This post contains affiliate links. I am paid a small commission (at no charge to you) if you make a purchase through my affiliate links on this page. Please read the disclosure page for more information.
First off, congratulations on getting engaged! I think a lot of people get so excited that there’s going to be a wedding that sometimes it can be very easy to skip over the exciting newly engaged phase so make sure you take a minute to enjoy it. If you’re new to this site, take a minute to read I’m Engaged!!! Now What!? since that post sets the stage and helps you determine your wedding budget. Here are my top 5 tips for saving money on wedding costs.
Some background information about me.
I got married in September 2017 and had my dream wedding. My husband and I had a beautiful wedding that was everything we had envisioned for our special day and what’s even better is that we found ways to save. While we didn’t want a big extravagant formal affair, we did want a beautiful day that captured our personalities and allowed friends and family to travel in to take part and and celebrate with us. One big way to cut down on costs is to have a smaller more intimate wedding, but our final headcount ended up at 125 guests. Between financial gifts from our family and the money my now husband and I contributed, we were able to have a dream wedding and not end up with any wedding debt. Depending on your budget and personal situation you may need to be more creative to get the dream wedding, but it can be done so don’t despair.
Here’s my recommended wedding budget breakdown:
Venue: 25%- if your ceremony and reception will be at separate locations, use 5% for the ceremony and 20% for the reception.
Wedding couple’s outfits and accessories: 8% -include your decorations and centerpieces here.
Rings: 2%
Flowers: 8%
Hair and make-up: 4%
Cake: 1%
Bar- Liquor, wine, beer, soft drinks: 5%
Photography: 10%
DJ: 8%
Videographer: 2%
Vendor Tips: 5%
Catering: 25%
Printed material (save the dates, invitations, thank you cards): 2%
Postage: 1%
All other costs: 2% -this is the just in case bucket.
Total: 100%
As you can see, your venue and catering will likely make up half of the budget. These will also probably be the first things on your list that you will want to decide on. Think about what you and your partner want for a wedding vibe- are you going for beachy, rustic, formal ballroom, outdoors, vineyard, or something else entirely? Start there. Once you know what you’re looking for, it’s a lot easier to find it.
If you’re looking to keep costs low, do a little bit of Googling to see if your town, city, or county has any public buildings or spaces that can be rented for private events. Very often there are locations that are beautiful and very affordable. Just be sure that you understand any restrictions. For example, Raleigh, NC (where we currently live) has outdoor spaces, historic buildings, a rustic lodge, and even a museum that can be rented for weddings. Some of these spaces do not allow alcohol and others do, but require a police detail. If you Google the city/town + “wedding” + “public space” (i.e. “Raleigh, NC wedding public spaces”), you should be able to see if there are any options near you.
Now I’m sure you know that most budgets don’t end up looking exactly like the one I recommended above so see below for how my dreaded wedding budget ended up after everything was said and done.
Here’s how our wedding budget breakdown ended up working:
Venue: 26%
Her dress and alterations, his suit, and the accessories: 5%
Rings: 2%
Flowers: 1%
Hair and make-up: 6%
Cake: 1%
Wine, beer, soft drinks: 5%
Photography: 10%
DJ: 3%
Videographer: 4%
Buses: 6%
Vendor TIps: 2%
Centerpieces: 1%
Portable bathrooms: 3%
Catering: 22%
Printed material (save the dates, invitations, thank you cards): 1%
Postage: 1%
All other costs: 1% -For us this included our getaway car, sparklers, table linens (above the allowance in our venue cost), and hotel room welcome bags for our out of town guests.
total: 100%
My 5 favorite ways to save on wedding budget expenses are:
Watch for sales online. For example, I bought lanterns at Kirklands to use as table centerpieces and got them on Black Friday special and with a coupon so I paid a fraction of the cost. Since the wedding, I have resold most of them, which basically meant that I hardly paid to use them at all.
Wedding sparklers were very popular, but also very expensive. We asked friends who had recently gotten married if they had any extras and bought the rest on Craigslist.
We didn’t have a favor or small gift for our attendees. It wasn’t one of the most important items to us and we realized that at the two weddings we attended prior to our own, we hadn’t remembered to get a favor at either because we were having too much fun dancing. We didn’t feel like it was something our guests would miss (or even notice).
After the wedding, my husband and I bought each other cheap silicone wedding bands for us to wear when we travel or swim. Some people opt to do silicone rings as their full time rings. Check out the ones we selected: his silicone wedding rings and hers silicone wedding rings.
Don’t serve liquor. We did beer and wine only, which saved a decent chunk of change.
I hope these 5 tips to save on wedding expenses will help you as you plan your perfect wedding. Be sure to pin this article to read again later.