Use Credit Card Points
If you have , you can redeem them for flights, hotel stays, and rental cars. Play around with the redemption figures if you have several cards with significant point totals.
Dont have a rewards card? It may not be too late to earn a free trip. Chase is currently offering a 60,000-point sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, along with a 100,000-point sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Both of these offers are enough for a domestic round-trip flight and a couple nights at a hotel. Pro tip: compare reward cards and check the recommended credit score to ensure youll get approved before applying.
You can also redeem miles and points for gift cards at retailers like Target and Macys perfect if youre buying a gift off the registry. Also, look for coupons and discounts before making a purchase.
Be Involved In The Planning
If your best friend is getting married and youre in the wedding party, encourage them to make budget-friendly decisions so you and your other friends can save some money.
For example, ask them to combine the bridal shower and bachelorette party so its on the same weekend. This minimizes the cost of travel and you wont feel pressured to buy two big gifts.
If your friend is thinking of going of going on a trip for the bachelor party, help them find an affordable Airbnb or hotel arrangement. Look at flights for several different weekends to find the least expensive option.
Look For A Wedding Venue That Does It All
You might think having a backyard wedding will save you money, but thats not always the case. The cost of rentals and décor in a space not typically meant for weddings and events can really add upfrom flowers to luxury portable restrooms to salt and pepper shakers for every table. With that in mind, consider you might actually save money celebrating in an event space that does this all the time, as in, they already have table linens, barware, event-ready restrooms, and a list of vetted, preferred vendors. Oftentimes venues like this will work with you and your budget to throw in a few extra services , saving you on things you never even thought to budget for . This isnt a rule, but its worth looking into and touring around. Another tactic is to look for venues that can host the ceremony and reception. This will trim down travel time and expenses for vendors that need to be both places . You may also be able to repurpose ceremony seating and décor easily for the reception space.
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Wedding Invitations: Ways To Save
One area that is easily price-slashed is your wedding invites and stationery. Your guests wont be able to tell if youve ordered from a posh paperie or DIYed your day-of papers. There are so many options to do your wedding paper goods for less, even if youre not a trained designer! Here are just a few ideas to get you started saving:
Full-on DIY wedding paper extravaganza:
- Make your own wedding invitations. Use free software like Canva and design your own, and print them using your inkjet printer at home!
- Invest in a good paper trimmer or take your cards to your nearest FedEx/Kinkos to have your papers cut in bulk.
Semi-DIY wedding invites:
- Look for wedding suite designs on Etsy or Creative Market that you can customize.
- Check out for a plethora of wedding templates you can customize with Microsoft Word.
- Print using discounted online printers like Vistaprint, OvernightPrints or Staples!
Order professional invites with cost-saving tweaks:
- Pass on fancy printing methods like letterpress or thermography. Flat printing is just as elegant and definitely cheaper.
- Opt for a black and white printed design to save on the cost of colored inks.
- Make sure to choose a standard-sized invitation to avoid heftier postage fees.
- Have your guests RSVP online to save the cost of a mailed response card.
Save Your Honeymoon For Later
As we all know, vacations are expensive, and spending can easily get out of hand when on your honeymoon. Now, were not saying you should skip the post-wedding holiday 78% of couples surveyed in Canada and abroad had honeymoons but you may want to postpone yours for a while, especially if you want to do something pricey, like yachting in the Maldives or staying in a private villa in Bora Bora. To celebrate, think about doing a minimoon or a staycation and save the main event for later.
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Fake The Wedding Cake
If a tall traditional work of art is your idea of a wedding cake but you don’t have the budget, then a really easy trick for creating the illusion on a smaller budget is to include some fake layers to make it more impressive. You could even have a complete fake cake, and serve slices of simple iced cake instead. Talk to your wedding cake baker – they know this trick well!
Substitute Less Expensive Flowers
Choose flowers that are in season, and pick locally grown flowers rather than blooms that need to be flown in from afar to reduce costs. For example, if you exchange Black Magic roses for more reasonably priced, deeply colored dahlias in all your bouquets and table arrangements, you’ll save about $4 a stem. If you were planning on having five roses per bouquet and 10 per centerpiece, and have a wedding party of five ladies and a guest list of 150 people, you could save $700.
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Accessorise With Family Heirlooms
Like lots of our real wedding brides, you can bring a borrowed element into your bridal look. Parents’ or grandparents’ jewellery and accessories can be beautiful and you can be sure nobody else has the same piece. Your ‘something borrowed’ will save you a few euro on jazzing up the dress.
Photo by Simple Tapestry via One Fab Day
X The Added Occasions
Bridal showers, expensive stag nights, dinner and drinks celebrating ticking a single task off the list … The list of added occasions surrounding a wedding these days can be frightening from the outset. If you’re keeping costs down, the extra days and nights surrounding the wedding count – and although you may not notice at the time, they can quickly eat up your wedding budget without you even noticing. Be aware of the hidden extras that add to the overall celebration, and exercise the same financial restraint with these as you are doing for the day itself.
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Don’t Mention The ‘w’ Word
If there’s one thing guaranteed to increase the price, it’s when the suppliers you’re buying from know it’s a wedding. So when negotiating flowers, wine etc, try to avoid the word ‘wedding’. Call it a party or celebration, and only once the price is agreed should you mention it is for a wedding.
Having said that, if you’re eloping, or after smaller bits and pieces, such as make-up, then mentioning you’re getting married can mean freebies galore. Forumite laughing cow said her wedding was a secret elopement…
It was like catnip lots of squealing and loads of good quality free samples . Same thing on the plane got chatting to some other passengers and crew and said we were eloping. Cue lots of champagne on the flight and a bottle to take with us. – laughing cow
What Impacts Wedding Costs
As we mentioned earlier, there are several different factors that play a role in the final cost of a wedding. Every wedding is unique, so its impossible to truly know every detail that may influence what you ultimately pay for your celebration. Details like the wedding dress, invitations, and food and drink can add up, but there are four key areas that typically have the biggest effect on wedding costs:
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Select The Type Of Wedding Dress And Store Carefully
There is something to be said for the fairytale wedding gown, but ultimately no one will know whether you sported a $1k dress or a $7k dress. You can find something comfortable, stylish and flattering by shopping sample sales, second hand , or even some of the cut-price Chinese stores, just make sure you do your due diligence as often corners are cut to bring you a low price. You could even rent a dress!
Ive curated a bunch of my absolute favorite right now, and all under $200. Yep, youd better believe it!
Keeping The Wedding Local And Winter
Probably the biggest hack of them all was keeping the wedding local and hosting it in the winter instead of summer. This was not only a cost saving for us, but also for our guests. If you do a destination wedding you not only have to pay for travel, but also the food and drink costs for the weekend accumulate. It helped us immensely to do our wedding in the winter we figured that our favourite venue was $3,600 less expensive to rent out in the winter than in the summer! And we saved $1,200 just by having the wedding on a Friday night instead of a Saturday night. With just a few adjustments we were able to considerably reduce our wedding cost.
Those are 10 tips we used to reduce our wedding cost and stick to our $15,000 wedding budget without sacrificing on quality. Our wedding ended up being amazing, our guests were happy and we had an overall a great time especially knowing we had not splurged all our money on something that only lasted a few hours!
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Genius Ways To Save Money On Your Wedding
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Chances are, there’s something you’re dreaming about for your wedding day that might be just a teensy bit over-the-top: a statement flower wall that rivals Kim and Kanye’s crazy wall of blooms not one, not two, but three stunning wedding gowns, à la Chrissy Teigen or Serena Williams or, maybe just a diamond tiara worthy of a princess. But here’s the thing: All that style is really, really expensive.
When it comes to planning a wedding, it’s all about knowing your priorities and allocating your wedding budget funds wisely. That’s why making a list of your priorities and setting a budget should be step number one of wedding planning.
Lucky for you, our editors teamed up with some of the top wedding professionals from coast to coastflorists, planners, chefs, mixologists, cake bakers, you name itto put together a master list of been-there-done-that advice on how to save money on your wedding that could add up to hundreds of dollars.
From hacks that can knock $500 off the price of your wedding gown and $3 off each slice of wedding cake , it’s safe to say that this list has some tips that will help the two of you cash in on serious savings. The best part? These tips can save you money without sacrificing an ounce of style.
Keep reading for more expert-approved ways to save money on your wedding day!
Wedding Date: Ways To Save
Finally, a simple plan for cutting costs is to schedule your wedding for a Friday evening or a Sunday. Saturdays are the most popular days and, consequently, the most expensive. Your guests wont notice a difference in your event no matter what day of the week it takes place on. So why not save yourself an extra 30% on your costs by choosing an off-peak date for your wedding!
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Trim The Guest List As Much As Possible
Not to put a price tag on your loved ones, but its true: Shrinking the headcount is one of the biggest ways to lower the cost of everything from dance floor installation to catering. “Instead of going big and compromising your long-term goals, consider opting for a smaller wedding with close friends and family,” Lynch says. If a limited budget is really cramping your style, its okay not to invite everyone youve ever met and to limit plus-ones.
Be Frugal With Your Wedding Party
Bridesmaids and groomsmen are a wonderful part of the wedding and wed be loathe to tell you not to have them . Instead, ask your friends if theyd be happy to contribute by buying their own dress/suit and doing their own hair and makeup. If anyone doesnt have the money to be part, give them a special role to show they still mean a lot to you like a reading or one of the witnesses to sign the register.
READ MORE:Does a DIY Wedding Actually Save You Money?
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Pick A Venue That Reflects Your Style
Think ahead, and save yourself money and Pinterest heartache, by picking a venue with interesting décor you love and that suits the kind of wedding you would like. The less you have to do to “decorate”, the more you will save on the little bits and pieces. A chic restaurant is a great option for this.
Wedding Dresses: Ways To Save
You may think that your wedding dress is a difficult thing to cut back on everyone wants to look their best on their wedding day. However, the dress can be one of the most expensive things in your entire budget if youre not careful. Check out these cost-cutting wedding dress tips that your guests will never pick up on:
- Shop wedding dress sample sales. We promise your Great Aunt Mildred will never know you scored a gently-used sample instead of a brand new bridal beauty!
- Buy a pre-owned wedding dress. Your guests will never know that youre not the first bride to wear your designer gown.
- Rent a dress for the big day. This trend is becoming popular because its so affordable and you dont have to stress about getting the gown cleaned afterward.
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Ditch The Escort Cards
Courtesy of Frank and Bunny Love
Have your stationer design one main seating-chart poster or display instead of personal escort cards, which can be $3 each. If the poster costs $250, that’s $50 saved per 100 guests, and the savings only increase from there. Courtney Jentzen, Swiss Cottage Designs, Brooklyn, NY
Work with your florist to design a major floral statement that guests will drop dead over instead of spreading your budget thin with a room full of smaller arrangements that they’ll walk right past. Focus on areas where they’ll congregate, like the bar and the dance floor. Rick Davis and Christopher Vazquez, Amaryllis, Inc., Landover, MD
Pick affordable, atypical varietals such as spider mums, fennel flowers or hosta flowers. Display in large groups for high impact. Cristina Lozito, Cristina Lozito Photography & Flowers, New York, NY
Take an organic approach and create centerpieces featuring fresh fruit. One idea: Set lemons, oranges or apples in a dish and sprinkle with flower petals. You could even go glam and paint some of the fruit gold. Jacqueline Elfe, Stellar Style Events Floral & Event Design, New York, NY
