I am sharing with you 10 wedding budgeting hacks I used to save money! Wedding costs can add up very quickly – on average, folks end up spending at least $3,000-$10,000 more than their initial budget. Seldom have I heard of a wedding coming in on or below budget. So here are my 10 money saving tips!
1. Buy your veil and garter on Etsy. I bought my ivory cathedral length veil for $78 (here). Galia Lahav’s store quoted me $400 (!!!!!!) for the same length veil! Girl, bye. Granted, the material of the Galia veil was heavier duty and softer, but honestly, it’s just a piece of tulle that you’ll wear for maybe 2 hours at best. There’s no need to splurge on a strip of tulle. Same goes for your garter. No one will ever see it and it’ll just get tossed and put into the pocket of a male guest. Don’t spend more than $10-15 on your garter.
2. Consider faux tiers on your cake. I was shook when I found out how expensive wedding cakes run. Some cost up to $10,000+ depending on details, decor, size, etc. Insane. We had a 3-layer cake but replaced the bottom two layers with faux bases. The only part of the cake that was real was our top tier which we used to cut. We were able to save over $350 by going faux. The faux layers are foam bases covered in icing to match the rest of your cake. We wanted a variety of desserts for our guests (donuts, cookies, milk shots), so we didn’t want to spend too much on a big cake.
3. Hire friends to MC, DJ, officiate, shoot photo/video, sing/perform, etc. The only thing I would be cautious of when hiring friend photographers and videographers is that you want to make sure they don’t slack or get caught up in convo with other friends/guests when they’re supposed to be working. Make that crystal clear to them in the beginning if that is the route you decide to take. However, there are benefits to it. If you know them personally, you can be as particular as you want without feeling bossy or betchy. They know you, so they won’t take all your orders and specifications personally. As far as DJ, MC, officiants, singers, they don’t really have room to slack since they are performing for everyone and don’t have the luxury to chit chat with guests, so you won’t need to stress as much.
4. Ask family for references. People, especially close family, are typically willing to do favors for their loved ones. Ask your relatives and see if they know anyone that has a profession or business in something you want in/at your wedding. They may hook you up with a discount. It never hurts to ask.
5. Get your liquor at Costco. We saved SO much money buying our booze at Costco. They, hands down, have the best prices around – better than Bevmo, Total Wine, and grocery stores. The only thing Bevmo has over Costco is more variety of specialty liquor brands. However, if you’re just looking to get the more common beer brands and popular liquor brands, buy it at Costco.
6. Consider second hand dresses if you’re extremely pressed with money. There are websites like Still White where brides sell their dresses. They have TONS of designer gowns in all sizes. They upload their own photos and disclose any defects, rips, etc. Most of them are in amazing condition still. The only gamble is sizing. If there’s a dress you see in your size, or the next size up, look up a bridal shop or retailer that carries that dress. Go in, try the dress on to see if you like it. If you do, you can chance it, purchase it on StillWhite.com, and tailor it to your body! Most dresses are sold for 20-35% off retail prices.
7. Put things you want to use for your wedding on your registry and hope that you get some of it at your bridal shower. This helps you save costs if your friends or family are buying these items for you!
8. Get paper goods and little knick-knacks on Etsy or Amazon. We brought in a lot of items aside from our the rentals. Etsy and Amazon were great for purchasing bulk or decor for cheap! We bought custom $5 bridesmaid hangers (here), push pins for our escort wall, cake platters, desserts trays, paper parasols, and paddle fans there.
9. Buy pillow covers, not pillows. Renting pillows was awkwardly pricey so my planner suggested I just buy my own and keep them. I bought a couple at Home Goods, but I also ended up buying pillow covers instead of actual pillows. They’re way cheaper AND you can just toss any old pillow you have at home in the cover and wah-lah, you have a brand new pillow! I bought 6-7 pillow covers on sale at H&M.com. They have such cute home decor and the covers I bought ranged from $3-7!
10. Bring decor from home. You’d be surprised how many things you have laying around that can be used for decor! I brought maybe 8-9 items at home that I realized would totally fit with the space!
Planning by Bliss Productions
Photos by Dmitry Shumanev