Setting and sticking to a wedding budget can be a difficult task, but it’s not impossible. Try some of these money-saving ideas to help cut your wedding costs while you’re planning a wedding on a budget.
Every bride-to-be dreams of holding the perfect wedding – a stunning dress, beautiful decorations, mouth-watering food, and being surrounded by friends and family. Chances are, however, that the dream will become a bit of a nightmare as the costs start to pile up.
Planning a budget wedding doesn’t have to mean making sacrifices – just making meticulous plans.
Careful thought about every detail can ensure big savings and a day that is unique to the bride and groom.
Setting a Wedding Budget
When planning a wedding, the couple should sit down with anyone who will be making a contribution to the wedding costs and decide on exactly how much all parties are willing to spend.
Once a wedding budget has been set, the couple will be able to plan for the wedding they can afford. Some options may include a three-course meal or a cocktail reception. A buffet-style dinner, an intimate reception with only close family and friends, or something at home can also be affordable. It’s a good idea to break down expenses and allocate a maximum spend for each item. There are some great spreadsheets online to help brides and wedding planners get a start.
Writing the Guest List
A lot of brides will feel obliged to invite their parents’ friends, distant relatives, former colleagues, and people they haven’t seen since the third grade. Don’t. A wedding day should see the newlyweds surrounded by those people who play a significant part in their lives.
If the bride or groom hasn’t been in contact with a potential guest for over a year, skip the invite. If a guest knows nothing about a person’s life outside the office, that person probably wouldn’t feel comfortable being there. When it comes to writing a guest list, you need to draw the line somewhere.
DIY Wedding Stationery
Stationery is one of the huge hidden costs when it comes to wedding planning.
There are save-the-date cards, invites, maps, programs, reserved signs, table numbers, seating plans, place cards, and thank you for being made. Plus postage. Many couples DIY stationery to cut costs in a tight wedding budget, but it may not be the most cost-effective.
Once the costs of pretty paper, embellishments, pens, envelopes, and craft tools are added up, it’s likely that the stationery budget has already been blown. It may be cheaper to put together an invite in a design program such as Photoshop or InDesign and have a professional printer run them off.
Cheaper options include emailing invites, sending hand-written or home-printed ones, or picking up packs of pretty cards from a newsagent or discount store.
By being cost-conscious, brides are able to save thousands of dollars and still have the fairytale wedding they’ve dreamed of.
