6 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding

A budget is integral to planning a wedding. However, it’s only once you start selecting venues and vendors that you realize what a wedding actually costs. The good news is there are ways to save on wedding costs, ensuring you can stick to your budget and avoid unnecessary debt. I’ve put together a few tips that will help you plan your dream wedding at a cost that works for you and your families.

Consider an Off-Peak Wedding

Many venues and vendors drop their cost during off-peak periods, so you may want to consider an off-season date for your big day. Weddings are less popular in winter, so decide if you could see yourself getting married during the colder months. Another option is to have your wedding on a weekday, which generally also results in lower venue and vendor costs. And extra bonus with these two options is that getting the best vendors in your area will be a lot easier as you won’t be competing with couples who booked the most requested days years ago.

Click HERE for my Holiday and Off-Season Wedding Inspiration!

Get Rid of the Nice-to-Haves

When planning a wedding, there is always going to be a list of must-haves and a list of things you would like to have. If you’re finding that you’re quickly reaching your budget limits, it’s time to start getting rid of those nice-to-haves. Even though this isn’t ideal, try and bring your focus back to the significance of the day and what truly matters. You can always save the nice-to-have ideas for other events in your life like anniversary and birthday parties!

One Entrée is Enough

You might love the idea of providing your guests with a selection of entrees, but one really is enough. Food costs can skyrocket really quickly, so if you want to stick to your budget, rather choose one delicious entrée instead of a few. The only time you need to consider more than one is if some of your guests are vegan, vegetarian, or have food allergies.

Opt for In-Season Flowers

It can be tricky to decide on flowers for your big day, but if you’re on a tight budget, rather stick to blooms that are in season all year round. This includes lilies, roses, baby’s breath, greenery, gardenias, and carnations. This might also mean that you’ll need to be open to new wedding décor ideas and styles. Chat with your florist about what blooms they can easily get and where they can help you save some pennies!

Keep the Guest List Small

You may already have a much smaller guest list due to limited options at the moment, but if your budget seems to be shrinking at a rapid pace, you may want to cut down even further. It’s not ideal to have to cut guests out of your wedding, but if it means staying out of debt, it’s well worth it. When I was planning my own wedding I had 1 qualifier for who got an invitation: Would I invite them to my house for dinner? Have they invited me to their house for dinner? That was it – if the answer was no to either question , I felt no need to invite them. Easy peasy!

Limit the Bar

Alcohol can be one of the biggest wedding expenses, so keep an eye on how generous your bar tab is. For couples on a budget, why not stick to one signature cocktail as well as some wine and beer. This way, your guests can still enjoy alcohol and your budget remains in place.

For my own wedding, the venue wanted $500 to open the top shelf on top of our open bar. I knew there were a few high end whisky drinkers who would be at our wedding and didn’t feel it was fair to make us pay that much for a few drams. I negotiated with the venue and ended up printing our own tickets to give anyone who wanted a high end drink and at the end of the night we paid that extra bar bill – which totaled less than $100. I was pretty pleased with myself and the venue manager had to admit I am a pretty savvy business woman to have pulled that off!

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