Wedding Advice from our brides: Saving Money

Most of you who are planning a wedding, have never had the opportunity to plan one before. You may gather as much information from various sources, as well as rely on other’s experiences so that you can piece together the best event of your life!

We are really excited about some of our posts in the next week because not only are you hearing wedding advice from us, but we asked several of the brides we photographed last year, what they LOVED about their day and what they WISHED they did differently!

Today they are giving their best advice on how to save money when planning your wedding! Planning your wedding day is no joke and the costs of everything really add up. Pinterest has not helped in this area. These amazing ladies will tell you from their experience how you can save money on the big things and even the little things! I think you are going to find this VERY helpful!!

Bev – 

Decide what is important to you and invest your money in those areas. We put our money into our venue, photographer, and videographer and I am so glad we did.

We saved in other areas by doing a lot of decor ourselves and had friends and family transport, set up, and take down. I bought a lot of decor second hand or DIY’d it myself. You can learn how to make anything online. I even made my own veil! We had a friend make our cake for cheap and we skipped things that wouldn’t be missed such as wedding programs and favors.

Instead of a DJ, I used a music program to blend together my own playlists and we played the music off of my ipod.

Because our wedding was in May, I was quick to post our wedding decor on a bidding site and I was able to sell most of my decor to summer brides and in some cases, I even made money on my items!

SEE BEV’S WEDDING>

Mariana – 

1. If you are looking to save a LOT of money, find a hall that allows you to bring your own alcohol. No corkage fees, no outrageous liquor bill at the end of the night.

2. Consider just having a maid of honour and best man as opposed to a full bridal party. You can afford to spoil that one person for being such a big help on your day.

SEE MARIANA’S WEDDING >

 

Aleta –

1. Shop around at department stores or chain stores for your dresses/suits. My husband got his suit from a dept store for 50% and its from the same clothing line he loves to wear already, so it fit well and he felt good in it.

2. We kept costs down by not having a bridal party at all, and we didn’t miss not having one.

3. For simplicity, we chose an all in one venue for ceremony and reception. We balanced the alcohol component out by having an open bar of our 2 specialty drinks plus non-alcoholic drinks during cocktail hour, then wine hosted with dinner, followed up with 2 drink tickets for after. Our alcohol bill ended up being much smaller than budgeted for!

4. Try out ideas for centrepieces that aren’t flowers. It will save you big money!

5. Buy used or look into renting! Yes, renting is more money, but all the stuff goes away to someone else’s place. If you buy with the plan to resell, make sure you space for the stuff to sit while you’re trying to sell it off. 

SEE ALETA’S WEDDING> 

Laura –

Save money on flowers for the centerpiece. There are so many DIY ideas that look great without the few thousand dollar bill!

Lastly, don’t spend an arm and a leg on a cake. Do something small that you can cut (Laura made her cake!!). There are cheaper options for your guests to eat for dessert. Candy table costs about $200 for approx 100 guests and it’s always a hit! Some wedding cakes are in the $1000 range.

SEE LAURA’S WEDDING>

Stella –

My tips would be renting jewelry and veil if you don’t have sentimental attachments or hoping to have them as a keepsake. I had the sparkle without the cost!

Also, I had my sister bake my wedding cake and had fresh flowers on top. Since we had a buffet dessert station with our venue, we didn’t feel like we had to spend extra money for the cake plus cake cutting fees on something people would be too full to enjoy!

SEE STELLA’S WEDDING>

Lauren – 

If you have ample time before your wedding, look at different options for buying items to help make your wedding special and affordable. Research the best place to buy and consider ordering items online. I used Amazon (both .com and .ca) for a whole bunch of things … from our cake cutting set, to flameless candles, to flowergirl shoes, to strings of lights and even my veil!

SEE LAUREN’S WEDDING>

What are your favorite tips for saving money on the wedding day?? (leave a comment)