Last Updated on August 11, 2023 by Corynn
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Weddings are expensive. On average people are spending over $30,000 just to say I do. Which leads to everyone either eloping or not getting married at all. In order to save money, you need to create a wedding budget! My fiance and I wedding budget are less than $25,000. Still close to $30,000 although I have seen brides who spend only 10,000 dollars on their wedding.
If you are not sure where to start with your wedding budget, then I suggest starting with Things You Need To Do After Getting Engaged and Purchasing a wedding planner! After that, you can come back here!
What Is The Most Expensive Wedding Expense?
for my wedding, we spent the most on our venue. The chapel, the reception hall, food, bar package, and so much more. Coming in a close second will be floral. (But we’re going to get into it later on how you can save a ton on floral decor!)
How Do You Cut Back On A Wedding?
You set a budget and you really want to keep within your wedding budget. It’s hard but here is a list of items/things we cut back from our wedding that saved us thousands!
1) Guestlist
The more guest you invite to your wedding, the more money you will spend. You’re paying for meals and drinks for each guest, even children, and vendors!! You could spend as little as $30 per person or as high as $150 per person.
You do however can get discounts for your vendors and children (depending on your venue, check the cut-off age for the child discount).
It all depends on the type of way you’re serving your guest. Are you doing a buffet? hiring caterers? Or using the venue’s caterers?
Some venues offer an all-inclusive deal where you will spend a set price for each guest and it could include; an open bar, a three-course meal, a late-night buffet, and other amenities.
If you find it hard to cut down your guest list then I suggest creating various lists, including your immediate family (A-list), some people you can’t see your big day without (B-list), and working from there.
You can also have a kid’s free wedding. Not everyone will agree to this but if you need to cut costs then cutting the cost of kid’s meals can help you save a ton.
P.S Your mom’s friends don’t have to invite you to your wedding. (Unless your parents are paying!)
You can take a look at the Wedding Wire wedding catering cost guide here.
2) The Season and Day of Your Wedding
The popular seasons (Summer and Fall) are also the expensive seasons to have your wedding. For Winter and Spring weddings, you can save a ton since that is a low peak time to get married. Although if you want your wedding in the summer then I suggest picking a low peak day.
My husband and I decided to pick a Sunday wedding. The difference between a Sunday wedding versus a Saturday wedding was the price. We would be spending double the amount on a Saturday than what we spent on our Sunday wedding.
You can also pick a Friday wedding or even a wedding during the week. There are not enough Saturdays for everyone in the country to get married on.
If you’re worried about everyone coming, just remember the most important people who will want to see you get married will be there.
3) Bridal Party
Yes, your bridal party comes with expenses. The things you may have to buy for your bridesmaids are their bouquets, dresses, thank-you gifts, etc. The things you will have to pay for the groomsmen are thank-you gifts, ties, and anything else you might need to pay for.
Limiting the number of people for your bridal party can save you a lot of money!
4) Wedding Favours
I’m not sure where the idea of paying for everyone to come to celebrate your day AND sending them home with a gift came from because NOBODY TAKES IT HOME!
Unless your wedding favors are meaningful and you know people will use them then keep it. If not then I highly, suggest cutting it out of your budget. No one will notice.
5) Floral
Due to my severe allergies to pollen and basically the outside world. We had to opt out of only using real flowers for the wedding bridal party. Little did I know that my allergies saved us over $2000.
Getting floral bouquets, boutiques, and corsages, another floral decor was expensive! If you need some cost-cutting then I highly suggest you look into non-floral centerpieces or using faux flowers.
6) Pinterest Weddings Ideas Are Expensive
This isn’t an item but it’s a tip. Finding ideas on Pinterest can be very pricey. You can try to DIY but most of the time the little things do add up on your budget.
7) Photographer and Videographer
You can spend a good $8000 on just the photographer! I found a way to only spend $2000. For our wedding, since we had a set list of shots we wanted, we realized that it only made sense to have our photographer for only a few hours instead of the entire day.
Most photographers will give you a set of hours you can pay for. If you’re like me and you don’t want a photographer for the whole day then I suggest you look into hiring a part-time photographer for your wedding day.
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8) Save on Wedding Stationery
We live in a world now where everything is digital. Even my 80 years old grandma knows how to work social media better than I do.
So we decided to create digital invitations and send physical invitations to our elderly family members who didn’t understand how to use our RSVP system.
I also decided to cut out ceremony programs, dinner menus, rsvp cards, and escort cards. We invested in a large seating chart that everyone was able to follow.
Another way you can save is by using Vistaprint. You can get your invitation templates printed out through Vistaprint or you can use the templates they have.
BONUS TIP: Create a wedding website. You can direct your guest to your wedding website where they get the address of the wedding, know the bridal party, and RSVP. I’m currently using Say I Do to create my wedding website.
9) Shop For Your Wedding Dress in Advance
Start shopping for your wedding dress at least 10 months before your wedding. This avoids paying a rush order fee. Also, shop during sample sale times. Research a few bridal stores that will be having upcoming sample sales/trunk sales where you can find a dress for a discounted price.
Yes, this is your wedding day but again it’s only for a DAY. You want to look beautiful for the day as well as not break the bank.
10) Cake and Bubbly!
Cut out the champagne for the toast. Not everyone likes champagne and I think everyone prefers to cheers with the drink they enjoy.
The cake tends to be a lot and not everyone eats it. The ways you can cut on cake cost is; to have the baker make a cake for 60% of your guest count, having cupcakes, donut wall, or adding it to your late-night buffet.
11) DJ Hours
Similar to what I said about the photographer, only pay for what you need. If you only need the DJ for 6 hours then only ask for 6 hours. Some DJs have set packages that you can change/customize.
It’s a wedding, not a club.
12) Order Your Prints/Albums
Some photographers will charge you an extra fee to make a photo album for you when you can create one yourself with Vistaprint.
13) Save on Transportation
Look over your timeline of the day and see where you can limit the amount of traveling that will happen. Instead of a party bus look into an actual school bus or a coach.
Not all your guests will need a transportation service. If they say yes to coming to your wedding they have to know how to get there and how to get back home.
We don’t want to be paying extra if only 20% of your guest list is using the shuttle.
Stick up signs of taxi services they can call. Or see if Uber is within the area of your venue.
14) You Do Not Need To Block Out Hotel Rooms
If your wedding is far from where your family lives and they have to stay overnight, then you can suggest hotels they can stay at within the area. Not everyone will want to stay at the hotels you blocked out. Plus if you don’t fill the majority of your blocked rooms, you may have to pay a fee.
15) Shop The Sales
Black Friday, Boxing Day (for Canada), back-to-school sales, any sale! If you’re looking for thank-you gifts for your parents or even your bridal party then I highly suggest getting email notifications of any sales that will be happening.
I can’t tell you how I saved so much money on my bridesmaid thank-you gifts by shopping at Black Friday sales and since I live in Canada, Boxing Day Sales as well.
Overall…
Your wedding day will be spectacular, although remember it’s just one day. At the end of the night, it’s not Uncle Greg coming home with you or your parents, or your maid of honor. It’s your Husband, and you do not want to start a marriage in debt.
