10 Tips to Save Money on Your Wedding

We love to envision our big day as an extravagant, over-the-top celebration sparing no cost. With multi-thousand dollar dresses, diva bands and those infamous catering costs, it is so easy to get lost in the decision-making process when it comes to swiping that credit card. The national average for a wedding is over $20,000, and stunning research shows one-third of couples get themselves into debt for their wedding day. To help avoid this rocky start to the most exciting time of your life, I have created a comprehensive list of the 10 best ways to save money on your wedding. You don’t have to have a ceremony that looks cheap for it to be cheaper!

1. First, Prioritize

The first thing you need to do is sit down with your partner and decide what it is that is really important to each of you in the wedding. A lot of couples don’t make a list of priorities, so as planning moves along they find themselves spending more freely on the decisions made early thus, leaving a smaller budget toward things they might forget about later down the road. The dress may be worth to you than spending a couple of extra thousand on décor, or maybe you would rather spend more on the cake than worry about getting that expensive pair of shoes. Each couple is completely different on where they lay their priorities. The biggest example of this is the size of the ceremony: if you’re wanting to spend more on food, decoration, and other things, you may definitely want to cut the guest list down.

2. DSY: Do Some Yourself!

While this option is not for everyone, if you or your bridal team are slightly crafty, you may consider hitting up Pinterest or check out what’s airing on the DIY Network for this tip. These days many people are opting for creating their own decorations, mostly because the how-tos and tutorials on how to make things are so accessible and easy to follow. You can create your own centerpieces or do some origami flowers! The only caution I offer is to not overdo it on the DIY projects. You don’t want it all to turn out like a hodge-podge.

3. Avoid Peak Times

Timing is crucial when you’re trying to save money. Venues, caterers, florists and more will tend to charge more during the “peak times”. This includes season, day of the week and time of day. Peak seasons include the months of June through September and these are months you want to avoid. October is a little less busy than the rest of those months, but the slowest months are going to be January through April (May is a toss up.) The exception to this is Valentine’s Day, of course, which as you can imagine is one of the busiest days of the year.

To save money on which day you pick, you may want to go for a weekday.  Sure, it’s a little less convenient for your guests in some situations, but it is always cheaper than a Saturday (the busiest day) and even a Sunday. As far as time of day goes, doing one earlier in the morning saves you money for several reasons: mostly on food. You can get away with serving less food AND alcohol if you have an earlier time for your ceremony because breakfast/lunchtime allows for lighter menus.

4. Ditch the Band

Often times hiring a DJ over a band is not only cheaper but it is becoming the preferred method of entertainment at the reception. Bands usually charge based off of when your wedding is and they pay each member separately, leaving you to pick up the tab for at least two people (though bands usually have at least four members.)

If you find a talented DJ, he can double for the emcee which is helpful to move the reception along and entertaining as well. There is almost always more variety in the songs a DJ can include on his set, too. You can be specific about what you do and do not want played at the reception and sometimes they have an option where they take requests if that’s something you would like to have for your guests’ experience!

5. Flowers

The best way to save money on flowers is definitely not to have too many flowers and that is obvious. But this classic and beautiful decoration is one most people don’t want to flat-out say no to. There are ways to be smart and save though. Always buy locally and whatever is in season. Different flowers grow abundantly in one area but may not grow at all if you go to another state or even in a different month of the year. After you book the date, do some research. Call your local florist and ask what they will have around that time and even if you can get a discount for asking so far in advance (if you call soon after deciding)!

Also, a way to cut costs is to “recycle” the flowers used in the ceremony in the reception as table centerpieces or to decorate the room. If flowers are very low on your priority list, consider using lighting as a way to decorate instead.

6. Don’t Spend Too Much on One Item

Refer back to your priority list on this one. Yes, while you may allot more money to one thing than another, it still isn’t wise to put all your eggs in one basket. One thing many couples forget costs so much and accidentally end up splurging on is the alcohol tab. And while a few of you may want to hear this, the truth behind spending a whole lot of money on your dress is this: the dress, for the most part, does not enhance the experience for the guests. So yes, you deserve to look and feel like the beautiful princess you are that day! Just remember that spending an exorbitant amount on that one item won’t make the entire day much better than it would if you spent half as much.  Next are tips on how you can do just that.

7. Deals on That Dress

There are many ways you can save money on the traditional white gown. The best is to go for “something borrowed”: utilize your mother’s or mother-in-law’s old gown. A good seamstress will charge nowhere near what a new dress would cost for some alterations. If not that, why not consider buying a dress worn only once before? These dresses will come drastically cheaper. Another option is to rent your gown or check online auctions. A good resource to check out similar options is preownedweddingdresses.com. Have an open mind while considering these options.

8. Save Money on Venue

Your first instinct may be to Google “(your town) best wedding venue”, which is not a bad place to start. The issue with doing this is it pops up heavily popular and usually highly expensive options. If you’re looking for something cheaper and more unique, this is not the way to go. National Parks and campgrounds make excellent scenery and are far cheaper. Another idea along those lines are museums and art galleries. This definitely offers a more special experience.

If you know someone with a lot of property (or have a friend of a friend of a friend,) don’t be afraid to ask if you can hold your ceremony there! The worst they can say is “no”. You can offer money but don’t feel like you need to fork out a ton.

9. Catering Crisis

As mentioned before, be sure to schedule your reception around times you could offer less food and alcohol (in the mornings or early afternoon). Breakfast and lunch are the lightest meals of the day, and people are far less likely to indulge on drinks if it is still daytime. You can also go for the newer trend to serve mostly hors d’oeuvres or have a decorative cupcake display instead of a grandiose cake.

As far as the bar goes: this can be pricey but if you’re smart about it, you can easily cut costs. If your venue is running the bar, they will often charge retail prices or even mark up prices per cocktail. You can mix your own and save hundreds. Go for the cheaper wines, you won’t offend anyone (to be honest, most can’t even tell!) Some couples even crowdsource and ask people to bring bottles of their favorites.

10. Be Smart With Space

If you want to save money on both a venue and lodging, rent a house. This is a fantastic idea to save some money if you have a lot of out-of-town guests and if it is a nice place, it can double as the place you hold your ceremony! It will be more intimate than a large venue and you can get more comfortable like this.

Another way to be smart with space and save money is holding your reception and ceremony in the same place. If you do spring for a venue then why not get the most use out of it? It is not unpopular for couples to do the ceremony, quickly turn around and use that same space to resume with the reception. If you do this you can come up with interesting ideas on how to seat your guests, such as having them sit at their tables during the ceremony.

With your wedding being the most important day of your life, it makes sense to spend a lot of time, effort and money on the whole thing. But why not save a bit where you can? Be sure to refer back to this list of tips to save money on your wedding while planning and it will surely help you do just that.

If you are still in need for a wedding photographer on your big day, contact me here. To see some of my other work, check out this post from earlier this year.