Your wedding day is probably going to be the biggest day of your whole life, and which bride and groom don’t want a fabulous, luxurious and classy day to remember? However, not everyone can afford to have their dream wedding, and there are always cuts which can be made to different aspects, whether it’s hiring a cheaper car, choosing your second-favourite wedding dress or inviting fewer people to the reception. Here are a few ideas to think about which will hopefully keep the costs of your wedding lower so you can spend more on the other important things you need.
Keeping the Costs of Your Wedding Down
- Have a budget for each area
As well as having an overall budget, you should create a budget for each area and aspect of your wedding day. For example, set a limit on how many people you invite to the wedding reception. Having just ten or twenty fewer people will significantly lower the amount of money you’re spending. If you have an overall budget, you might spend too much money on certain areas and forget that there are other things which need to be paid for. You may only remember once you’ve spent the money, and then things can start to get very stressful. Discuss the budget with your partner, parents, head bridesmaid and best man, and get them to keep reminding you of your budget and to be wise when you’re planning and organising different things. Make a list of everything you need for the wedding, set the individual budget; if you find that the overall amount has gone over your total budget, you can chop little bits of each area rather than having to take away a huge chunk altogether.
- Ask people to help you financially
Your parents, godparents and family members will be very happy to help you with the costs of your wedding day if they can afford to. Don’t be afraid of asking close family and friends for help with the wedding day – in fact, most of them will probably offer to help you out with the cost anyway. Ask people to purchase one item, for example, your wedding shoes, or pay for the flowers in the church. A lot of money can be saved if you have friends who specialise in certain areas, such as floristry, makeup and hair or DJ-ing. They’re very likely to give you a discount on the services they provide, which will help you out and give you less things to pay for.
- Hunt for the best deals
You can get a lot of good wedding deals if you shop around. Look on websites such as Groupon for photography and wedding packages, since this can save you quite a bit overall. If you want to get married in a particular hall and wear a particular dress, you might not be able to save much money on those things. However, if you research properly, you can save a lot of money on photographers, bridesmaids’ dresses, wedding meals and entertainment. When it comes to the wedding photography, you could ask your friends to take some good pictures and send them to you after the wedding. Ask around and see if you have a friend with a good camera. If you want some extra special photographs as memories of your big day, hire a photographer for an hour or so just after the wedding service, but don’t hire the photographer for the whole day. Most photographers are paid by the hour, so the more hours you want to have them around, the more it will cost you. Some photographers will offer you a package deal for the whole of the wedding, so make sure you do your research and discover which can offer you a good price for a package which suits your needs.
- Don’t take out any loans
You might start panicking nearer your wedding day and realise that you don’t have enough money to pay for certain things, but don’t fall into the temptation of loaning money. Borrowing money from family and friends isn’t too bad, although it’s still money which has to be paid back at some point. You might also feel bad if you do this, and leaving it longer and longer might anger or annoy your friend, causing bitterness between the two of you.
Don’t go to any short-term loan companies, especially if you already have debt. If you want to reduce some debt before your wedding in order to take off the stress of all your financial worries, you can look at top 10 reviews of products and services which can help to consolidate and minimise your debts. If you do get into any debt through planning your wedding day, you can look at some of the services available to you. Taking out loans for your wedding day isn’t just a bad idea from a financial point of you, but it’ll also bring added stresses and worries as you start married life with your new spouse, and you won’t be able to enjoy your honeymoon peacefully after the day.
- Save money on the wedding car hire
A great way to save money on the hire of the wedding hire is if you know a good friend who has a nice car. There may be somebody with a nice Jaguar or Mercedes which they’d be happy to escort you to your wedding venue in, and this will save you lots of money on the car costs. You could even ask them to get all dressed up in a top hat and play chauffeur for the day if they don’t mind! Decorate the car with some nice ribbon in colours of your choice, and ask if you can have a bottle of champagne in there to enhance your experience! If the venue is near, tell them that you only need them to drive you to the venue and then from the venue to the place where the reception will be held. If you’re having both the service and the reception in the same venue, this is even better news!
- Make your own invitations
If you’d like to try your hand at a bit of arts and crafts, why not design and create your own wedding invitations and orders of service? Go to your local craft shop and have a look around at first. You might see some ribbon, stickers and toppers which really appeal to you. If you’re quite a creative person, you’ll be in your element making all your stationary a few months before the wedding, and it’ll certainly chop a nice portion off your budget. Your wedding guests will love your handmade items, and they might even start asking you to make things for their weddings and other occasions, which will bring in some extra cash if you’re prepared to take on the work! The secret if you plan to make your own wedding invitations is to start early and don’t leave it until the last minute. If you’re really trying to cut down on costs, see if you can pick up a job lot of wedding craft items on eBay or a similar website.
