Where are you saving money?

We managed to save A LOT of money on decor, only because my FMIL found someone who lets people rent wedding decor for free! But, I do plan on splurging on food just because it’s a big piece for us since we do have more people than we originally planned.

Flowers- we are doing real touch fake flowers

Decor- its all DIY

No programs, meal menus or anything like that

Used Amazon and Etsy for a lot of things we wanted along with Michael's and AC Moore with their coupons.

Keep the wedding party small.

Buffet style or stations is usually cheaper then a sit down 4 course meal.

Have just plated hor d'oeuvres rather then passed ones.

Bar packages will also add to the cost.

We saved a lot on venue. The ceremony was literally $50 to rent aha and we just had to get our own chairs which was 70 cents each. Perfectly fine. The reception was at a restaurant so I literally only paid for the food rather than dealing with any rentals or venue fees.
I also saved a lot on flowers by not having any for decor. The bouquets and boutonnieres and corsages were all super cheap from Michael's and eBay.
My outfit was also cheap since I went non traditional and got an evening gown.

On our DW, we saved big money by choosing: 1) tiny guest list, 2) weekday wedding, 3) off season, 4) no flower decor except my bouquet.

We saved money by shopping the best venue with the most flexibility. We are bringing our own alcohol (the venue is providing the bartender). We are doing mostly DIY flowers. The venue includes the centerpieces. I saved a lot of money on my dress with a super lucky find I had on ebay. (the dress was brand new, unaltered and a fourth of the cost).

You have a lot of time, once you get your venue and photographer booked. Shop around on everything and don't be afraid to DIY.

We are doing a taco bar, salad bar and our friend is gifting that to us for our wedding gift.

No programs, menus or seating charts

No wedding favors for the guests.. they throw them out anyways, I know I do.

Minimal flowers and the ones we are doing are real touch fake.

Most of the decorations are DIY and straight off of Pinterest.

Wedding guests are down to people we would invite to our home for a BBQ or family party. No friends of parents or people we "kind of" know. If we wouldn't invite them to our home for a BBQ.. they aren't invited to the wedding.

Bar drinks are down to wine, beer and brides choice drinks.

BMs and GM are wearing outfits/dresses they can and will wear again. Nothing expensive but still classy.

Wedding dress being handmade by a friend and at a significantly lower cost then even renting one.

Saving money on décor almost entirely, our venue has a whole storage closet of décor that past brides have used and told them they could keep, what a dream come true! I also opted for all fake flowers from Amazon, less than $200. We're cutting costs on alcohol by stocking our own bar. And our wedding is on a Sunday, so that saves us on the venue price and the DJ!

Me and my FH are saving money by having an all inclusive wedding, fake flowers, and the dj and photographer were pretty cheap and our wedding is on a Sunday so that saved us a few dollars

Are you asking about money saving tips for a cheaper wedding? Or for saving money in general, leading up to the wedding? Cuz my fiancee and I have done both

We saved a ton just by starting early. We picked a venue that was run by the parks & rec, and we got a discount because my company sponsor's the community pool. Huge savings right there. Keeping the guest list pretty small, shopping sales, DIY-ing what we could. A simple thing is to do your RSVPs online...it'll save you plenty on postage and you won't need to print RSVP cards/envelopes. We also went non-traditional with our food -- we're doing pizza! Stocking our own bar, hiring our own bartenders. We found coordinators that were just getting started in the biz and were willing to work for free in exchange for a good review and photos for their portfolio. Ask vendors if they'll give you a discount to pay in full -- our photographer gave us 20% for doing so. Silk flowers instead of real ones. Shop liquidation sales for your dress (I got a $1500 dress for $200). Buy used items! There's a huge network of brides on FB re-selling their decor. Design your own items -- signage and invitations and all that. I used Canva to make sign for the reception/ceremony and it was so affordable. Zazzle for my invitations (got them 60% off too by waiting for a sale). Don't bother with programs or menus. Nobody looks at them and it's pricey. Oh! And the DJ we hired isn't typically a "wedding DJ." He DJs at a local bar but has done a few weddings, one of which we attended and had a blast. This was a MASSIVE savings (we're only paying $800 for 6 hours with dance floor lighting). Just think outside of the box basically!

The venue we chose for the reception included so much ($91/pp for open beer wine bar, 3 entree buffet, mashed potato bar, centerpieces, cake, and service fees including tax!) that it was probably our biggest cost saving. I also got a small discount on my dress bc I ordered it on a labor day sale, we got a discount on the photographer bc she was a recommended vendor, I DIYed a lot of the decor and dont think I paid full price for anything.

We did silk flowers, skipped a lot of unnecessary (imo) decorations, and we found a cheaper DJ. We used a family friend who has a DJ business that charged us $650 rather than a "professional" that was going to charge over $2,000.

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For both i want to save all around lol Originally i wanted to go the whole nine yards and i have now come to realize things like favors, sitting chart, and all the little extra things i dont really care about.

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All of this is so useful thank you!

We're keeping our guest list very small (under 20 adults) and splurging on food. We will not have any decorations for the church or reception space. We are doing a reception at a local restaurant and then paying for the food only. We are splurging on real flowers but I'm going to DIY the bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. I also found my dress at a thrift store, we're getting the groom's outfit from thrifting as well. I have the skills to alter clothing so any small alterations I will do myself. In total we plan to spend under $800. Now I've also been in contact with a photographer because I'd love to have one. If we can work it into the budget we'll be splurging on that. It will just depend on what we can save. The photographer I've been in contact with is giving us an hourly rate and we will be using her only for the ceremony and formal photos.

Splurging on:

* Renting a big house where all our guests could stay.

* Rabbi

* Synagogue

* Artistic ketubah (formal Jewish marriage contract)

Savings:

* Wedding rings are plain gold bands.

* Small guest list (a dozen people).

* Small wedding party (a MOH and a "dude of honor")

* Rehearsal dinner was just pizzas and sodas, delivered to the place where everyone was staying.

* Dresses and veils were purchased from a consignment shop.

* Only flowers were bouquets and bout.

* Music at the ceremony was a CD we put together.

* Photography only for the ceremony, not the reception.

* Videography done by a friend.

* Reception after the ceremony was a restaurant, so no venue cost for that.

* DIY decor at the ceremony and at-home reception, and no decor at all at the reception following the ceremony.

* Venue for the at-home reception was a private club owned by a friend, who gave us a break on the rates and also provided an open bar for 60 people for five hours for $250.

* For the at-home reception, we paid a friend to buy, serve and clean up food she bought from BJ's, instead of having a regular caterer.

* NotFroofy made our cake.

* We had a singer, not a DJ or band, for the at-home reception. She gave us her services as her wedding present.

* Photo booth was run by a friend.

* Purchased a lot of things (e.g., table linens), used if possible, and resold them afterward, instead of renting.

Passing on:

* Engagement rings.

* Honeymoon.

* Limo.

Splurge: photographer. This is the most important thing to me of the day, after all that money aside from the memories they’re the only thing I’ll have forever!
Saving on: decorations-keeping a modest budget for them. Also practically skipping flowers, I’ll DIY bouquets for myself and bridal party, but no floral centerpieces, boutonnière, or corsages.

My venue is pretty inexpensive because my guest list is small (only 200 for the venue, an extra 50 per hour if we want it for longer than an hour), my reception is a potluck at a friend's house, I'm DIYing all the flowers and decor myself, I'm using the venue's sound system to play music instead of getting live music, found a great deal on hair and makeup at a stylist that's five minutes from my venue so she doesnt have to come to me, and ordering my dress from Azazie. Splurging on the cake and photographer (though my idea of splurging is quite skewed, as my cake is about 210 if I don't get it delivered and I'm hoping to stay at 300ish for the photographer).

Splurge:
Wedding bands
Inclusive venue
HMU for everyone
Invitations

Save:
Attire: dress 200, veil 12, earrings 10, shoes 15, husband wore a suit and shoes he already owned, tie, socks, shirt and tie clip purchased for approx 100
Flowers: real flowers for tables and bouquets, bouts, corsages for 712
Decor: bought candle holders for 125 for tables, sold them for 75
Cardbox borrowed
No signs, menus, programs
No photobooth or games
No toss bouquet or garter

Make a list of what is important to you. It was important to me that I have great food, booze, entertainment and venue. It wasn't important to me that I spend 1800 on a dress I'd wear once. I think DIY is a crap shoot.

Splurging on food, open bar, photographer, and videographer. Saving money on flowers, decor, and DJ.

I'm buying all of my flowers wholesale and making all bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, etc myself with the help of my sister/MOH. I'm keeping my decor simple. The ceremony is outside on the waterfront underneath a beautiful oak tree, so it requires very little decorating. I'm going to hang mason jars with sunflowers and baby's breath in them from shepherd's hooks at the beginning (aisle side) of each row of chairs and that's it. For the reception area, it's inside a beautiful rustic looking hall, and won't require much decorating either since it is so gorgeous on its own. I like to keep decorations minimal to begin with, so definitely not splurging in this area.

I'm also saving money by not having a band or a DJ at the reception. I know this may sound crazy to some people, but I'm completely fine with my decision. Two of my musician friends are going to provide their sound equipment and we're just going to use a special Spotify playlist that FH and I are making. They're also providing microphones for speeches and announcements and are going to do some light MC'ing.

By saving money in these two departments, I was able to increase my budget for food and open bar. I got killer deals for my photographer ($1350 for 6 hours) and videographer ($1200 for full day coverage, ceremony, and reception start to finish), so even more money saved. I was able to hire a photo booth.