Ideas on cutting costs?

I saved a lot by doing my own centerpieces of candles rather than flowers. I saved by doing my RSVP online but for the older folks I used RSVP as postcards instead and that was cheaper for stamps. I also didn't buy a wedding dress.i bought a white gown that works as one

We decided not to do a big wedding cake since they can cost hundreds of dollars and some caterers even charge you for the cake cutting.

Our caterer offers either cake cutting OR a dessert bar as part of the package we got, and it was a bigger bang for our buck to go with the dessert bar for sure. Probably saved us $450. I am still getting a small cake to put cake toppers on and for photos but it will likely not be served or will be a "help yourself" thing.

Cut your guest list is #1.

Hold your wedding during off season or on any day but Saturday.

Forget things like centerpieces, arches, aisle runners, menus, programs, unnecessary signage.

Make sure you ask all of your vendors exactly what their price includes so there are no hidden costs.

There are tons of things you could do to cut costs, but those are a few of the big ones.

We saved money by not doing favors, having a small cutting cake just for us, and recycling ceremony flowers as reception decorations. We also didn't purchase a lot of decor because our venue is in a beautiful setting on the water and we wanted nature to "speak for itself" and not detract from that with extras.

We cut a lot:

Favors

Major decorations (What there is, it's all DIY)

Opted for buffet (Ordered from a family favorite restaurant)

Wedding is on a Sunday

Wedding list was restricted to close family and friends who have been active in our lives for the past year.

We opted for cupcakes instead of a regular cake.

DIYing my centerpieces with candlesticks from thrift stores, and painting liquor bottles I got from the recycle center.

Keeping the decor simple. No fancy linens or table runners.

Hired a good photographer, skipping the photo booth.

Went with a DJ instead of a band.

A lot of DIY did stuff. My mom happens to be very crafty and has a machine that can print vinyl lettering and whatnot and we bought blank wooden signs for her to put lettering on for us instead of getting premade ones. We're also doing cupcakes which my sister is making and a candy buffet rather than cake and a dessert bar. Our ceremony and reception are outdoors so scenery is great for not needing a lot of decor. Other than some crates we are using for the cupcake display, we got a few extra centerpiece decorations to use on the other tables to tie it all together. Also using fake flowers that I got in bulk and not doing things such as an aisle runner or programs or anything like that.

Oh, I love this question! We got married last August on a Saturday with just over 90 guests and spent slightly over $5,900. Here are my best cost saving tips:

-We ditched the whole bridal party idea. The only people we had walk down the aisle in front of us was our dog with a friend who walked her down and our flower girl who wore a Hawaiian sundress we gave her holding a lotus candle in her hands.

-Our venue was a historical house/museum owned by a local state university. Their prices were already low and included tables, chairs, a staff person, and the changing room. We had them provide coffee and water through the day, rented outdoor sound equipment through them, and hired extra staff to serve (see below).

-We had a buffet dinner from a favorite BBQ restaurant who gave us a deal because they couldn't leave servers when they delivered the food. We hired college students through our venue instead and saved so much that way.

-We hired a day of coordinator who gave us a deal because we could pay in cash right before she left for a vacation.

-We searched for a good photographer we liked but who was also in our budget.

-My wedding dress was from a non-profit shop who sold donated wedding dresses and gave the money to stop sex trafficking. With the tiara I loved, it came to $350. My mom did chip in $150. My wife's dress was made with her measurements in China and shipped to us. She wanted a red one. Part of my dress requirements was no alterations needed. I did buy a low cost hoop skirt on Amazon to lift it off the ground. We both wore sneakers in our respective wedding colors. (shoes not included in budget)

-We went to the salon for our hair that morning. My older sister did my makeup, my wife did her own.

-There were no favors, menus, or programs.

-We designed our own wedding invitations and had them printed at Office Depot. The envelopes were from Amazon and we kept it simple to one sided card stock and RSVP was completely online. I'm a graphic designer so had the skills to do this.

-We ordered a 6" round cake from a local home baker who delivered for our cutting cake and ordered Costco sheet cakes for the guest.

-We bought our own alcohol from Costco where you can return what is left unopened. The server we hired through the venue.

-We ordered fake flowers for our bouquets, boutonnieres, and loose flowers for centerpieces from a seller on Etsy. We wanted Hawaiian flowers and they are beautiful.

-Most of our decorations and lawn games came from a local event rental place we loved. If she didn't already have it, she would usually buy it, rent it to us, then add it to her inventory. Some of the things we bought we were able to sell to her afterwards.

-The woman who married us sees us both as daughters and also happened to see the moment we met. She would not take any money for marrying us but we gifted her with $50 to show our appreciation. The ceremony we wrote ourselves.

-We opted not to have a DJ but to have a playlist on our phones that our Day of Coordinator was in charge of playing for those few times we wanted a specific song.

-Our friend videotaped the ceremony for us.

Initially, our budget was actually smaller than what we spent but as we planned, we decided the Day of Coordinator, alcohol (beer and wine only), and the guest book we chose were worth spending a bit more. At the end of the day, what I've learned is that the wedding was one day and imperfect at that as it will always be for anyone. The marriage is ongoing and is the most important thing. The comments I have heard since is our ceremony was the most loving they have been a part of. It touches me deeply that love was their takeaway from our wedding day. I hope that is their takeaway from our marriage as well. If you have any questions, feel free to message me. I check the forums once in a while to see if I can be any help as someone who has been there and came out on the other side.

Our budget is tiny. Our venue was our biggest cost savings, it's a community center and it was only $275. We're getting our food from Chicken Shack, they have a good catering menu. We can bring in our own drinks...i'm going with a cake from either Walmart or Sam's, got my dress on final sale at David's bridal. Most of my decorations will be from Walmart and Dollar Tree. I'm still trying to save as much as I can. I've done online surveys for gift cards for years, so i've really stepped that up lately to earn more to help pay for stuff

We didn't have centerpieces, the only flowers were the ones on my bouquet, we didn't give favors and we had a small wedding (21 people in total).

A lot of good ideas.

1. I would add NO STDs. In addition to the actual cost, you are committing to inviting those people. You cannot change your mind. You may get additional people when you find out your cousin is engaged. You may have miscalculated venue size (as in, yes they hold 100, but only 70 if you want a dance floor). Write a nice letter to grandparents. Email to parents and WP (if any) and OOT VIPs.

2. Check carefully, does venue include gratuities, and make certain you understand all extra charges (parking, security, clean up, dance floor, late hours). If you are inviting kids, what are there charges for kids. Charge for vendors (yes, anyone there for the entire time, gets a meal, but most venues do provide a smaller version of the main meal). Sometimes a venue that seems more expensive needs less decoration, and does not cost that much more.

3. Work with photographer. If you do a first look, can you cut down on the hours they need. When you interview photograhers, give them a list of photos. Do NOT let guests "hi-jack" your photographer.

I would add -- if you are economizing on a lot of things, do NOT expect your WP to give you an OTT bachelorette, etc.

We are doing a smaller guest list (45 people), no wedding party, no professional photography/videography, consumption bar (we only pay for what people actually drink rather than per head. This wouldn’t work for everyone but we have kids/non drinkers attending that will balance out the heavier drinkers), no favors, no dj (we have an iPod playlist for background music and will have jeopardy and newlywed game for entertainment), no wedding cake (dessert bar was ten dollars a person and seemed tastier than typical wedding cake), we did online invitations ($60 in total on paperless post, also made it easier for people to rsvp online rather than have to go to the post office), homemade seating chart and placards, I got my dress fro $130 on Poshmark, fiancée is rewearing a suit that he wore as a groomsman for someone else’s wedding, our officiant is my brother who is gifting us his services, our venue is a newer restaurant where we are their first wedding that was willing to forgo a venue fee as long as we met the food and beverage minimum.

In total we will be spending about $7,000. We budgeted for the things we cared about like hosted drinks for guests, good food, real china/glasse/cutlery, hosted valet parking and cut things that were less important to us.