Wedding Budgeting/cost Savings Tips

We booked an all inclusive venue!! It was the best decision we made! Everything is included, ceremony, bar, dinner, centerpieces, cake, tables, chairs, etc., and we still get to make it our own. I saved myself from so much stress!

We originally had booked an all inclusive wedding but due to covid we cancelled and had an outdoor garden ceremony and a reception at our apartment. We got a cake from shoprite for $30, local soul food restaurant catering enough food for 15-20 people for $360, alcohol (8 bottles of wine) and beer (2 12 packs) from our local liquor store for $100, flowers for my bouquet ($9.98) at Walmart, and fancy plastic ware off amazon for $30 for up to 25 people.

Take a look at peerspace.com and eventective.com for venues. Also check the local parks department. Often a blank slate venue is less expensive because they do not have astronomical food/beverage minimums you must meet and rental fees are generally cheaper.


Local restaurants offer catering for a fraction of the price of a wedding caterer and you get a ton of food. The Mexican/Chinese/etc place that often caters your workplace where you go on date night. Their corporate catering is all you need and they won't care what type of event they are delivering to. You may need to hire waitstaff from thumbtack.com but it's still less expensive than an all inclusive minimum.
Alcohol can be purchased at TotalWine or Bevmo and delivered to the venue. They can help you shop for it with quantities and take returns of leftovers in most areas. Costco does the same without delivery. Skip the champagne and let them toast with what they're already drinking.
Grocery store wedding cake.
Fresh flowers are much less expensive than silks. No need to worry about allergies either. They are biodegradable where artificial are not and many brides don't care about keeping the bouquet. Shop at fiftyflowers.com, Costco.com or your local grocery store.
Rent as much as you can from vendors (party rental shops, florists, bakers, caterers, etc). Your time is valuable and not everyone has the time or patience to get decor to the venue and sell it afterwards when the vendors pick it up and go after the reception.
Very first thing is to sit down with fiance and decide on 3-5 areas to focus on and toss out the rest. Guests remember whether food was good, if they had open their wallets, if the couple was gracious hosts and if the entertainment was good. You as the host will want the best documentation (photos) you can get in your budget. Get a GoPro camera for video.
Design your own invites on canva.com and have them printed at Staples. Or go through Costco.com or annsbridalbargains.com
Skip the favors. No one takes them even when they are edible
Skip the proposal boxes. Call or ask in person.
Skip the getting ready robes, bridesmaid jewelry, etc and buy gifts you would get them individually based on their unique interests.

Sample sale dress, fake flowers, no "extras" (photobooth, dessert bars, favors), get shoes on sale, use/borrow jewelry, get a venue with a view (no need for extra decor), keep it simple, simple, simple!

Oh, and network! You can often get discounts if you are rec'd to someone, or find a film student to do your videography.

It depends really depends on what you want and what is important to you and your fiancé. I would sit down and decide together what items are really important to you and what items you want to skip. For example, we didn't do welcome bags, a welcome party, or bridesmaid/groomsmen proposal boxes. All of our guests traveled a minimum of 1.5 hours and welcome parties are often for out of town guests so technically all of our guests were out of town which would've basically met holding another event as large as our wedding. We choose to skip that and just have the small traditional rehearsal followed by a rehearsal dinner with our bridal party and immediate family. We also didn't do welcome bags because not everyone stayed at the same hotel and we didn't really thing they were necessary. We also didn't do proposal boxes because all of our bridal party live in different states than us so we would've not only had to purchase the boxes and the items that go in them, but we would've had to pay for postage to mail them. Favors and programs are two other optional items that a lot of couples choose to cut. We had both, but that was a personal choice and by no way means you have to have either one. I know my brother-in-law's wife choose to save on flowers by having fake flowers for her centerpieces and ceremony decor. She did have real flowers for her bouquets and boutonnieres. There was actually a place in the town she lives in that she and a group of her friends/family went to that they were shown how to make a bouquet and boutonniere and then they made them rather than her having to pay the cost of a florist to make them. She said it was a lot of money. They also saved money by having just beer and wine rather than a full open bar with hard alcohol.

I struggled hard with budgeting and our wedding because I have very high standards when it comes to hospitality so there is very little that I have been happy to budge on. I will say though, start with a list of your non-negotiables (the things you have no issue splurging on) and otherwise source numerous quotes from various vendors. This saved me thousands – my cake maker came in at half the price of another baker but had the tastiest cakes of all those we tried, just the same our florist was at least about $2,000 cheaper than the next but was the most understanding and does beautiful work.

For our minimony we pretty much ordered everything from Amazon and my parents cooked dinner for all of our guests (It was 35 people). For our upcoming big wedding we booked a venue that is all inclusive (Food, open bar, linens, chinaware, tables & chairs, chair covers, centerpieces, cake...etc). That saved us a bunch of money as well as a bunch of time. It also comes with a Venue coordinator which will be in charge of DOC.

Each month, we put a certain amount of our paychecks into our wedding fund. That adds up quick! We also found a great deal on a baker for our cake and dessert bar. If you do your due diligence, you can usually find several great vendors that will be much cheaper.

We started by looking at venues and comparing them to see which one offered the most for a fair price. We found one that included real china, flatware, and glassware, as well as table linens and overlays. Once we saw how much we would be saving from not having to rent all of that, we booked them! I also asked if they offered discounts for off-peak season weddings, and she gave us a good discount!

The venue just opened up this year, so the owner is constantly adding new items to their decorations storage which are free to use how you please! That also saves us a ton of money because most of our decorations will be supplied by the venue.

I picked a florist that is new to the business and saved A LOT because of that. Typically, new vendors are still figuring out their pricing and are usually cheaper than ones that have years in the business. (she has experience and has done several styled shoots with our venue).

For our STDs and invites, we're using minted. I signed up for emails and actually got a 20% discount code in the mail, which I will be using towards our STDs purchase.

We're also putting aside money every month into a savings account!

1. find a wedding gown that isn't bridal. in other words, look for white evening dresses, white prom dresses, white bridesmaid dresses, etc. anything wedding and bridal on it will totally increase the cost when a white formal gown will look just like one often times.

2. don't be afraid to borrow things. there were things that it felt kind of useless for me to buy. for instance what do i need to do with multiple easels after? so i just asked my art friends attending if i can borrow theirs. also you may not know it but little things like that add up so fast.

Cutting the guest list is the fastest way to cut costs. Skip favors, programs, any knick knack-y things. Skip bridesmaid proposals (not sure where that idea sprang from but it needs to end, lol) and while I am on it, have one or two attendants. The more you have, the more headaches. Trust me.

Consider having an 11am (or so) ceremony with a lunch reception and no dance. You will save a TON of money!

Best wishes!