Money talk

View Quoted Comment What Is a door dash?

View Quoted Comment We are from the Chicago area and there is door dash. A food delivery service. Idk if you’ve heard of Uber eats, grub hub, It’s just like that. People order food and you pick it up for them and deliver it to them.

While our wedding is going to be roughly around $20k, that's considered the low end of the average here in MD. Weddings can be nearly double or triple that and no one bats an eye.

With each step of our planning process we've asked ourselves: what can we do to save? What can we cut?

Venue: not many savings at first, but we don't plan on a few people attending so that will be less plates to pay for in the end.

Chair rentals: a referral from our venue saved us $300, with more savings to come if not everyone attends.

Hotel block: 2 free nights in a suite for free ($200) now that we've met our minimum with no further attrition minimums to worry about.

DJ: a musician friend who will do it for a discounted rate, saving us $1000 compared to others.

Photographer: a friend with a photography business, saving us $1000 compared to others. Plus she's only giving us an edited CD and no prints.

Florist: dropping the delivery fee and saving us $150.

MiniMoon: doing a quick 4 day road trip to relax. So far this trip has saved us $1200. This will give us time to save for our larger trip in 2020.

Printed materials: only sticking to save the dates and flat invitations. Shopping Vistaprint's sales has saved us $120. Plus who knows how much more now that we've eliminated programs, escort cards, menus, and most signage pieces.

Décor: shopping in season during sales (we're having a winter wedding), with coupons, and shopping secondhand saved us over $300. We also eliminated favors which are frankly costly, time consuming, and wasteful.

Don't be afraid to ask questions of anyone: your vendors, your friends, your family. Everyone knows someone that has been through this and will be more than happy to offer further advice.

We're cutting down on expenses that aren't important to us. Our biggest expenses are those related to having our day documented (videographer and photographer) and those related to our guest's enjoyment (venue suitable for our purposes, food, alcohol, and DJ). Even though I feel like I "splurged" on these vendors, I searched for weeks just to find quality vendors at an affordable price. I'm only hiring my photographer for 4 hours, because I technically only need her to document my ceremony and the first half to 3/4 of my reception. While getting ready photos are nice, they're not necessary or as important to me, so I cut that expense out.

I also chose to do DIY fake flowers, and my only flower arrangements will be the bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages as well as on our wedding arbor. MAYBE our sweetheart table, but only if we have enough in our budget at the end. As for centerpieces and other decor, I chose to purchase very simple and minimalistic items (marble wine chillers, chalkboard easel, dessert tiered stands, apothecary jars, etc.) that we can reuse in our future house together, and gift any extras to our parents for use in their houses.

I sent my save the dates through email, and I ordered my invitations and RSVP info cards (actual RSVP will be done on our website) through Vistaprint on a 50% off sale.

I found a really nice gown online for $95, and anything else associated with my attire will all be WELL BELOW the standard expense. FH is taking a suit he wore once a few years ago to the tailor to let the pants out so it fits his waist. The jacket fits perfectly! He already has brown shoes he purchased to wear as a guest for another wedding.

I just took some time to look through your comments and it looks like you're looking more for ideas on how to save money on day to day expenses or to earn money?

I did Rover (dog walking/dog sitting) in the past. I was able to make my own schedule and only accept what I knew I could commit to. I was able to set my own fees... and hang out with dogs!

If you are still making wedding purchases or you do shopping online for whatever reason, sign up for Ebates! Shameless self promo, but here's my Ebates referral (https://www.ebates.com/r/SHARON21243?eeid=28187). But even if you choose to sign up without my link, Ebates is my secret online shopping weapon! They partner with certain companies to offer you a % of cash back on any purchase you make. This combined with coupons and cash back from your credit card, will start to add up. AND THEN, refer your friends and family using your code! When they join and spend $25, you get $25 towards your next "big fat check" (as they call it) and your friend/family will get $10 for themselves... win-win! I've been a member since 2013 and have earned $192.21 since then because when I can, I shop through Ebates. My last check was sent to me 2/7/2019 for $15.43 and my next check will be sent 5/15/2019 (so I believe it's every quarter) and I'm currently at $26.74 cash back and counting. I cannot recommend it enough.

We are eating out less often and meal prepping at home. We are also both picking up more flying hours at work and I got a second job working retail. The second job is honestly SO fun and it's only 2-3 days a week max when my kids are in school. You can always drive Lyft/Uber a few days a week too, I did that for awhile and it was actually very interesting. I did not drive late at night though but that was my personal choice. I have had a few friends sell things online (clothing, random home stuff, etc). We are paying for everything ourselves so budget is an absolute must but there are ways around most things. Keep an eye out for wedding related deals also!

It might seem silly, but good budgeting starts with personal finance. Once I had that under control, the wedding budget was way too easy. I use the app called EveryDollar (Free) to keep track of personal finances and even have a savings account set up on there that shows me how much I'm saving and spending on my wedding.