Wedding Budget Tips and Tricks
One of the areas that is a constant struggle for many couples is budget management around their big day. There is always something additional you can spend on, but sometimes it can be hard to work out what is worth the extra splurge and what is worth saving the pennies on. So I have put together a few tips from my experience to help!
Venues
Typically the biggest cost of your day is the venue you choose. From the outset you should make sure before viewing venues you have got down to the detail on your budget. This will guide you on what venues are in the right bracket. From there, I would definitely suggest you get as much information as possible from the venue on what exactly is included to avoid you getting caught out by hidden costs down the line. But this should also guide you in your comparison across different venues and what is going to make most sense for you budget-wise. For example, some venues might cost slightly more but perhaps the elements included in that cost actually work out saving you money- for example, perhaps the venue offers in-house catering, which ends up cheaper than hiring an external caterer. It is also worth bearing in mind how much a venue requires in decoration/floral arrangements. A venue which is essentially a blank canvas will likely involve a lower venue cost, but the cost of decorating it to the standard you require could add up.
2. Wedding Dresses
Your wedding dress also tends to be one of the larger costs of your day and is therefore again an area where it is important you are clear on your budget before you set out on the exciting stage of choosing your dress. You may be set on creating your own bespoke dress, perhaps you even already know what designer you would like to go with- in which case that is a cost you can factor in. However, if you are open to other options and maybe want to budget slightly lower for your dress, it is worth checking out pre-loved dress sites or looking at ex-display or sale dresses! Many boutique stores will have sales on ex-display dresses and will stock second hand dresses, too, so it is worth enquiring! It may surprise you how many beautiful options there are out there, so you shouldn’t rule this option out on the basis of you getting anything less beautiful!
Most importantly, when it comes to your dress you should allow plenty of time to find the right one. If you leave it too last minute you may face express charges to get it tweaked if required, and your choices are going to be much more limited. Many dress designers will suggest you start looking a year out from your big day.
3. Florals
You can see a theme here with the top three topics I have chosen for my blog post on budgeting- florals again tend to be a significant cost for many weddings. But again there are simple tweaks you can make to save money, which I can tell you from experience you will not even notice on the day (but your purse will!). The key to it is repurposing, repurposing, repurposing!
Ceremony flowers - it is easy to go overboard with ceremony flowers. Sure, a full floral arch in your ceremony photos can look stunning. But it does cost you, too, and that is something that is going to be tricky to repurpose. So if you are on a tighter budget, you might choose to have larger floral displays at the altar which you can then repurpose at the entrance of your reception venue, for example. Or maybe you could have pew ends which can be re-used as table centres. It is just useful to think in these terms from a budget perspective and if you have a good florist then they should also be able to guide you on what is going to work best for both the design in mind and the budget.
4. DIY
If you are well organised and have a creative flair, it is really worth seeing what parts of your day you can save on through a little bit of DIY. Here are just a few ideas for DIY projects and you could even make it a little monthly alternative date night to work on together!
Signage- whatever the style and theme of your day, you can create wonderful and personal signs for your day yourself without spending a lot. Canva can be a great tool for creating designs and hand painted wooden pallets can make for beautiful, more rustic signs!
Menus- guests will likely be so busy chatting and having a great time to pay too much attention to menus. So it is not essential to have one menu per guest, unless you really wish to. Instead, you might choose to have one menu per table. Trust me, the small tweaks like these add up!
Place cards- If you are having 100 or more guests, getting place cards professionally printed can amount to a decent chunk. Why not make these yourself in line with your theme? For example, for a recent seaside wedding the couple had written guest names on pebbles, which was such a lovely touch!
This is just scratching the surface - when it comes to wedding DIY projects there are so many ideas out. Pinterest can be a great source of inspiration, so if you have a creative streak it is definitely worth checking it out!
Managing your budget is something many wedding planners will assist with. Though spending more to hire a wedding planner might seem counterintuitive from a budget perspective, a good wedding planner may even end up saving you money through knowing the right suppliers to fit your budget (and more importantly being experienced with negotiating with these suppliers) and helping you manage your budget effectively. Your planner should be able to guide you on where you might wish to save and where it may pay off to spend a little extra, and they will ensure all contracts and small print are reviewed thoroughly so you get no nasty surprises with hidden extra costs!
