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June 2021

Tip On Saving Thousands

Dj Tanner, on June 11, 2020 at 10:24 AM Posted in Planning 2 22

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I just wanted to share with all of you some of the things that I’ve done so far that have helped me save thousands!

1. Booked with my venue for a Thursday wedding. If I had it on a Saturday it would’ve been 10,500 just to reserve the date and $14,500 minimum for catering. Having it on a Thursday is only 2500 and 4500 minimum for catering. 2. No limo service3. I’m using fifty flowers instead of a florist4. Using a videographer instead of a photographer. 5. Having Polaroids on each table for guests to take real authentic fun photos that my FH and I will add to a wedding book. 6. DIY hair n makeup. I’m a licensed cosmetologist.7. Dollar store candles! My venue charges a lot for decor so I plan on dying most of my decor. Dollar store candles help make everything look wonderful.8. Went through my DJ for up lighting Instead of my venue. 9. Having an ordained friend be our officiant10. CUTTING FOWN ON THE GUEST LIST. My FH and I made it a point to only invite the people that we truly want to attend our wedding. We initially said we were only going to have a 65 person wedding and then magically that list grew into about 110 people. We reassessed our list and we decided no obligation invites and only the people that we know will attend. We were able to get the guest list down to 85.
Hope all of these tips help and if you have any suggestions for me or comments I greatly welcome all both positive and negative

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22 Comments

Latest activity by Michelle, on June 11, 2020 at 8:13 PM

Master October 2020
Margaret · on June 11, 2020 at 10:32 AM
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Great Tips,

We opted for a Morning / Brunch Ceremony / Reception saving $10s K - A sunrise wedding followed by brunch reception (unlimited alcohol - 2.5 hours) Total $3500 for a 50 person wedding. We are also allowing the venue to use their in-house decor (free)
There are definitely lots of ways to save money, you just have to have an open mind.
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June 2021
Dj Tanner · on June 11, 2020 at 10:37 AM
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I absolutely agree and this sounds awesome!
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Just Said Yes August 2020
Castrofam · on June 11, 2020 at 10:45 AM
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We saved a lot by choosing to do wedding and ceremony at my FH dad’s large property. Bought huge canopy tents with walls at only $256 loaning tables and chairs for a small donation. My brother in law is the officiant and lucky enough my mother and I r creative so all decorations were made from hand with wood around the yard. When it’s all said and done we won’t be over $1800. We have 157 guests
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Savvy July 2020
Sutina · on June 11, 2020 at 10:48 AM
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Wow $1800 for 157 guests? that amazing.... how are you feeding everyone?
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Legend June 2019
Melle · on June 11, 2020 at 11:11 AM
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Good tips! Thursday vs Saturday is such a big difference
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January 2019
MOB So Cal · on June 11, 2020 at 11:24 AM
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Daughter's saved $5000 on a Saturday night wedding at her mostly inclusive venue (food & bev, etc.) by choosing a date in their off-season. In So Cal, that was January, so really not too much of a gamble. They had a gorgeous day with temps in the high 70's at ceremony time. All the east coast and midwest guests were awestruck by their outdoor ceremony & cocktail hour compared to the "arctic blasts" they'd left behind. She also saved about $1000 on her photographer by paying in full at the time of booking (she'd carefully vetted him and had no concerns about trustworthiness). Comparison shopping also saved her more than $1000 on flowers and probably $400-600 on the cake.
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Super June 2021
Elizabeth · on June 11, 2020 at 11:42 AM
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Great tips! I'm glad you're making it all work!
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June 2021
Dj Tanner · on June 11, 2020 at 11:59 AM
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That amazing! I wish I could save that much! Congrats to you
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June 2021
Dj Tanner · on June 11, 2020 at 12:01 PM
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I hear ya! I am in Rhode Island so there was no way we could’ve done off-season here LOL we definitely wanted the sun or at least just warm weather. I can’t even imagine a warm day in January!
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June 2021
Dj Tanner · on June 11, 2020 at 12:03 PM
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Thanks! Yeah, At first we thought it was going to be impossible to have the wedding that we wanted. You hear people initially setting budgets when you first get engaged and he thinks yourself oh my God I could never have that kind of budget. But you somehow do at the end of the day and I’m glad we made it work
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Expert August 2020
Jodie · on June 11, 2020 at 12:06 PM
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Where did you find tents for that price? I'm looking for some as a backup plan depending on how the call with my venue goes today.
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VIP March 2015
Nefetera · on June 11, 2020 at 12:49 PM
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Soubds very great and i see how you did it. Very smart and that's the way i was planning mines very similar...great planning ...
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VIP March 2015
Nefetera · on June 11, 2020 at 12:50 PM
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Typo; SOUNDS****
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Just Said Yes August 2020
Castrofam · on June 11, 2020 at 12:50 PM
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I found them on Home Depot site. We bought 2 to put together
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Just Said Yes August 2020
Castrofam · on June 11, 2020 at 12:51 PM
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We are doing a big bbq as it’s a summer wedding.
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Devoted August 2022
Sinaya · on June 11, 2020 at 1:14 PM
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Nice! We chose to have a Sunday wedding to save on cost, and chose an all inclusive venue that includes catering, linen, and chargers in the cost. We still hired an event design company because we want to upgrade our linen, but the company does decor and flowers (including bouquets) for both the ceremony and reception. We also went through a media company to book the photographer, videographer, DJ, and photo booth. Much cheaper, and easier to manage, than hiring a different vendor for each service. I think finding one vendor for multiple services has really helped us save money.
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VIP October 2020
Anna · on June 11, 2020 at 1:40 PM
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Those are some great tips! Thanks for sharing.
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Super June 2020
Renee · on June 11, 2020 at 6:31 PM
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We are doing Sunday instead of Saturday and will save about $10,000 as the food and beverage minimum is lower, the venue space is $3200 less and we can BYOB saving us on drink packages of $35-50 pp (basic vs premium) with 200 guests. We also used candles clusters instead of floral centerpieces on guests tables except for head table and family tables. The flowers are wholesale and whatever will be in season in my color pallet.
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Devoted November 2022
Michelle · on June 11, 2020 at 6:40 PM
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We went with a Sunday wedding for reasons other than cost, but it meant that we are doing lunch rather than dinner which saves a lot. We went for a package deal including desserts so we will have a smaller wedding cake which we will get from Publix. Their cakes are delicious so why spend more. The DJ gave us a discount because it is is a non-Saturday wedding. We are not doing floral centerpieces since flowers are expensive and they die so quickly. Tables, linen etc are all included with the venue. We are doing electronic save the dates and having people RSVP via the website rather than buying reply cards/paying extra postage. And we are not doing favors because they are so often left behind anyway. I honestly can't remember for weddings I attended more than 3 years ago if they had favors or not.
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June 2021
Dj Tanner · on June 11, 2020 at 7:07 PM
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Awesome! Such a smart choice with the candles! They always look amazing
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