Wedding budgeting tips and tricks
I’m going to start this off by saying weddings are expensive and not everyone is going to agree with my tips and tricks.
There are certainly ways to have a beautiful and cheaper wedding, but I am all about hiring professionals to make your day run smoothly and those professionals come at a higher price point – plus, you’re basically hiring artists to create a custom look for your wedding…and custom artwork aint cheap!
However, these tips and tricks can still help you save money and have the wedding of your dreams!
1. Set your budget!
This is probably the most important tip because if you don’t know how much you have to spend, how can you figure out where to spend it all? Now is also the time to figure out who is paying for what. Are you paying for it all yourselves? Are your parents chipping in? What are they contributing or what would they like to contribute to?
2. Figure out your priorities.
Is food really important to you? Or maybe you have to have the most amazing DJ in town to make sure your dance floor isn’t empty for a second. Make a list of your priorities in order of importance and allocate your budget that way. This is also the time to decide what kind of wedding you’d like: black tie at a historic estate or a casual garden soiree? Most couples put 15-20% of their budget towards their photographer, if not more, depending on how high up on the list they put it.
3. Cut the guest list.
This does three things:
1. It saves you money on catering & tips & sales tax
2. It could very well determine where you host your wedding. More guests = bigger space, more decor, more rentals, more food, more paper invites, more postage…more everything!
3. It will save you a lot of stress (-:
Create an A and B list.
The A list should be your friends & family that you are close to and speak to on a regular basis. The B list is co-workers (unless you are close friends) and people you haven’t seen in a year or more. I once heard that ‘if you don’t see yourself talking to that person in 5 years or more, put them on the B list’.
4. Consider having your ceremony & reception at the same location.
Many places that do this also have in house catering which could also save you more money. This also eliminates the need for transportation such as limos and party buses.
5. Hire a planner because they can save you money.
They know what they are doing and they have plenty of advice to give you so that can save you some moolah.
One of my planner friends was hired after the couple booked their VERY expensive venue – and while going over their budget with them the planner realized that this poor couple basically had very little money left over to hire any of their dream vendors because they over spent on their venue…which is too big for their small wedding. By booking their venue first, this couple blew through about 75% of their wedding budget without realizing because they didn’t have a planner first to help them.
6. Get a small decorated cake or a styrofoam cake
I’m a sucker for gorgeous cake designs buuuuut…I sadly see SO MUCH cake thrown out at the end of the night!
So if you really want a gorgeous detailed cake, consider getting a one tiered real cake or a 2-3 tiered styrofoam cake, where only the bottom layer is real cake so you can cut into it. Guests will be served a much cheaper sheet cake that is kept in the kitchen
7. Ditch the wedding favors
I’m not joking, like maaaybe 20% of your wedding guests will take home favors. They’re too drunk at the end of the night to remember to grab them!
If you really want favors, make them edible or personalize TO THAT GUEST. We had a couple whos wedding favor & escort cards were scotch glasses etched with each guests name on it! Who’s gonna leave that behind?!
8. Psssst…you don’t need to buy your wedding outfit from a wedding retailer
I said what I said, but allow me to elaborate.
It’s not illegal to get married in colors other than black or white. If you feel like an absolute God/dess in emerald green why in the fuck would you not want to get married wearing that color?!
There are so many dress/jumpsuits & suits out there in Internet Land that you could get married in. You don’t have to get it from Mens Warehouse or the local wedding gown store. You can if thats what you want! But you don’t have to.
Not only can these outfits WAY MORE STYLISH but they’re pretty affordable. Anywhere from $25-$2500!
Not sure where to even begin looking for something like this? Don’t worry, I wrote this blog post on where to find non traditional wedding outfits just for you
9. Avoid popular wedding dates such as June 15th and anything consecutive
There are peak days when the prices will go up for certain things like your venue. Consider having a wedding on a Friday or Sunday as Saturdays are the most sought after, or plan for a brunch or early afternoon reception. Dinner receptions will always be more expensive.
10. Stick to your budget the best you can!
Leave yourself some wiggle room because if your dress, flowers, and reception venue were “just a little over budget” you could end up hundreds of dollars over what you planned. Move money from other places that don’t matter as much to get the things you truly want.
11. Ditch the corsages & boutonnieres
Moms forget the put on the corsages 99% of the time & so do the groomsmen! Plus the boutonnieres start falling sideways & wilt really fast and end up looking bad in photos. My florist friends recommend you skip these and invest the money into a something else like a cool ceremony backdrop or bigger floral display at the head table!
12. Finally, don’t lose sight of why you’re getting married (-:
At the end of the day, y’all are married whether you invite 350 guests or elope to the courthouse!
Katie + Jay of Catherine Ann Photography are Charleston SC Based Wedding & Elopement Photographers specializing in candid & fun wedding photos that feel like you!
Ready to book your wedding with us? Get in touch here!
