Weddings can be extremely expensive these days. So if you have a limited budget, it won’t be easy for you to organize a perfect ceremony. But there are always options and tricks that can help with that. Here you are 8 useful tips to save your wedding budget and still make your happy day the best wedding ever. Remember that you don’t have to throw money left and right to have a perfect wedding. Sometimes, a bit of imagination and creativity saves hundreds of dollars. All you need is a good piece of advice.
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Cut your guest count
If you have a limited wedding budget, try to invite fewer people. It would be better to have a few guests and provide everything you want for them than having hundreds of non-content people. Try to invite only those who are really important for you and are a part of your life. If you haven’t seen your childhood best friend for years, they don’t get to be one of your wedding guests. Also, skip the +1 option. You don’t need dozens of people you don’t even know at your wedding. Usually, they don’t care about you at all and come just to eat, drink, and have fun. Why spend money on them?
Don’t use all-inclusive wedding venues
Some wedding venues are offering an all-inclusive service. It is very handy for those who are ready to spend a lot on a wedding because it’s much easier to plan the event – you don’t have to think about every little thing. But if you have a limited budget and can’t spend thousands without second thought, this offer is not for you. Yes, you’ll have to spend more time on planning and organizing, but a lot of money will stay in your pocket.
E-mail wedding invitations
Sure, paper wedding invitations are pretty and cool but they are also costly. You pay for the invitations itself (especially if it’s a custom-made individualized invitation), for the envelopes and stamps, and you also spend your time on sending them. When reducing costs is important, online wedding invitations are handy. Just e-mail the invitation to your guests. In the end, it won’t matter for them how they got it. But don’t forget to check if everybody received their invitation, because it can get into spam and you don’t want your guests to skip your wedding due to a misunderstanding.
Off-the-rack wedding dress
The wedding gown is one of those rather expensive things at a wedding. But you don’t have to spend $25,000 on a dress that you’re going to wear once in your life. There are some options to save money on your wedding dress. For instance, you can buy a dress off-the-rack or get a used dress or rent a gown. You can even make your wedding outfit yourself if you have some seamstress skills. Some brides also take the wedding dresses of their mothers or grandmothers and re-make them. Just be creative and you’ll find a way to reduce costs on your bridal gown.
How to save money on hair and makeup?
We all know how expensive the wedding hairstyle and makeup are. But even here, there are saving options. You can find a student from a local makeup artist school, whose work is a lot cheaper. Many brides do their own makeup and hair for the ceremony or ask friends. Today, many women attend makeup courses, so it’s not that hard to find someone you can turn to for help.
Dessert table instead of wedding cake
Wedding cakes are always expensive. Because a) they must be large and delicious (if not, what’s the point?) and b) everything regarding the wedding area is pricey – just because they can away with it. And, mostly, people are ok with paying extra money for a heavenly cake, but how can you possibly save your budget and still have a great dessert? If you’re a baker, it’s easier for you, but you might not want to spend many hours before your own wedding making a cake. So, here’s a great solution for you – order a dessert table with dozens of tiny bite-size desserts for your guests. It will cost less than the usual cake and the wedding guests will be able to choose the sweets they like instead of just one option.
Another good thing about dessert tables is that you don’t need to cut and serve the cake, so you don’t pay extra money to the server. People just come to the table, take whatever they like, and be gone eating.
Cheaper booze
Many couples spend a tidy sum on the bar at a wedding. Guests really drink a lot and, often, only because they have such an opportunity – if you can have free booze of any kind, you just feel like you must have as many drinks as you can. So these days, brides and grooms sometimes choose cash bars, where the guests pay for their drinks. Or just stick to several options (like beer and wine) for the evening. Of course, after everybody has had champagne at the beginning of the wedding party. Nobody will blame you for that because people understand how costly a bar can be.
You can save some more money if you don’t do champagne toasts. Champagne demands more servers and costs extra. So just have people toasting with whatever they have in their glasses. You will save money and time, not waiting until everybody has champagne served.
Use DIY
Preparation for a wedding often lasts for months, so you have a lot of time to produce many things by your own hands – and, of course, don’t forget about your friends and family, who are usually ready to give you a hand. Make a list of things that can be done by DIY methods, gather friends and explain them your task, have everything done in time. Easy! And also, you’ll be able to choose the design and theme for your accessories and will reduce your costs for the wedding.
There is even a so-called “60/40 rule” to help you organize everything. The optimal range is to have 60% of needed stuff done by professional vendors and 40% by DIY. This way, the wedding will be organized perfectly professional but just with a hint of your own personality. And another reason is because if you do 100% tasks for the wedding by yourself, you might lose your mind.
With what can DIY help? Wedding invitations, small gifts for guests, décor elements, bridal accessories (headdress, bag, adornments, etc.), and many other small but important things.
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