The idea of cutting costs on a wedding is not ideal for a bride – but almost always needed, unless the bride & groom want to pony up some extra cash ... here are some easy ways to keep your costs low!
1. Reduce the size of your guest list. Extra guests mean extra invitations, extra catering costs, extra centerpieces, extra favors and extra transportation worries. Why take on more than you need. Do you really want to have a huge wedding full of people you do not really know all too well? Easy ways to cut the size of your guest list is to not invite co-workers, unless you are particularly good friends with them, ask that guests not bring children, have guests come solo if they are not in a serious relationship and not to invite distant family relatives.
2. Shop for wedding dresses during sales season. December and May are particularly popular months for wedding dress sales. You may also be able to buy sample dresses, your chances being increased if you wear a common dress size. A number of charities also hold sales for donated wedding dresses where you can often snap up a bargain. Do not rule out shopping online for your dress either, just bear in mind that if you buy online you will probably need to find a local seamstress to make any alterations.
3. Make your wedding invitations as light and small as possible. This will save you money on the cost of postage. If your wedding guest list is quite sizable all those stamps will add up pretty quickly. There are even options these days to do save-the-dates as emails and you can set up a wedding web page for guests to look up information usually sent in an invitation.
4. Hold your ceremony on a weekday instead of a Saturday. Saturday is the most popular day for a wedding so you will be competing for vendors and wedding locations. As your vendors and your venue will not be short of customers for that day this can allow them to hike up the prices and you may well find that they do just that. Holding your wedding on a different day, when your venue and vendors are struggling for customers can give you great leverage to negotiate a lower price. A college roommate of mine did this - as a guests it was wonderful. I still had my whole weekend to look forward to!!
5. Get crafty. Do it yourself cannot only save you a lot of money, but can be great socially as well. You and your bridesmaids can get together regularly to get crafty. Common DIY wedding projects are invitations, favors, programs and save the dates. It also gives your wedding your personal touch - and this may be a GREAT way to get the groom involved. He has ideas and this may be a great and easy way to make his ideas stand out.
6. Cut the cost of your food by offering fewer choices of meals on the menu and fewer courses. A buffet reception may also be less expensive than a seated meal as it requires less staffing.
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From my wedding experience- Finding a venue where you can bring in your own caterer saved me large chunks of money from my budget. Most Park and Planning Commissions for each state (each state has a slightly different name for this department) have historic mansions, farms, bed & breakfasts, etc. where they allow you to bring in your own caterer. In addition, I found a caterer that allowed me to bring in my own alcohol (which you can buy in bulk at some Costco's/Sam's Club or other online alchohol distributors). This saved a huge load of money, and I hired the bartenders from the catering company to serve the alcohol. It would be hard to do a full open bar in this way, though, we offered beer, wine and a specialty liquor drink.
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