There are only a very small percentage of brides that do not need to worry about a wedding budget. So this article is for the rest of you brides that need to plan a wedding on a budget. You will find a lot of helpful information out there with lots of tips. This article will be one of those lists. Here is my quick and easy list of money saving tips when planning your wedding!
Avoid goods and services labeled 'wedding' when you can.
As an example "wedding private dance lessons" could be $200 per hour. But go to a ballroom studio for "ballroom private lessons" and you may only pay $80 to $100. That's a 50% discount. If you are able to apply that to EVERYTHING then your wedding budget just got cut in half. For example, you can find regular catering instead of "wedding" catering. You can find wholesale flowers instead of "wedding" flowers. And so on.
Feel free to keep things simple.
Remember that your guests are here to celebrate you, and stay grounded when selecting your wedding favors, cake, flowers, and dress. For example, with your menu you can usually decrease the choices without adverse effects. As long as you have a few tasty options, people will be happy (what a great reason to go do food tastings!). Another example is with the flowers: feel free to just go with what's in season, it will be less expensive.
Instead of purchasing, think if you can borrow or bargain to get items for your wedding.
Can you borrow a fancy sports car for transportation? If you own your own business (like website design) can you barter with a wedding vendor to trade services? You might find there are quite a few skills you can use to bargain with. If you are flexible on vendor choice feel free to barter skills with all your vendors and see which one bites.
Be a smart shopper and look for those bargains.
There are many online auction sites these days, not just eBay. Amazon is another great place to look as they are starting to sell just about anything and everything. Google the world "wholesale" along with what you're looking for, e.g. "wholesale flowers". Don't forget award makers and corporate promotional item makers. They specialize in personalizing many different items.
Buy a dress from a previous season.
I would say most people would not be able to tell what year a dress design is if it was made in the last five years. So check out last year's designs or even farther back if you can to get a good deal. You'll find many dressmakers selling previous designs on eBay and other auction sites.
Book your venues early. Avoid the "desirable" times.
If you can lock in your venue a year in advance, you lock in the lower price as well. Unless you have your heart set on a certain date for the wedding, consider holding it in the off-season. Save money by booking any day besides Saturday evening, which is the most popular and hence most expensive. Evenings are also popular, so if you book during the day you can save a bit here too. A wedding brunch may be less conventional than an evening reception, but it can be just as elegant and memorable. One exception to this rule if you are daring is to book the date, and as your wedding date nears phone all wedding venues to see if there have been any cancellations. You may get a good deal this way. I don't recommend it but I have heard this wedding tip thrown out there and wanted to repeat it in case it was interesting to you.
Be minimal in your choices of vendors and services and then expand.
Hire a good photographer who will provide you with high-quality negatives or images on cd. You can make your own prints instead of purchasing marked-up prints and photo books through the photographer. Find non-profit venues, musicians, and dress and flower sources that you can donate to and then write off on your tax return. It helps the non-profits too!
My last tip I have to include because it's interesting, a bit unusual, and definitely a fun idea if you find it is to your liking. This is a tip from one of my favorite resources which is Erica Yoon's wedding planning book. (And by the way go to my website if you want more wedding planning book recommendations)
"If you want a fun, exciting and cheap honeymoon, go to Las Vegas, Nevada. If you've heard about all the cheap gourmet food and services, I can tell you that it's true. I happen to live just outside of Las Vegas, and it has so many gourmet foods and services that I love to jump in the car and hit the buffets for dinner."
This idea is great because you can have a fun, inexpensive honeymoon and save money while you're at it. And I love buffets, especially the ones in Vegas.
Those are my tips! I hope you found some that you can start using right away to save you money on your reception. Congratulations and good luck with the planning!
Avoid goods and services labeled 'wedding' when you can.
As an example "wedding private dance lessons" could be $200 per hour. But go to a ballroom studio for "ballroom private lessons" and you may only pay $80 to $100. That's a 50% discount. If you are able to apply that to EVERYTHING then your wedding budget just got cut in half. For example, you can find regular catering instead of "wedding" catering. You can find wholesale flowers instead of "wedding" flowers. And so on.
Feel free to keep things simple.
Remember that your guests are here to celebrate you, and stay grounded when selecting your wedding favors, cake, flowers, and dress. For example, with your menu you can usually decrease the choices without adverse effects. As long as you have a few tasty options, people will be happy (what a great reason to go do food tastings!). Another example is with the flowers: feel free to just go with what's in season, it will be less expensive.
Instead of purchasing, think if you can borrow or bargain to get items for your wedding.
Can you borrow a fancy sports car for transportation? If you own your own business (like website design) can you barter with a wedding vendor to trade services? You might find there are quite a few skills you can use to bargain with. If you are flexible on vendor choice feel free to barter skills with all your vendors and see which one bites.
Be a smart shopper and look for those bargains.
There are many online auction sites these days, not just eBay. Amazon is another great place to look as they are starting to sell just about anything and everything. Google the world "wholesale" along with what you're looking for, e.g. "wholesale flowers". Don't forget award makers and corporate promotional item makers. They specialize in personalizing many different items.
Buy a dress from a previous season.
I would say most people would not be able to tell what year a dress design is if it was made in the last five years. So check out last year's designs or even farther back if you can to get a good deal. You'll find many dressmakers selling previous designs on eBay and other auction sites.
Book your venues early. Avoid the "desirable" times.
If you can lock in your venue a year in advance, you lock in the lower price as well. Unless you have your heart set on a certain date for the wedding, consider holding it in the off-season. Save money by booking any day besides Saturday evening, which is the most popular and hence most expensive. Evenings are also popular, so if you book during the day you can save a bit here too. A wedding brunch may be less conventional than an evening reception, but it can be just as elegant and memorable. One exception to this rule if you are daring is to book the date, and as your wedding date nears phone all wedding venues to see if there have been any cancellations. You may get a good deal this way. I don't recommend it but I have heard this wedding tip thrown out there and wanted to repeat it in case it was interesting to you.
Be minimal in your choices of vendors and services and then expand.
Hire a good photographer who will provide you with high-quality negatives or images on cd. You can make your own prints instead of purchasing marked-up prints and photo books through the photographer. Find non-profit venues, musicians, and dress and flower sources that you can donate to and then write off on your tax return. It helps the non-profits too!
My last tip I have to include because it's interesting, a bit unusual, and definitely a fun idea if you find it is to your liking. This is a tip from one of my favorite resources which is Erica Yoon's wedding planning book. (And by the way go to my website if you want more wedding planning book recommendations)
"If you want a fun, exciting and cheap honeymoon, go to Las Vegas, Nevada. If you've heard about all the cheap gourmet food and services, I can tell you that it's true. I happen to live just outside of Las Vegas, and it has so many gourmet foods and services that I love to jump in the car and hit the buffets for dinner."
This idea is great because you can have a fun, inexpensive honeymoon and save money while you're at it. And I love buffets, especially the ones in Vegas.
Those are my tips! I hope you found some that you can start using right away to save you money on your reception. Congratulations and good luck with the planning!
About the Author:
Check out Kennly Yakamoto's HubPages Hubs: Inexpensive Wedding Dresses and Planning A Cheap Wedding Reception for more great wedding planning tips!
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