In fact, you could even ask a friend or family member to have your credit cards. They will help make sure you do not spend money on frivolities. In all, keep an eye on anything that can be cut or delegated and save on your wedding!
