When you begin planning your wedding, you’ll soon be bombarded with advice from everyone. Susan down the street wants to tell you about how you simply must get this particular caterer, and your friend’s sister-in-law’s hairdresser is convinced she knows the perfect florist for you.
Many people will claim to have the tip to make your wedding that much more fantastical. But what about how to make your wedding more affordable (as us frugal types can appreciate)?
Guest Post by Sophie Darling – WeddingDresses.com
6 Wedding Savings Tips
It’s true that making your wedding more affordable isn’t often associated with wedding planning. Weddings, after all, are notoriously pricey affairs. That is, unless you employ some smart tips to scrape thousands off your budget.
Who better to trust than wedding experts? Here are some of our favorite tips for planning a beautiful, yet affordable wedding.
1. Timing is Everything
Changing the day or month of your wedding can have a substantial impact on your budget. As Wedding Planner and Stylist for The Sweet Trend, Lisa Formaro, points out, holding your wedding on a weekday or during off-season can score you a great discount.
This tip works on a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” mentality – by helping your vendor book a date that would otherwise not be filled, you’ll find that they’re often happy to return the favor by drastically lowering the standard price of their services.
2. Don’t Dismiss Bridal Shows
Bridal shows may get a bad rap from some for being a bit chaotic, but they can genuinely aid your budgeting efforts if you go in with the right mindset. When you think of it as a day surrounded by wedding inspo, which also offers the chance to score some major bargains, bridal shows are well worth the ticket price.
Danielle Corso, Marketing & Event Consultant at Volatile Media Management, encourages brides-to-be to attend with the intention of booking a vendor. If you sign a contract at the event, you will often be rewarded with free or discounted services. “Take your time to meet professionals,” Corso advises. “See if you vibe, then sign up for the door prizes.”
3. Sharing is Caring
One of the surprising things many brides-to-be discover when they start planning their wedding is just how costly flowers for their ceremony and reception can be. That’s why many brides are turning to unique flower-sharing services to make their wedding more affordable. One such service is Bloomerent, which works on the premise of sharing your flowers with another bride.
Julia Capalino, the co-founder of this innovative company, explains that the first couple who orders the flowers first will save 10%, and the next couple who reuses those flowers will save up to 60%! It’s a win-win situation – all parties save a ton of money, while also helping the environment!
4. Think Outside the (Cake) Box
Be smart about your wedding cake choices, and you’ll need to deal with a less hefty cake bill. A particularly useful tip from Jane Schewe, the owner of See Jane Plan, is to request your baker make two cakes.
One cake can be your “main” cake that is used for your cake-cutting photos. The other, a plainer cake, can be kept at the back and served to the majority of guests. Known in the industry as a “sheet cake”, this smart trick has become increasingly common as more and more brides seek to cut wedding costs.
5. Spruce Up a Non-wedding Venue
Non-wedding venues are a fun way to both inject a bit of personality into your wedding and save money, says Jen Smith, the blogger behind Saving with Spunk. She found out with her own wedding that “adding the word “wedding” to anything doubles the price.” So she bucked the standard places and opted for a non-wedding venue to reign in her big day.
It turned out to be more memorable and more affordable than a traditional wedding spot. If you’re looking for a practical way to save on your wedding budget – one that will lead to great stories for many years to come, this is it.
6. Ask Friends & Family to Help Out
As mentioned before, when you announce your impending nuptials to your family and friends, there will be a few who jump at the chance to help out. From connecting you with the right people to offering to assist on your big day (or even before), your loved ones can help you slim down your budget significantly making the wedding more affordable.
However, sometimes you will need to be proactive when approaching your inner circle. If you know someone who can help out, ask. Even if they’re unable to assist you, they might be able to point you toward someone who can. “Start asking around early,” says Michelle Hutchison, Money Expert at Finder.com. “Your inner circle might be able to connect you to others who are able to hook you up.”
Author Bio:
Sophie Darling is a wedding expert and editor at WeddingDresses.com. Sophie is known in the industry as a wedding professional who knows how to create the perfect wedding day without breaking the bank. When she’s not pinning wedding-inspo and pining for Mr. Right, she enjoys meeting her girlfriends over margaritas to discuss nonsense and unfulfilled romances.
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