5 Money Saving Tips For Your Wedding
Money saving tips are so handy currently. With the cost of living rising, most of us are looking for ways to save generally. This extends to big events like weddings too, and there are some useful money saving tips to be had.
Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. It is usually one of the most expensive too! Couples often spend months and sometimes years, planning making sure every last detail of their special day is perfect.
And all of this comes at a price. Weddings in the UK now have an eye-watering average price tag of almost £21,000. With the cost of living soaring, spending huge sums of money on their wedding day is out of reach for many people.
Many brides and grooms to be are looking for money saving tips and to cut costs. But they still want to make sure that their wedding day is perfect in every single way. So read on for some money saving tips on some elements for your wedding day.
Money Saving Tip 1
Don’t Be Shy, DIY
Many of the stationery elements of your wedding can be made yourselves, especially if you have a creative eye. Wedding stationery usually includes a range of items. Ceremony programmes, invitations, menus, place cards and seating plans, it all adds up. With the average spend on wedding stationery coming in between £600-£800 there’s lots to save by tackling this job yourself.
Do your research and shop around. The cost of inks, paper and printing costs can quickly get out of hand. And if you make a mistake when making something, you may end up having to buy all of the items again to start over.
There’s lots of digital designs available for you to purchase online and print at home. This is a great way to get personalised and professionally designed stationery on a budget.
Money Saving Tip 2
Get Thrifty
There are many websites and marketplaces dedicated to the savvy couple looking to purchase second hand items. For example reception decorations and other elements for their wedding day. From faux flowers to outfits, not only can you save thousands on buying everything new it’s also environmentally friendly too. You are then able to resell everything after your wedding day to make some money back.
Sites like Facebook Marketplace, Freecycle and Gumtree are all worth checking out.
If you are buying reception décor it’s worth thinking about what you’re going to do with it all after the wedding day. Even if you do sell them you are possibly only going to recoup around half of what you spent initially. It’s worth checking the cost to hire decorations from local companies and working out which is cheaper.
Money Saving Tip 3
Cut The Cake
Wedding cakes from luxury bakers can cost up to £1000. Many couples are choosing to ditch traditional wedding cakes and opt for cupcakes or donuts instead.
If you are set on a traditional wedding cake there are ways to have one on a budget too. One of the easiest ways you can save money on your wedding cake is by finding a great bakery. Have a conversation with them about your expectations and cost. Try out several different bakeries and cake makers to discover the one that suits your budget and style. Don’t discount larger chain stores either – many of them also do wonderful wedding cakes and no one will know the difference.
Another way to save on your wedding cake and still have a professionally made one is by buying smaller. This is easy if you’re having an intimate wedding with a smaller number of guests, but may be a problem if you’re having a lot of guests. A great way to solve this is to have a small wedding cake on display. This can be used for photographs and the cutting. Ask your cake maker to make inexpensive tray bakes that can be kept in the kitchen and used for serving. Your guests will never know!
Next, the complexity of your wedding cake will send the price of it skyrocketing. Time consuming and intricate tasks for your cake designer will increase costs, e.g. hand painting, edible gold, and sugar flowers. Keeping your wedding cake simple but elegant will help you to keep the cost of your cake down. Simple cakes tend to be timeless and still look elegant. Consider having a modern, clean-lined cake with different layers or a trendy naked cake. Both of these styles look the part but won’t stretch your budget too far.
Money Saving Tip 4
Ditch The Open Bar
Having an open bar can set you back more than £2000. Although it’s a nice gesture if you can afford to have one, research suggests that guests are usually more than happy to buy their own drinks.
If you’d still like to offer some sort of free alcohol available on your wedding day you could compromise. Offer wine on tables with the meal, set up a prosecco station or a make your own cocktails area. This could then be followed by a cash bar. It’s also worth checking with your venue whether there’s a corkage charge and adding it into your wedding budget too.
Money Saving Tip 5
Get Rid Of The Wedding Favours
Wedding favours are small gifts given out to wedding guests a thank you for attending the wedding. However, they are fast becoming an outdated tradition and some believe, an unnecessary expense. Couples usually spend between £1-£3 on each wedding favour and so it can quickly add up.
If you are going to give wedding favours for your wedding you could DIY them. Alternatively look for cost friendly gifts such as seed packets, individually wrapped chocolates, miniature candles or lottery scratch cards.
Or how about combining practicality with tradition? You could provide a fan printed with the Order of The Day for the ceremony. Perhaps you could package the lottery tickets or cards up nicely, in pretty envelopes with the guests name. These can then double up as place cards. You could also provide your guests with a lucky penny to scratch!
Wedding favours are an item that couples seem to be on the fence about and. It’s totally up to you as to whether you wish to include them or to use the budget on another element of the day.
But don’t be afraid to ditch this tradition altogether to keep your costs down – your guests won’t notice.
What Tips Do You Have?
Do you have some great money saving tips? Do let me know!
For more ideas you can read my previous post on How To Have A Budget Wedding And Mistakes To Avoid.
