After the proposal and engagement celebrations comes the planning for the most important day of your life. One thing which every prospective bride and groom to be will have asked at some point is how you can save money on your wedding day. Getting married costs money, there’s not much getting around that. It’s a fabulous party and you’ll want to share with with your friends and family, you might want the most beautiful dress and shoes or venue you can get. It all adds up quickly.
There are lots of tips and tricks across the web for how to have a beautiful wedding on a budget. At Our Wedding Story we have already brought you DIY Wedding Ideas and creative tips. This time we have scoured the web to bring you the best tricks and tips for having a unique, individual and beautiful wedding when you are on a budget.
Here’s how to keep a lid on your budget and still have a beautiful, unforgettable wedding day.
How to have a beautiful wedding on a budget
1. Drop The Gift List
As fun as it is to get lots of gifts many couples will have been living together before getting married. Whilst you wedding day used to be a way to get everything you needed to start out in life together, today you could well have all these things. Instead of asking for a wedding list, ask for wedding favours. Do you have an aunt who’s great at baking or a friend who’s great with flowers? People are always happy to be involved in your big day!
Asking talented family and friends to offer their help instead of gifts is a great way to involve people in your wedding, spend time with them and keep that wedding budget down.
2. Food & Drink
With potentially lots of mouths to feed and drinks to serve, food and drink can be one of the most expensive parts of your wedding day. If your venue doesn't provide catering there are great ways to cut down on costs here whilst still serving up a fantastic feast. As an alternative to asking a relative who loves baking to make a wedding cake, ask each guest to bring a different dessert. You can even make it a bit of a competition! Bring and share meals are also a great way to cut down costs as everyone brings a dish and shares it with the whole party, it doubles up as gifts too.
If you do use caterers, consider your menu choices. A BBQ picnic or buffet style wedding breakfast can be stylish, fun and cut down on expense. Try buying alcohol and drinks in bulk to reduce your bill. You can eat fantastic food and have a fun time without breaking the bank.
3. Have an outdoor ceremony
Have you always dreamed of having a church wedding or pictured it happening in an old house? If not, why not consider an outdoor ceremony? Renting a venue, whether a building, function hall or church can be expensive. Instead, think about holding your ceremony in a public park with a beautiful view, your own home or a home of a friend or relative.
Each of these bring you the chance to create a beautiful, picturesque and memorable wedding day whilst avoiding the cost of renting a ceremony, and perhaps even a reception, venue. If you decide to hold an outdoor wedding, make a backup plan in case of bad weather - you probably don’t want to get married in a downpour!
4. Stationary, invitations and cards
It isn’t always easy to create your own stationery such as wedding invitations, thank you cards and other stationary, but it can be done and it can be another great way to save money. Sites such as Vista Print offer cheap wedding invitations you can order from home. In the digital age, going paperless and using e-invites or a website/ blog can be a great way to save money and also be environmentally conscious by saving paper. You could even just send email invites. It might feel quite modern, but do you keep old wedding invites?
5. Entertainment
A wedding is a big party and celebration. You need to keep everyone entertained through the day and evening. Hiring a band or a DJ can be an expensive proposition. A well considered and created Spotify playlist is almost guaranteed to keep people dancing through the night. Alternatively, think if you know any family members, friends or local musicians such as small bands or buskers. Often people will be more than happy to play your wedding for a small fee.
6. The transport
Do you need to hire a big fancy car for your wedding day? They look great in pictures but often only have to take you a short distance. Again, try asking around people you know who have nice cars. If there is a classic car club in your area try asking its members to see if you could exchange a favour with them.
7. The timings
The longer the day, the more food and drink you have to provide guests and the more entertainment you will need. Think about having a ceremony a bit later in the afternoon so you only have to provide guests with one lot of food, like that BBQ, Buffet or picnic. A sunset meal with friends outside could lead to some truly fantastic photos.
Also think about what day of the week you get married. Week days can often be cheaper than weekends with vendors more willing to offer discounts. If you are going for an inside wedding does the time of year matter? Getting married out-of-season can also lead to cheaper packages.
8. Go off-the-rack instead of bespoke
Every bride and groom wants to look their best on their wedding day but does that always mean going bespoke? There are many dressmakers, dress shops and men’s outfitters with fantastic ranges of ready made and off-the-peg outfits for your wedding day. If you decide to go bespoke for your own outfits, for bridesmaids and groomsmen avoid custom outfits all together. This works best when you choose colours, styles, choosing a vendor with plenty of sizes. This way you should avoid any spats with your wedding parties.
9. Take a simpler honeymoon
A big post-wedding expense is the honeymoon. Whilst a long-haul honeymoon to a far-flung destination sounds fun it’s far cheaper to stay closer to home. For your honeymoon choose a destination that helps you to focus on what matters, unwinding after the busy period leading up to your wedding day. Kick back and savour some real quality time together. A flight halfway round the world with multiple connections might not be so much fun! Wherever you go make sure you connect with each other and really enjoy this time together.
10. Relax
The best way to have a beautiful wedding no matter your budget is to relax. Things will crop up and problems will occur. Try to take it all in your stride and work together as a team to keep each other calm. Assume a few things will go wrong along the way but that in the end you day will be as magical as you have dreamed.
Talk to Our Wedding Story today to find out how we can capture the magic of your wedding day.
