5 Ways to Save on Your Wedding Pt. 1

April 30, 2018

Getting married can be so expensive!

The most important day of your life can truly cost you an arm and a leg (or even more!!) if you are not careful! If there is one thing we can advise you, it is this: DO NOT go into debt over your wedding. Find a budget that works for you both and stick to it. You will be glad you did that in the long run when you start your marriage without any outstanding debt. Anyway, with that out of the way, we figured today would be a great day to share with you some tips on how to save on your wedding day! There are lots of ways to help you keep the cost down and make the wedding still be a fabulous event!

Let’s dive right in!

Avoid weekend weddings- especially Saturdays.

Sure, people get married on a Saturday evening all the time. Be different! Saturday weddings are the most expensive of all the days of the week. Sundays are a little better, Fridays better yet, and a weeknight, the best! Maybe a weeknight does not work for you because you have so many guests to keep track of, or you are afraid people will leave early due to work the next day. However, Fridays are a great day to get married. Have a 6 or 7pm wedding and your guests can take the afternoon off to come to your wedding. It is a lot more feasible, and not too much of an imposition. They will not have to worry about staying out late since the following day is a Saturday and they can rest and relax at home! Oftentimes, venues will offer you a discount for choosing another night to get married on, so be sure to ask and take advantage! Even a 10-15{0e676ec2f44ecabe7dbad24894a5f60517719a136bc7f0c20d97b4a1320db0ec} discount can make a huge impact on your budget and free up space for other things you may want to splurge on!

Use a Venue That Allows You To Choose Your Own Vendors

Lots of venues force you to use their own vendors. They have a partnership with them and allow you to use them at a discounted rate. However, if you do not use them, they may upcharge you anywhere from 20-30{0e676ec2f44ecabe7dbad24894a5f60517719a136bc7f0c20d97b4a1320db0ec}. You definitely do not want to do this. Aside from paying for the actual vendor, you have to pay to bring them in. Not only is this unfair to you, but it is killing your budget! Find a venue that allows you to bring in your own vendors without a fee and go with that. You can budget how much you want to spend per vendor and adjust accordingly as you go along. It will make the budgeting process much easier!

Host your Ceremony & Reception at the Same Location

Oftentimes, couples choose to have two separate locations for their ceremony and reception. Although we can’t knock anyone who may want to have a traditional church wedding followed by a ballroom reception, it can be more expensive (actually, it usually is). If you rent a location, whether an outdoor place or a ballroom, you will typically get a better deal by renting one place for a longer amount of time and having both your ceremony and reception in the same place. Not only will you save on the actual location cost, but you will save on limos to transport the bridal party, flowers and décor for one of the locations and so much more! You will also make it easier for your out of town guests- they won’t get lost getting from one place to the next!

Don’t Serve a Fancy Sit Down Dinner

Sit down dinners can cost you so much of your budget! They are anywhere from $25 to $50 per person at least! That can easily add up, especially if you have a lot of people to invite! Ditch the sit-down and serve hors d’oeuvres instead! You can get creative and serve some fancy types without spending nearly as much as a sit down dinner! On the other hand, if you really want to serve dinner, consider something beyond the typical fish, chicken or steak. It is expensive and honestly, overdone. Consider having a food truck. Or a hot dog stand. Or maybe even a taco station. Better yet, a BBQ meal. All of these are so much cheaper than a typical sit down dinner and are so creative your guests are bound to love it! We promise you, they will remember this so much more than the typical chicken, mashed potatoes and mixed veggies dish with a side of bread and butter. Get creative, and don’t feel bad about it. Remember it is your big day after all!

Serve a Fake Wedding Cake!

Just kidding. Don’t give your guests a fake cake. Have real cake, but not the one that you set out. Rent a cardboard cake for pictures if you would like, but it will be cheaper to just serve your guests sheet cake. They will never see it! Go to Sam’s Club or BJ’s and place an order for enough sheet cake for all your guests. Have it delivered to your venue and let them keep it in the kitchen. If you are okay with it, skip the fake cardboard cake, too and you will save even more! If you must have the cake, rent one and you will see how much cheaper it can be! You are going to love it, too!

There are so many ways to save on weddings.

We know this is great help in planning a wedding, so we are going to continue this series in the next couple of days. We think you will benefit greatly from it, whether you are planning a budget wedding or not. It really will be able to help you stretch your money and spend in on everything you want to have at your wedding! Loved this post? Check out this one!