So you’ve started planning your wedding and realize, “This is getting expensive.” As each year passes, wedding costs have been steadily increasing. The average cost of a wedding is $30,000! That is a down payment on a house! From the dress to the flowers to the favors and the venue – it all adds up…but that doesn’t mean you have to break the bank to have the wedding of your dreams. That’s why we are discussing how to save money for your wedding.
When planning my wedding, my then-fiancé, now husband, and I set a budget we decided we wouldn’t go over. We also agreed on what wedding vendors and items were priorities for us to have on our special day.
During this planning process, identify your wedding must-haves when setting your budget. Maybe you want that three-tier wedding cake or the fancy limousine. For us, it was the professional photographer. This will make it easier to see what items you want to cut back or entirely cut out and what items you want to spend more on. Whether your wedding is six months or two years away, here are some tips to help you save money on your dream wedding.
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Let’s get into wedding budget tips to save you money on your dream wedding:
1. Faux Flowers
One of the best ways to save a couple of thousands of dollars on your wedding is by skipping the real flowers and doing fake flowers. Most couples typically spend $700-$2,500 on wedding flowers alone. You can get the same look as real flowers (that won’t die the next day) with faux (or artificial) flowers. I can’t tell you how many people had no idea that all of my wedding flowers were faux until I told them. I still have my wedding bouquet in perfect condition. Also, the bridesmaids’ bouquets were made of fake flowers; they could take them home, keep them, and use them as decor.
For bouquets and boutonnieres, check out Sola Wood Flowers on Etsy. You will be AMAZED by the bouquets you can find.
If fresh flowers are your top priority on your wedding day, try calling your local grocery store for a more affordable option. The flower area will most likely be able to do some bouquets for you at a deeper discount than a florist. Also, check your local Whole Foods floral area for a discount on bouquets and centerpieces. Having flower arrangements from Whole Foods or your local grocery store can allow you to have real flowers on a tight budget at your wedding.
2. Cupcakes Instead of Cake
I highly recommend this tip if you are looking to save easy money. Everyone loves cupcakes, and the best part is you can choose different cupcake flavors instead of just one flavor like you would with a traditional cake.
You might notice that some bakeries charge their “wedding cupcakes” the same price as a piece of wedding cake. Everything that has the word “wedding” in front of it will have extra costs added to it. Compare prices and look for a bakery that sells just cupcakes; that’s what we did. I also recommend calling the bakery in your local supermarket. They may be able to give you a great deal on cupcakes!
This cupcake tip saved us around $3 a person. Our guests loved the cupcake table and choosing from the fun flavors we had picked. My husband and I still wanted to cut the cake, so we bought a smaller cake to cut into.
3. Rent Your Decorations
Have you thought: What will I do with all of the wedding decorations after the wedding? Then renting may be an excellent option for you! Renting will save you a ton of money, and you don’t have to figure out what to do with the decorations after the wedding!
Check your local area for wedding items to rent. You will most likely find party planning companies that have some rental options. When looking at wedding venues, ask if they have decorations to rent for your big day. Our wedding venue did, and it saved me a good chunk of money and time!
4. Facebook Marketplace/Second-Hand Decorations
Go on Facebook Marketplace and type in Wedding Decorations.
You will most likely see people in your area selling used wedding decorations, signs, tableware, and even wedding dresses. Facebook Marketplace is a fantastic place to find used items for your wedding. Remember, your wedding day is just one day, so these items are most likely pristine, as they have only been used once! This is one of my favorite money-saving tips because you get almost new wedding decor for lower costs.
5. DIY Centerpieces
Depending on the flowers, floral centerpieces can cost $30-$100 per table. Centerpieces don’t have to cost you that much. Consider using candles as centerpieces instead of flowers, or DIY your centerpiece with faux flowers.
I DIYed our centerpieces for our wedding using white flowers from Amazon and a wooden box from Hobby Lobby. None of our guests could tell they were faux, and it was a fun DIY project that one of my bridesmaids and I did together.
6. Second-hand or Off-the-Rack Wedding Dress
Brides typically spend up to $1,100 on their wedding dresses if you are looking for a way not to spend that type of money and still have the dress of your dreams, consider looking at dresses in a local bridal consignment shop, checking out Facebook Marketplace, or buying a dress off the rack at a bridal shop.
I bought my dress at a bridal consignment shop…and my wedding gown still had the tags! It was a new dress brought into the shop; its previous owner had found a dress she liked better and decided to consign it. I got a $2,000 designer dress, brand new, at a deep discount – so please don’t rule out consignment shops; you never know!
7. Skip Wedding Favors or DIY Them
Wedding favors are fun but can be costly, depending on the favor. This is an item you can easily skip out on, and your guests won’t even notice. I have been to many weddings where there were no wedding favors, and no one noticed. We DIYed our favors at my wedding using local honey from my parents’ farm. If this is a priority, there are easy ways to get cheap favors; check Amazon or Oriental Trading Company! These favors will cost you less than finding something local or on Etsy.
I promise people won’t remember whether you had wedding favors, so save money on your wedding and skip this one!
8. Skip the Ceremony Programs and Menu Cards
People are at your wedding to celebrate you and your sweetheart. They won’t care whether you have a ceremony program or a menu card. They end up getting crumpled and thrown out anyway. Save yourself time, money, and paper, and skip this one.
9. Limit Plus Ones
Not everyone needs a plus one – yes, you heard that correctly. Of course, you should give plus ones to people you know in long-term relationships and for your bridal party, but not every cousin and single friend needs to have a plus one at your wedding. We had many single friends come to our wedding that we didn’t give plus ones, and they were on the dance floor all night having a ball!
10. No Open Bar
Open bars are a fun idea, but people will drink at your wedding, whether or not there is an open bar. People will always buy alcohol. Not paying for alcohol is something that will save you THOUSANDS. If you have a wedding where you can stock the drinks and save money (this wasn’t an option at our venue), skip the open bar.
If you want to buy your guests a drink, consider buying your guests one or two drinks using drink tickets. This is still expensive, but it costs less than an open bar.
You can also have an open bar just for the cocktail hour, and then after the cocktail hour is done, you can have a cash bar. My advice would be to do the cash bar the whole night, but some people feel obligated to pay for people’s drinks, if that’s you then do then pay for the drink tickets or the cocktail hour.
11. Bus or Van Rental Instead of a Limo
If a limousine isn’t on your priority list, skip it. We opted for a Sprinter van for our bridal party; it was just as fun because we were with the people we loved.
In our area, a wedding limousine cost well over $1,000, which was not an option for us. We opted for the van and saved over $700.
12. Online RSVP
Online RSVPs are an easy way to save money. I see more engaged couples doing this for their upcoming weddings. When you send out your invitations, have guests RSVP online to your wedding website instead of sending an RSVP by mail. This tip will save you money, paper, and time, and you can keep your RSVP responses in one place online.
We did this with our wedding; it was super easy and saved us a lot of money. We only sent out one piece of paper for our invitation instead of the typical 2-3 pieces. The front of the invite was the formal invitation, and on the back was our picture, the RSVP information, the hotels we had rooms blocked at, and the address of the venue.
13. Friends & Family Helping Out
I guarantee you have talented friends and family who could help you on your wedding day. Do you have a friend who is good at hair or makeup? A family member who has an eye for design? A friend who is a super-organized planner? I bet they would love to help you with your wedding!
Our wedding day wouldn’t have been possible without help from our friends, family, and wedding party. When my sister-in-law did my makeup and the bridal parties, saving us money on a makeup artist. We had a lot of help DIYing things for the wedding, like the centerpieces and favors. One friend even set up the wedding venue for us. You will find that many people want to help you where they can.
14. Friday or Sunday Wedding
Have you noticed more people are getting married on Fridays and Sundays? Most venues will discount weddings on these days because they want to book the venue. Saturday is the prime wedding day, which means no discounts during prime wedding season, so if you are open to a non-Saturday wedding, you can save thousands on your venue.
We considered a Sunday wedding but ended up booking on a Saturday because our dream wedding reception venue had a cancellation for a prime September date we wanted.
If you want an even more significant discount, book your wedding during the winter months on a Friday or Sunday. November – March is the wedding off-season, and you can get the venue at a deeper discount on an off-season date!
Choose a weekday wedding, like a Monday or Thursday, to save even more money! Weekday weddings are definitely becoming more of a trend these days, and it is an easy way to save thousands on your wedding day.
15. Utilize Amazon & Etsy
The number of wedding items you can buy on Amazon is unbelievable. Amazon has everything from getting-ready robes to veils to cake toppers! I even know a bride who got her wedding dress from Amazon! Crazy.
Etsy is also fantastic for getting customizable wedding items, like signs, printouts (we bought our printable table numbers off of Etsy), personalized gifts, and more.
I bought the getting-ready robes, my hair pins, honey favor bottles, honey dipper sticks for the favors, table number holders, flower girl getting ready shirt, centerpiece flowers, and wedding cake topper from Amazon.
16. Rehearsal Dinner at Home
The average cost for the rehearsal dinner is $1,900. Some in-laws will pay for the dinner, and some won’t be able to. If you are trying to lower your rehearsal dinner cost, ask your parents, soon-to-be in-laws, or even a bridal party member who has a house to host the dinner at their home and have it catered. If you and your fiancé are paying the bill for the rehearsal dinner, this will help you save money and use that extra money you saved for something else.
My husband and I had our rehearsal dinner at my parent’s home and had Chipotle catering, which everyone went crazy over! Chipotle delivered the food to the house, and we set it up buffet-style for our family and bridal party to enjoy. It cost us around $450.00 for 25 people.
17. Smaller Guest List
I know your mom and dad want to invite their second cousin, twice removed on their mother’s side, but do they really need to come to your wedding? As you jump into wedding planning mode, create an A & B list in an Excel or Google sheet. In the A list, put down close friends and family that you know need to be at your wedding. Everyone else, coworkers, second cousins, parent’s friends, people you haven’t seen in a long time, estranged friends/family members, all go on the B list. If you are planning on having a small wedding, then these lists are important to make.
Every person you invite adds money to your wedding bill, so the fewer guests you have, the more money you will save.
Thank you for reading my tips on saving money for your wedding! If you use any of the tips listed above, let me know! If you have any other tips to save money on a wedding day, I would love to hear them.