A person’s wedding can be one of the most memorable celebrations of their life, but unfortunately, it can also be one of the most stressful and expensive to plan and pull off. From the cost of sending out invitations to the wedding attire, decorations, and catering service used, there are a number of factors that need to be considered, and all of them require the expenditure of money to some extent. Below we provide five tips to help you reduce wedding costs:
1. Build a Budget and Prioritise
First, before anything else, you should devise a suitable budget that will ensure all of your expenses are kept within an affordable framework that won’t leave you taking items back or revising your plans at the last moment. Establish a total amount you’re willing to spend, and start prioritising to figure out what you absolutely must have at the wedding. From there you can begin calculating how much each aspect of the wedding will cost.
2. Shop Around for the Best Catering Service, or Cater the Reception Independently
By far one of the most expensive parts of a wedding is the cost of preparing and serving food to all the guests. Fortunately, there are many ways to save money on the cost of wedding catering. Try using a drop-off catering service to save money, or maybe even cater to all or part of the reception yourself. The best route to take is to utilise a combination of independent catering efforts and a drop-off service that will bring pre-prepared food, set up the tables and other components, and then leave without having to stick around for the duration of the wedding reception.
3. Cut Corners on Wedding Attire Wherever Possible
Everybody knows wedding dresses and suits can be exuberantly expensive, spanning in the range of thousands of pounds per clothing item. Consider shopping around at local department stores and outlets rather than only looking at wedding dress boutiques and other specialty stores. Other economic alternatives include once-worn or vintage gowns and traditional gowns sold by discount gown retailers.
4. Booking Discounted Venues Through Deal Providers
Another huge expense associated with holding a wedding is the cost of booking a wedding venue. While you always have the option of holding the wedding at your home, in cases where this is not possible, booking a discounted venue is the next cheapest course of action. By using a wedding booking service like UK Wedding Savings you can quickly save up to 50% or more on the cost of booking wedding venues with exclusive deals that cannot be arranged directly with the venue.
5. Do the Invitations Yourself, and Put a Limit on the Number of Guests
Finally, make sure you put a limit on the number of guests you’ll be inviting, and if the number is small enough for you to print and send out the invitations yourself, then by all means do so. Paying a service to take care of the invitations for you can be quite expensive when you consider the fact that you can do it yourself in a single afternoon with the right organisational effort.
The Cake Topper
In conclusion, while there must be at least 100+ ways to save money on the cost of a wedding, the above five should help spark some inspiration for new ideas in your own brainstorming efforts, while also giving you a great starting point on your way to a more affordable and economically conscious wedding reception.