How do you keep your costs within a budget?

We got married in off-wedding season (January), so some of our vendors were willing to give us some wiggle room in their pricing based on our budget. For instance, photography was one of our priorities, but we wanted to keep our wedding super inexpensive (we were hoping less than 4k for the whole thing—we went a bit over haha), so our budget for photography was 500 dollars (I know, right?). So we asked around, and we reached out to photographers in our area, and we kept talking to people until finally we found one respectable photographer who was willing to work with us (basically give us everything in her biggest photography package) for our price. She gave us a free engagement shoot, a full day of coverage from start to finish, 500-800 edited pics of our wedding, a talented and wonderful second shooter, and I can’t remember what else. She must have given us a 75% discount or something (I didn’t actually do the math, I just know it was significant!). So basically my advice is to keep asking around to see if people are willing to work with your budget. You’ll get a lot of no’s, but you might be surprised at what people are willing to do (especially during off-wedding season).

We are making our own favors- chocolate covered pretzels- skip favors or make your own. Invitations we ordered through Walgreens; we didnt do Save the Dates, we're on a budget. Also the guest list, we decided no kids; adults only. Bargain shop! I'm using dollar tree flowers to make the bridal party bouquets!

Main/ biggest ways to save:
Get married off peak (November-April or on a weekday/ Sunday or as a brunch rather than dinner)
Forgo favors or DIY DIY centerpieces Start planning early to keep a look out on deals Go to bridal shows to get deals from vendors Have a small wedding party Ask about cutting things out of what’s incl. with venue/ vendor. Have a friend/ family member officiate Florist: don’t do floral centerpieces, if you go with flowers go with places like Enjoy Flowers or bulk flower stores/ Costco/ Adams. You can also DIY faux flowers with things such as wood or silk. Brooch bouquets are becoming a thing again. If you’re getting married in 2021/2022, book vendors now, they’ll lock you in with their 2020 prices

We are DIY many of the decor things involved in our wedding and just smart shopping. We booked vendors when they have special's running, our venue is basically all in inclusive and I don't buy anything full price (including my wedding dress).We have also followed the philosophy of "buy used and save the difference" (yes awful show but great advice) and have bought several items for decor from other brides who no longer needed them. I'm also using many silk and dried arrangements for our decor as once again they are affordable, look beautiful and don't kill a plant just for one beautiful day.

Remember, your biggest budget killer is your guest list! Cut down as much as you can (so hard for me!)

I LOVE GoT!!!
1) trim guest list, 2) find a venue that fits for theme best you can (for example, a lodge to look like the scene from The Red Wedding) so it doesn’t need as much decor, 3) choose off-season and a weekday night to save a lot of money—we saved over 50% off site fees this way.

We trimmed our guest list and bought everything on discount. The only thing we really splurged on were my dress and his suit.

I could not trim my guest list because the venue we wanted needed a min amount of people so I cut costs in other ways such as not really decorating. Not going with real flowers. Borrowing whatever I could from people.

A fantasy wedding sounds like so much fun! We are doing ours mostly DIY to cut back a LOT of costs.

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That's awesome. We're thinking of doing that as well. Is DIY items something that you will have to set up yourself the day of?

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Thank you! We're definitely looking for a venue that really fits our theme. (Love your wedding photos by the way!)

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Thanks for the advice! Did you send your invitations in a bit earlier since you didn't do Save the Dates?

View Quoted Comment You're welcome! Nd yes we sent them out in October and out of 92 people so far 70 have RSVP yes. We r waiting on more. Our wedding date is may 9 2020

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We are able to set it all up the day before

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Oh wow! Thanks and congratulations!

View Quoted Comment Thanks! And good luck with the planning!

View Quoted Comment Yeeees! Can’t wait to see your wedding ideas. When we toured venues in Napa we realized the dining room in the castle Amorosa would be perfect for a GoT reception.


Thank you! We are still so happy we had themed events. So very us. 💕