Ways to Save on Your Wedding

To Start

Create a budget. When you keep track of what you’re spending and try to keep it within a limit, you’ll have a much better chance of spending less on your wedding.
Give yourself plenty of time to plan; the more rushed you are, the more money you’ll spend.

Attend bridal shows early in the planning process. You’ll be able to speed shop like nowhere else and you are in the perfect environment for comparison shopping, not to mention you’ll get great ideas!

Hire an event planner. They sometimes have access to industry discounts that you don’t.

Keep in mind that every little thing counts. For example, if you are choosing between two different hors d’oeuvres, remember that a difference of a few dollars really adds up when multiplied by how many guests in attendance.

Timing

Get married in an off-peak time. In this area, the peak times are June, July and August.

Don’t hold your wedding on a Saturday. Rates are usually lower on Fridays and Sundays than on Saturdays, and even lower on weekdays and weeknights.
Opt for a ceremony and reception at a time that’s not in high-demand, such as a Friday evening, Saturday morning or early afternoon.

The Basics

Trim the Guest List—no coworkers, no kids, no one you haven’t seen in five years, etc.

Avoid consultation fees.

Borrow whatever you can, such as a crinoline, slip or headpiece.

Limit how many attendants you have, then you won’t have to pay for more flowers, attendant’s gifts, etc.

Apparel

Wear your mother’s gown.

Buy a “sample gown” from a dress retailer.

Wear a less formal gown or a white bridesmaid dress.

Ask your dress retailer if the designer of the gown you want offers the dress in a less expensive fabric.

Flowers

Buy seasonal/regional flowers.

When buying flowers, avoid peak-times like holiday months.

Mix foliage with flowers.

Choose flowers with large blooms, so you’ll need fewer stems.

Transport the flowers from your ceremony to use at your reception.

Consider using potted plants for some of the decorating/centerpieces. They are less expensive than cut-flower arrangements and last longer.

Invitations

Use thermography instead of engraving your invitations.

Keep the size of your invitations scaled down so you can save on postage.

Order extra invitations and such—guest lists change and accidents happen—the cost to reorder invitations is often much more than getting them at first.

Eliminate professional save-the-date cards, and make your own instead.

Use a reply postcard instead of a reply card, thus skipping the envelope and added postage expenses.

Decorations

Make your own pew decorations or skip them altogether.

Ask an artsy friend to help you out with accessories, such as making your headpiece or styling centerpieces.

Use centerpieces that double as favors.

Use place cards that double as favors.

Create your own favors, centerpieces, or place cards.

Music

Ask a friend to sing during your ceremony.

Hire a DJ instead of a band.

Cut down the number of people you hire in the band.

Transportation

Look for a transportation company that has a low minimum time requirement.

Only hire professional transportation for the bride and groom, arrange alternative transportation for the rest of the bridal party.

Photography/Videography

If you want to use multi-camera coverage, do so only at the wedding ceremony.

Don’t get extras from photographers or videographers, such as fancy editing or photo albums.

Catering

Instead of the typical sit-down dinner reception, have a breakfast, brunch, lunch, cocktail, or hors d’oeuvres reception.

Hold your reception at the same venue as your ceremony so you don’t need to hire transportation for as long.

When having a buffet or hors d’oeuvres reception, determine which is better in your situation—not paying to have people walk around serving food, or having the caterers serve the food, forcing people to eat less, thus saving cost.

Choose less expensive food, such as chicken for the entrée, and the more expensive food, such as seafood, in the hors d’oeuvres.

Request that your caterer serve in-season local-grown produce.

Don’t serve both appetizers and hors d’oeuvres.

Don’t serve a separate dessert course since you will also have wedding cake.

Instead of offering a full service bar, serve only a few signature drinks.

Buy your own alcohol. Look for sales and bulk discounts.

Skip alcohol altogether in favor of an espresso bar.

Cake

Have a smaller decorative wedding cake, with sheet cake served to the guests.

Know your guests. Are they not big on sweets? You may be able to order less cake than the amount of people in attendance.

Don’t get the anniversary cake top.

The Rest

Remember that time is money, sometimes it’s worth it to spend a few bucks to save the time, prevent the headache, and preserve your sanity.