Wedding on a Budget!

I am not handing out programs at the ceremony. No one keeps them and to be honest I went to a wedding a couple months ago and didn't even realize they didn't have them. I also went for baby's breath and greenery for my girls bouquets because it is simple and elegant and on the cheaper side when it comes to flowers. Hope this helps

DIY only as much as you can handle. It is not worth it to spend a bunch of money on supplies for projects that won't get done. Only buy supplies on sale and with a coupon. My mom made her own dress for my wedding, not a huge deal because she had already made herself dresses before numerous times, and she bought the fabric and zipper with a coupon, I think her dress cost her $60. Also she had the free time required.

Use your reward credit cards! Don't spend what you can't afford but paying for decor items and deposits with your credit card means your get huge rewards. I was able to buy probably $300 in items from Amazon for my wedding with my reward points.

Look around your house and see what you already have that you can use. Between me, my mom, and my FMIL we had enough clear round vases in different heights to decorate my sweetheart table.

No friendors (friends that are vendors) they only cost you more in the long run and have the potential to ruin relationships.

Take help when it is offered but don't abuse it. Just because Aunt Sally is a florist doesn't mean she wants to stay up all night the night before your wedding making 25 centerpieces. Ask her opinion and tricks of the trade but don't make family/friends work at your wedding.

I'm making some of my own decorations, using a supermarket florist, and hosting a cake+punch reception. Purchased wedding bands from Etsy for a great price! We also are skipping programs and favors. Overall, I'm cutting corners where I can but keeping guests' comfort a priority!

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I agree! Baby's breath is so beautiful on its own!

I think small and simple centerpieces are best, big ones get in the way of conversation.

Agreed with Lauren above, I've been stockpiling airline miles on my SouthWest card. I got a Hilton Reward Credit card to put all wedding expenditures on (0% interest for 12 months - will pay it all off, so no interest fees) and will have obtained enough points to cover our hotel for the duration of our destination wedding. Also, when creating a room block, you get event planner points for all of the reservations you bring in as well.

We aren't doing programs, favors, etc (Welcome Bags at the hotel, and New Orleans has a great program where they offer the bags, maps, and beads for free!)

We are focusing our funds on the venue/food/bar/entertainment so that we can truly enjoy our time with our loved ones.

I previously worked for a wedding planning company, so I knew where to trim, as well as cheaper dates, ways to avoid inflated fees, etc. On top of that I went the route of "Friendors," which I know a lot of people warn against. However, I have a friends who are professional photographers, videographers, and cake bakers - so why not give our money to our friends (especially when they offer deep discounts)?

Also, I'm making my dress and my fiance bought his tux instead of renting (it's actually a fraction of the cost). We're going with artificial flowers instead of real and we're skipping out on favors. Another way we cut corners was to find a vendor who could provide venue, food, bar, and servers. It's way cheaper when everything is managed under one roof.

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Yes! An all inclusive venue is the way to go. Our venue is a banquet hall and includes 20+ apps (hot and cold), 3 main dishes, 2 sides, non-alcoholic drinks, tables, chivari chairs, linens, china, glassware, sweetheart table, DJ lights, dance floor, servers, free cake cutting, coffee, tea, etc. for a very reasonable per person price in our area. When you have to piece all the rentals, venue, catering, etc together the price tends to jump dramatically then you have to pay separate tax, service charge, delivery, tips.

No programs

No DJ (Spotify instead)

Walmart cakes (Delicious and affordable!)

No favors

DIY HMU

DIY bouquets

Semi-DIY centerpieces

Sister made our Invitations and took engagements

Costume Jewelry for my earrings instead of spending $60+ I spent $12!

Dry wedding (no alcohol)

There's probably more, but that's all I can think of at the moment!

I'm planning on designing invites on my own and having them printed online. Postcard rsvp's to save on supplies and postage. I'm going to buy white envelopes and line the flaps myself (I've done it before with gift wrap its easy and cheap but looks super nice). Nothing but invite and rsvp to get regular postage rates and no programs or save the dates.

I'm not going to do favors, I don't think they will be missed.

I've had some family and coworkers saving glass jars like spaghetti and jam jars and those glass yogurt jars to use in my center pieces. I'm going to make my own candles using the yogurt jars. I plan on using using baby's breath and fresh herbs for center pieces (fmil thinks this will be too much work and is urging me to use a florist, I really don't want to). I'm going to either get a pre-made flower bundle from trader Joe's, or make something with a few flowers and herbs to use as my bouquet. Also you can bulk order fresh flowers online for like crazy cheap and make your own center pieces/bouquet.

I use ebates for things I'm buying online. It actually works and I've gotten like $500 from using them. I'm also using my cash back credit card and paying it right away (only do this if you are going to pay it right away)

I took a part time Saturday job in my town and a bra store and I got a crazy discount on my wedding dress because of it plus I'll get discount on my under garments and my boss knows a lot of contacts that I might use.

We are planning to focuse our budget on food, entertainment, and photos. The rest I'm doing as cheap as possible.

We used an all inclusive venue that did not require much in the way of decorations. We had minimal flowers and my mom helped me make the additional decor on the tables we used. We also kept our invitations minimal and did not have favors, programs or other printed items. They just get thrown away. I always say don't be afraid of all inclusive venues. They seem more expensive in the beginning but when it comes down to it, you save so much more in the end.

My budget is 1,500, not including my dress. Our venue was only 275, food will be about 450, minister was 120, i've earned giftcards online for years, so i'm using them in addition to the budget. I am shopping on Amazon Prime day for my plates, cups etc, but also for my bouquet and other wedding flowers

The venue is all inclusive & provides a good amount of stuff at no additional fee (centerpieces, cake knife, card box, etc).
Decorations are always bought on sale.
I ordered cheaper flowers.
We decided to do a lunch wedding on Saturday to help offset the cost.
Our photographer is only doing a thumb drive of the pics. We will do our own prints & books from Shutterfly.
We are using WeddingMix and have hired a college student to take the video.

I had an artsy friend with a good camera take our engagement photos. The same friend designed our save the dates and invites and printed them at her job for 5 cents each! If you have family and friends that recently got married, ask them for things to borrow! Some of my friends have candle votives, veils, jewelry etc that they will never use again. I think we are skipping favors and programs as well!

I saved a ton by getting my veil off of Etsy. We're not having programs or a welcome sign . I'm getting my flowers from Raley's and for flowers we are doing baby's breath, white roses, and greenery. Bridesmaid bouquet are made of baby's breath. We are also doing very simple centerpieces because we don't want to take away from the beauty of the venue. I have a friend who's making our desserts and cake, our wedding cake is a small two tier cake. Hope this helps!

* We did not have engagement photos.

* We did not have engagement rings, and our wedding rings were plain gold bands.

* We got our dresses and veils at a consignment store. We had them altered by a local seamstress, rather than a bridal store.

* I made our chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy). I was able to resell it later for more than the cost of the materials I used.

* We had a photographer only for the ceremony, not the reception.

* The videography was done by a talented amateur friend.

* The music at the reception was a singer, not a band or DJ.

* We had minimal decorations at the ceremony, and none at the luncheon after the ceremony.

* We had only two attendants, which reduced the cost of bouquets and gifts for the bridal party.

* We limited flowers at the ceremony to bouquets and a bout. At the at-home reception, the only floral decorations were some freeze-dried rose petals to sprinkle on tables.

* For the at-home reception, we used a private club that was a converted warehouse, owned by a friend (who gave us a discount on the rental). It wasn't beautiful, but we did DIY decorations (including uplighting and lit-up paper lanterns) to make it look nice. Our friend also charged us only $250 for an open bar for 60 people for five hours.

* NotFroofy baked our cake.

Research research research!! Figure out which things are easy to diy and which aren’t. And then prioritize! Figure out what you and your fiancé care about the most for the big day and discuss which things you don’t mind cutting costs on. Just remember it’s your day so don’t let ideas spawn from how you think others will perceive the day (big hurdle I had to get over). And then network! I was lucky enough to have a FMIL who has a ton of friends who are very talented with various things. Good luck!

*Our save the dates were our invites.
*We are doing fake flowers.
* We got our DJ for free
* We are skipping favors and wedding programs.
*Our officiant is free
And I'm getting ready at an assisted living vs a hotel.
I'm sure I forget something:-)

One way I plan to save some money is to get my greenery for centerpieces from Costco rather then the florist.

View Quoted Comment Im with Zoe on the "Friendors". My HMUA has been incredible, affordable and helped me substantially with my accessories/jewelry and deciding on hair and makeup. Just think about the professionalism of the friend before deciding.

I have a family friend making our cake and cupcakes (she’s even done wedding before so I know it’ll go smoothly), I plan on doing my own make up and my aunt used to be a hairdresser so she’s doing mine! I’m going with baby’s breath for centerpieces and bridesmaids bouquets and going the DIY route! I’m also keeping my decor super simple with floral, greenery, mason jars, and wood slices (my grandpa is cutting them for me when he goes to cut wood and my grandma is gonna seal them for storage!) i’m also having a pretty small bridal party which helps cut costs as well. I’m splurging a little for a caterer but luckily my cousin owns a restaurant and they do catering all the time so they’re going to do it for a really good deal! I also plan on skipping wedding favors.