Your marriage is about how much you love and work together, so it’s not a good idea to start your life together in the red. The less you spend on your wedding, the more money you’ll have to begin your happily ever after.
Even if you don’t have a lot of money for your wedding, you can still have a fun and memorable party at a venue that isn’t too expensive. You won’t have to spend all of your savings or max out your credit cards. Read on for planning ideas that won’t break the bank how to save money wedding and tips to help you and your partner get off to a good financial start as a team.
How to plan a wedding Perfect Budget:
1. Understand that you can have a cheap wedding anywhere
In the United States, the average cost of a wedding is just under. The average price of marriage in Idaho is while the average cost of a wedding in.
You don’t have to spend the average, though, no matter where you are, not even in New York City. You need to think outside the box and use some of the ideas and strategies below.
2. Know how you’re going to pay for your wedding
In 2018, almost 10% of couples paid for their weddings alone. About 10% of the people had it paid for in full. Most teams, about 80%, had a mixture of contributors. Sit down with all the people who have a stake in the finances, but not necessarily all at once, to figure out who is paying what.
Please set limits at this point as well. If your soon-to-be F.I.L. is helping pay for the wedding, that doesn’t mean he can add as many people as he wants to the guest list. That will quickly make your goal of keeping costs low impossible.
3. Commit to a wedding that won’t break the bank, and ensure you know what’s most important
You’ve said ‘yes’ to each other. Now is the time to commit to a wedding that won’t break the bank. Set aside time to talk about what you will do with the money. This is a conversation you need to have anyway. It helps you assess priorities and determine what each of you cares about.
Decide if you’ll use your Wedding Budget Tips to repay your student loan or stay out of debt. You might save it up for a down payment on a house or put it toward your child’s college fund. Maybe both of you would instead go on a long trip through several countries in Europe than to a big party.
You and your partner will soon have to make many decisions about saving money and spending it: There are many ways to spend money on a wedding, but there are also many ways to save money. Set up a “guiding star” to help you stay on budget while planning.
If one or both of you are sad about not being able to afford a bigger wedding, remember that research shows that couples whose weddings cost a lot are more likely to split up.
4. Make a budget and stick to it
This is an absolute must. Almost half of the couples say they spent more than they planned on their wedding. Nearly the same number stayed within budget, and only 6% say they came in under budget.
The main point is that? Once you set a budget, it’s unlikely that the final amount will be much less. Look at the numbers carefully and make a budget that you can live with.
Spend some time making a new list of priorities, but this time, rank the importance of different parts of your wedding. Maybe you both care most about music. You’ll set aside more money for this cost and look for a cheaper dress, borrow the tux, or look into cheap wedding venues. The Wedding Spot lets you search for venues based on how much you want to spend. This makes it easy to narrow down your choices.
5. Invite as few people as possible.
There are many reasons why a smaller guest list means less money spent on a wedding. You choose a smaller location (about half the average wedding cost). You’ll also spend less on food, drinks, service, tables, table settings, linens, invitations, etc.
There are good things about big and small weddings, but since you want a small one, let’s talk about those. Smaller weddings allow you to relax and enjoy the day with your closest friends and family instead of having a long list of guests, including your mother’s best friends from her book club. Even though you love your coworkers, they will understand that you want to keep the event wedding budget venue small.
Some experts say you should make a guest list, cut it by, and then cut it by another. Others start with zero, add their parents, siblings, grandparents, and a couple of close friends, and then stop adding people to the list.
No matter where you draw the line, you’ll probably need to talk with friends and extended family who aren’t on the guest list. Most people will understand if you don’t have enough money for a big wedding.
6. Buy your dress or suit at a thrift store
Wedding dresses and suits or tuxes often take up a big chunk of the budget for a wedding. They don’t have to be, though. You can find beautiful old wedding dresses, tuxes, and suits in thrift stores. Spend the day looking around and see what you can find. Even if your wedding dress needs a few repairs or alterations, it will still be much cheaper than buying a new one.
You can also find cheap wedding dresses on the Internet. You can find cheap originals on eBay, Craigslist, and Etsy. Nearly Newlywed sells wedding dresses that have only been worn a few times, and Rent the Runway lets you rent a beautiful wedding dress for four days.
7. Choose a wedding location close to your home
Destination weddings are expensive for you and your guests because everyone has to travel and stay somewhere for the night. Having a wedding close to home saves money and seems like the best choice for a cheap wedding since “home is where the heart is.”
Ideas and tips for cheap wedding venues
The venue is the most significant part of the cost of a wedding. Think carefully about where you want to hold your event to cut your overall costs.
8. Remember that the cheapest places to go are free
If you or a friend or family member has a nice backyard, you might want to hold the ceremony and the reception there. A beautiful backyard wedding can be done on a budget by renting a tent, chairs, and tables.
9. Get married at the town hall and then go for dinner.
That list of wedding guests will have to get very small for this choice. Invite a witness and a few others to the town hall’s short ceremony. If you’re getting married in a big city, you’ll probably be waiting in line with other people who are also getting married. This can be a pleasant time for everyone involved.
After the ceremony, everyone goes to a cheap restaurant nearby for a meal to celebrate. You should probably make a reservation, and you might want to bring a cake.
10. Look at wedding venues in your price range
There are many different kinds of low-cost places to go. Whether your wedding theme is rustic, elegant, modern, or very casual, you can find the right business for it. Here, the wedding cheap venue, filters help you narrow your search to places in your price range.
Pick a vacation rental close to where you live
During the off-season, you can rent a beautiful home near a popular vacation spot for your wedding. This choice comes with outdoor, indoor, and bathrooms for guests’ comfort. Tell the owner that you are planning a small wedding there.
Plan to get married in the winter
Weddings are popular and expensive around the holidays. But most of the country doesn’t have weddings from January to March, which is the “off-season.” (This isn’t true in winter resort towns like Telluride, Colorado, where snow bunnies pay top dollar to get married in front of snow and mountains.) Most of the time, winter is the best time to find venues at the lowest prices. You might even be able to talk the price down since the media would rather have a cheap wedding on a specific date than no wedding.
Skip over Saturdays
Fridays and Sundays are usually cheaper days to get married. Because most people want to get married on a Saturday, the venue, catering, and vendors tend to be more affordable.
Consider a mid-week wedding
Even though it’s not the norm, you can have a wedding and reception on a Tuesday or Wednesday if you want to. And the prices are even lower than on Fridays and Sundays. If you choose Thursday, many of your guests can take Friday off and have a three-day weekend.
Have the wedding and reception at the same place
This is usually cheaper because you don’t have to pay for the cocktail hour. Guests can go to the reception, and the wedding party can take pictures elsewhere. It also makes it easier to get things done during the day.
Don’t follow the trend of evening receptions
No rule says the reception has to be dinner either! You could get married in the morning and then have a lovely brunch. It’s different, tastes good, and is usually not too expensive.
Here are some ideas for cheap food and receptions:
When comparing venues and food service prices, make sure to compare like with like. All-inclusive packages may have a higher price tag, but if the site is empty, you may have to bring in your tables, dishes, and linens in addition to the food. Add up the costs of those things to make a good comparison.
Explore creative, low-cost catering options:
Pick a family-owned restaurant you like
Using vendors who aren’t in the wedding business may be cheaper. Ask your favorite places if they can cater, and if you go there often, see if you can get a deal. Even if they don’t usually cater, you can ask if they can make a lot of your favorite dishes and put them in chafing dishes.
Choose one or two food trucks
These popular catering choices cost half as much as they used to and are twice as cool. Bonus: You can use paper plates.
Instead of gifts, ask for help with food
This is an excellent choice for weddings in backyards or local halls. Talk to your friends who like to cook or your aunt who makes fancy cakes for every occasion. This is a way that many people love to help, but you won’t know unless you ask. It is important not to expect positive responses because some people like to take it easy when they go to a wedding.
Set up a cash bar
For the toast, give champagne or sparkling wine, but guests should pay for their drinks. It’s ok, and if you have an open bar, you might not have to deal with guests who drink too much. You could also have an open bar until after dinner when it would become a cash bar. Make sure your wedding invitations and a sign at the bar make this clear.
Don’t drink the hard stuff
Spirits tend to be more expensive than beer and wine.
Explore affordable dessert options
The average cost of a wedding cake is over. Think about less expensive options like cupcakes, pies, or donuts. You can stack them so that no one misses the cake. You can even offer desserts that are different from each other, like a sundae bar or Belgian waffles.
Don’t have a long party.
Are you having a daytime wedding reception? You could try to negotiate a shorter reception for less money. This helps you stick to your budget and gives the venue more time to prepare for an evening wedding.
Pick a restaurant with a buffet
Most of the time, buffet-style food served in chafing dishes is cheaper than food served at a table. Buffets require less staff, and the chef and kitchen staff don’t have to worry much about timing.
Offer more vegetables at the buffet
Meat is more expensive than vegetables, and most vegetables taste just as good. Guacamole. Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas. Macaroni and cheese, and Rollatini with eggplant. No one will have anything wrong to say!
Pay attention to cheap proteins
Some kinds of meat are cheaper than others if you want to serve it. Prices are high for prime rib, salmon, and fillet mignon. Not on the list are taco bars, pasta bowls with pancetta, and pulled chicken sandwiches.
Look at some cheap ideas for wedding favors
Favors are small gifts that show your friends and family how grateful you are that they came to your party. They can also quickly add up in price. Controlling the guest list will also help you out here. For 30 guests, the same favors will cost you less than.
Here are some other ideas for low-cost wedding favors besides having a small wedding:
Caramel popcorn in a mason jar
Another thing you can do yourself. Set up a time for your wedding party to get together a few days before the wedding to put these jars together.
Gauze bags with fruit from the season
Give your guests a ripe apple or pear to take home.
Chocolates from a nearby shop
You can save money by putting them in small boxes or bags yourself.
Homemade cookies
Once more, get your wedding party together and start baking. You can make sugar cookies with icing that match the theme of your wedding, or you can bake some of your favorite chocolate chip cookies.
Candy bars or mints with your name on them
You can make these by putting mini versions of your favorite candy bar in a cute bag and adding a tag with your name. Some companies will also put your name on the wrapper or stamp it on the candy.
Candles made from soy
Making your own scented or unscented soy candles in candle tins is easy and cheap. Then you can order stickers with your name to put on the lid.
Homemade jam
This simple, sweet idea would be great for a country wedding. Get all of your favorite berries together and make a lot of jam. Put the jam in small mason jars and decorate them with a lace or burlap bow and a personalized sticker on the lid.
Ideas for cheap decorations for a wedding that don’t look cheap
After the location, the decorations you choose set the theme and mood of your wedding, whether you want it to be rustic, wintery, elegant, or something else. Choose decorating ideas that go with the theme of your room and shop smart. There are always low-cost ways to get the exact accent you want for your home. And keep in mind that the smaller the space, the less room there is to decorate.
Borrow wedding decorations from newlyweds
After their honeymoon, other couples with a similar style may sell their wedding decorations on eBay or Craigslist. You might get lucky and find a great deal.
Go to the $1 store
This can be a great place to find cheap wedding ceremony and reception decorations, like vases, jars, candle holders, pretty fabrics, fake flowers, and more. They won’t say anything so that no one will find out.
Buy a lot of decorative items
You can save a lot of money if you buy your wedding decorations in bulk. Know a DIYer who is getting married in the next year? Think about placing a more significant order and lowering the price even more.
Buy fresh flowers for the wedding day
On the morning of your wedding, go to the flower shop and pick out some beautiful, cheap flowers. Ask for a discount on flowers they would throw away soon. Put these flowers in the vases that you bought at the dollar store. (As a wedding day tip, give this job to a trusted friend who is good at arranging flowers and would do it for you instead of giving you a gift.)
Think about what is in the season
Pinecones look great in centerpieces, and you can usually find them on the ground in the fall and winter. They are also cheap and easy to find in craft stores. Set them up as they are or decorate them with glitter or metallic paint.
A bike with a bouquet in its basket
Check with your friends to see if they have any old bikes in their garages. You can also look in thrift stores. The motorcycle may already have a nice rusty, old-fashioned look. If it doesn’t, you can paint it white, off-white, or in the colours of your wedding. Then, put a big bouquet in the bike’s basket or a wicker basket you attach to the front.
Dishes that don’t match
Make several trips to the thrift store near you and buy any pretty plates with patterns you see. Often, you’ll find old china. You can use the plates as place settings, table runners, or serve food. If the guests clean the plates, they can take them home as a beautiful and meaningful favor.
For garlands, use greenery instead of flowers
A long garland of ivy hangs over a trestle or a doorway to add a pop of green. The cost of a mix of greenery is less than that of flowers, but it still makes an impression.
Ribbons or lace chair decor
Dress up your low-cost wedding by putting ribbons or lace on the aisle chairs for the ceremony and the dining chairs for the reception. A simple bow or a bold wrap around the chair’s back is an elegant choice.
Tablecloth made of brown craft paper
A fun choice for a wedding in the country. You’ll need double-sided tape or twine to keep the paper in place. Then write the name of each guest at their place setting. Put out some packages of crayons so that kids can colour while the reception is going on.
A picture show
If it’s a small wedding, order black-and-white prints of some of your favorite photos, including ones of you, your fiance, and your extended family and friends. You can call them in one size or a variety of sizes and put them on a wood pallet or a piece of twine with wood clothespins.
Bunting made of paper or cloth
Make paper flags by cutting out shapes from craft paper in the colours of your wedding. Or, buy lace napkins or napkins made of colourful fabric at thrift stores. Attach them to twine to make lengths of bunting that can be hung across the reception entrances or the ceiling.
Paper lanterns
In bright colours or white. Large, minor, or a mix of sizes. No matter how you put them together, paper lanterns are cheap and add a lot of drama to your wedding decor.
Lanterns with lights inside
Gather mason jars or look for different-sized glass lanterns at your favorite thrift stores. Order a lot of battery-powered fairy lights and put them in glass jars or lanterns. They add a lot of magic to your wedding with their warm, soft lighting, but they won’t cost you much.
Conclusion No matter how much money you have for your wedding, you can plan a beautiful one that stays within your well-thought-out budget. Being cheap can be great if you can think of new ways to do things, ask for help, and know when to look. Check out the best free apps to help you plan a wedding next to save money on wedding planning and organization.
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