What are some big money savers that you made when it came to planning your wedding?

My dream wedding venue cost over $4,000 to rent for the wedding/reception and stetting up/tearing down and their tables..... I found a church that will meet a lot of what i need for $600 and most of that I would actually get back, if nothing is damaged (security deposit) so for me, that's a score!! since we want to stay under our budget of $5,000 total all said and done.

We found a venue that had real china, flatware, glasses, and table linens included in their price! (In our area, none of the venues offered that so we would've had to rent it all). We also have free range of the decor she has in stock. The venue also just opened this summer, so the venue owner (who is the sweetest lady), it constantly adding new things to her decor closet! All of the candlestick holders, glass cylinder candle holders, tables, chairs, drapery, faux garland & greenery that we will be using are all from her free of charge!

For alcohol, we're planning on asking members of the wedding party to bring a 30pack of the beer we've selected to help us with the alcohol cost. (our family and friend group have all done this so it's not a big deal to ask!).

We won't have to pay an officiant fee because our good friend is marrying us. Groom won't have to pay for his tux because the site we're ordering from has a deal where if 5 guys rent theirs from them, the groom's tux is free.

Biggest money saver: not having a stereotypical wedding. We are only having 3 guests so that cut over 80% of the average wedding costs. Also not having a venue. We are getting married somewhere free, such as a park.

A lot of great opportunities, like yours, literally just fell into my lap! Here's a few:

1.FH mom's gal pal is a retired baker. Free wedding cake.

2. My fav winery does a huge sell each Spring to get rid of bottles with "old labels" when they change the design for the upcoming year. 30% off each case.

3. My dress was out-of-season clearance at local boutique — $1800 dress for $370

4. I'm a high school English teacher. I hired our agriculture teacher to create my floral arrangements. She was able to get them at wholesale price and charged me just that.

5. Buffet-style vs. plated dinner

6. Getting married on a Sunday: $3400 (Saturday) vs. $1900 (Sunday)

7. David's Bridal clearance shoes: $18 (and WAY cuter than the $90 pair I had picked at my local department store)

8. Save the Date postcards (postage was cheaper, no envelopes)

9. Renting table cloths from a local venue vs. a rental company. The rental company quoted me at $30 for each table cloth. A local venue $5 a piece.

10. Buying decor that can be used at the shower and the wedding

11. Having a sleepover at my apartment with the bridesmaids the night before instead of renting a hotel room.

12. Fiance's cousin is a DJ (like legit; has opened for T-Pain!) is knocking $500 off his package

Some money savers we aren't doing. But the ones we are:


Pick 3-5 areas to focus on for the guest experience and throw out the rest. Focus on food/entertainment/photos/a nice venue/open bar so no one pays
Avoid wedding industry pressure. It is designed to make you spend more money and the quality may be less. Wedding tv only makes it worse. Outside of your venue, dress and cake,most vendors don't care if it's a wedding or just a party if you go for corporate vendors instead. Plus you save thousands and get higher quality.
Leaning toward restaurant catering from a few different places, if we decide not to go with a regular corporate caterer who has delicious food at half the price of a wedding caterer. You get more food that you already know beforehand is good. You don't have to include the extras that no one pays attention to or wants that you can't negotiate out of with a wedding caterer.
Most grocery store cakes are just as delicious if not more than a regular bakery at half the price.
Fresh flowers from Costco/wholesaler are nearly always cheaper than silks. Most brides splurge on photos as a memento.
DIY invites
No favors. No one keeps them. They aren't allowed on planes. I've even seen many edibles that were left behind.
Renting anything you can. The time/labor/sanity that you save by renting instead of purchasing is phenomenal. That applies to linens, dishes, decorations, etc.
Try to go for a blank slate venue, whether it's at a park or a local warehouse that rents out for events. They usually have tables and chairs available. But they don't require that you meet unattainable minimum guest numbers and food/beverage prices with all the bells and whistles that aren't you at all and the "wedding" venue will not cut out.

That's a great deal! For me I saved a bunch of money on my dress (over $800). I originally said yes to the dress and noticed that there was 2 different sale stickers on the tag. When I asked the salesperson which discount I would get she had to check with the sales manager. The sales manager came over and said that an employee forgot to take off one of the tags but because I seen it already she had to honor both. So it saved me a bunch!

That's a great deal! To save money I bought my dress over black friday weekend last year for 50% off, hubby made my bouquet from $9.98 red Rose's from Walmart and twine he had from work, got our wedding cake from a local grocery store for $30, and got married in an outdoor garden ceremony by this lady who does it as a business for $250

Our biggest scams, as we like to call them, is that we got our gorgeous wedding venue for $400 because my in-laws are members. Along with the venue came a wedding coordinator for $1500 who does all the flower arrangements and her husband bartends. She also has most of the decor I was looking for, so we don't have to waste money there. My husband (we eloped and postponed) also owns a restaurant, so we get all of our food at cost and his employees are also going to do the serving.

Sample sale dress - saved 90% from retail price

Fake flowers - less than $500 for everything I needed

No favors

No "extras" like photobooths or so on

Worked my network and get referrals that got us discounts

Applied "something old/borrowed" to my jewelry

Chose a venue that didn't need decorations

Just be sure to taste the beer to make sure it is'n skunked. Improper storage (in too hot) can cause it to go bad - otherwise that is a great deal!

One of my biggest money savers was my dress. I bought it from JJs house and it was only 178!

1. ceremony rental fee = $50 BUT i had to rent chairs and that came to 75 cents a chair but even that isn't so bad!

2. my wedding dress was less than $30 because i bought an evening gown that looked just like a wedding dress

3. my friend did photography and videography for me so i only needed to pay for her airfare to come

4. fake flowers for my bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages - total cost of those was about $40 [for 5 bouquets, 3 corsages, and 10 boutonnieres]