Budget Wedding Basics: Practical Tips For Wedding Plans that You Can Actually Afford
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If you’re reading this post, I don’t have to be the one to tell you how expensive it can be to have a wedding. A budget wedding probably seems like a far away and impossible dream.
You have probably already read the sad and terrifying stats that the average wedding costs over $33,000! That is close to the average student loan debt amount! But instead of paying for four years of education, you are paying for ONE day!
Yes, your wedding is an important day! But take a minute to think about why it is important.
Is it important because of the food you’re serving or the rockin’ party you’re throwing afterward?
Hopefully the answer to that is no. Your wedding day is important because you’re marrying the love of your life!
At the end of the day, your wedding isn’t about a party, it is about the vows you are making to your special someone and the fact that at the end of the day you are going to be married to your BEST friend!
When you keep that in mind, I think it makes it easier to plan a beautiful yet budget wedding.
Here are my top money saving tips that I used to keep my budget wedding costs under $5,000 for a guest list of 145 people!
Budget Wedding Flowers? Head to the Farmer’s Market!
My Cost: $60
Granted this strategy works best for a summer wedding, but it saved me almost $1400 and for me, this is totally my style of flower anyways!
If you have never arranged flowers before you might want to get a bouquet or two from your local farmers market beforehand to practice arranging them.
My amazing mom and aunt did my arrangements for these budget wedding flowers which was great since things are a little hectic the day before the wedding with last minute preparations.
You’ll also need to make sure you have a cool place to store them a day or two before your wedding. Otherwise, you run the risk of wilting flowers which no bride wants to deal with.
Use your connections
Another way to save TONS of money on your budget wedding is by using your connections.
Although it might feel weird to ask for help from friends or family, people are generally really excited and willing to help make your special day perfect!
By getting help from people I know and love, I was able to save THOUSANDS of dollars. And people were genuinely happy to help!
Catering on a Budget
Average catering cost: $4000
My cost: $1740 ($12 per plate x 145 people)
Joel and I were fortunate to save a lot of money on our wedding by using our connections.
For example, our food was prepared by a caterer that was a friend of my grandma’s and a member of the church where we had the reception.
The food was amazing but we got a great deal on it because of these connections.
Saving Money on Cake
Average wedding cake cost: $500
My cost: $20 for ingredients
My grandma made my wedding cake so I only had to pay for the cost of ingredients! Maybe you have a close family member or friend who could make your cake for a discounted price.
You might be surprised if you start asking around.
Just make sure if you go this route that your venue will allow you to bring in a cake from a non-certified baker. Some of them will but some won’t, so you’ll definitely want to check in advance.
Finding an affordable DJ
Another huge wedding expense is the DJ.
Average cost: $1000
My cost: $200
My cost could have actually been $0 because a friend (who was actually a DJ) volunteered to do the music for us but we wanted to give him at least something to say thank you. (If you’re reading this, Will, thanks again for literally the best wedding reception ever!)
I probably wouldn’t have any old friend DJ, because they can really make or break the party, but if you know someone with experience see if you can get a discounted price from them to save even more money on your budget wedding.
Consider alternative venues
Average cost: $5,400! That’s more than I spend on my entire wedding!!!
My cost: Technically FREE for the venue itself. $1000 for supplies rented or purchased including chairs, wine, and water glasses, chair covers, and table cloths.
However, since I bought some of these items I was able to sell them to another bride later for added savings.
My wedding ceremony was held in my parents’
The reception was held at my grandparent’s church and because of this connection, we weren’t charged anything for the venue.
The church ladies even helped serve the meal, cut cake, wash dishes, etc for nothing. Because church ladies are amazing!
Yes, there were basketball lines on the floor, but you know what, being able to save several thousand dollars was worth it for me.
Plus I loved the view behind the head table which looked out over a beautiful pond. We were able to sneak out there part way through the ceremony to take it all in just the two of us, which allowed for such a special moment.
Get Budget Wedding Photographs by Choosing and Up and Coming Photographer
Average cost: $2000
My cost: $400
How did we save so much money? We hired a talented photographer who was just beginning to grow her business.
You’re wedding pictures are definitely important because they will be what help you remember this special day for years to come. So don’t choose your photographer lightly, but do consider someone who has some wedding experience already but maybe not a ton.
You’re likely to get amazing photos for a fraction of the price.
Skip Save the Dates
I honestly feel like save the dates are just another ploy by the wedding marketing industry to get people to spend more money.
Let’s be real, the people that definitely need to be at your wedding are going to know the date well in advance of when they would have received a save the date anyways.
And for everyone else, receiving a save the date most likely won’t change whether or not they are going to be available for the wedding.
To each their own, but I stuck with just invitations which we ordered online for $50 and we still had a great turnout for our wedding.
Go Easy on the Alcohol
The cost of alcohol can quickly add up, especially if you are considering an open bar. I personally don’t drink, and the thought of blowing a ton of money on alcohol just didn’t sit well with me.
Plus I didn’t want to spend the whole night worrying about drunk people spilling all over me, because I have seen that happen at weddings before.
We kept it simple with several bottles of wine on each table at dinner and then a keg of rootbeer, lemonade, and water served throughout the rest of the evening.
For us, it was the perfect combination and helped us save a ton of money!
Keep Your Guest List Small
The list of people you probably could invite to a wedding could get really long really fast.
Yes, you want to include the important people in your life for this incredibly special day. But, the more people you invite the bigger the venue needs to be (more money), the more food you’ll have to provide (more money), the more beverages you’ll need (more money)!
You get the idea. A large guest list is an easy way to kill even the best budget wedding plans.
Try to narrow your list down while keeping in mind that as a general rule you can expect the number of people who accept your invitation to be about equal to the number of invitations you send out (because a family of 5 may receive just one invitation for example).
Don’t let Someone Kill Your Budget Wedding Just Because it’s a Wedding
Something that is so frustrating about planning a wedding is that the second someone hears the word wedding, the price you are expected pay can skyrocket!
This can be true for catering, music, venues, basically everything.
Here’s probably the most ridiculous example of someone trying to rip me off while I was planning my wedding though.
We got the backyard sprayed for mosquitos (because Minnesota’s state bird is mosquitos). Since I love saving money I even had a coupon for a discounted price.
But then, I dropped the word WEDDING and suddenly the lady thought I needed a WEDDING mosquito spray package…. What even is that? Like seriously… does anyone know?
I declined her offer and told her I would be happy to just use the coupon unless the services they were
Moral of the story is, try to avoid using the word “wedding” if at all possible and you may find yourself saving a boatload of money!
Your Budget Wedding Can Become a Reality
I hope this post helped you realize that while planning a wedding can be expensive, it doesn’t have to be.
Planning a budget wedding does take a lot of work and advance preparation but if you are willing to work hard, get creative, and consider all your options, I am confident that you can plan your dream wedding even on a budget.
When the going gets tough and you feel stressed with all the work of planning, just remember what is the most important part of your wedding. That you and your best friend get to be together FOREVER! How amazing is that?!
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