Low Cost Wedding Tips

I wanted to share some money saving tips that we found to be helpful when planning our wedding. I've read that the average cost of a wedding is somewhere between $20,000-$30,000. That's so ridiculous and I don't believe for a minute that it's accurate. At least I hope it's not accurate because that's just plain wasteful. The total cost of our wedding was around $2500. We got everything we wanted and we could have done it cheaper if we had too. The bottom line is the amount you spend on your wedding is up to you and with a little hard work and creativity you can plan a nice affiar no matter what the budget.

1. Set a budget and stick to it! Write your financial plan out on paper and keep track of what you're spending, otherwise your costs could easily spiral out of control. If you have a written plan and a realistic amount of money in mind that your committed too your way ahead of the game!

2. Keep a level head and focus on what's important. It's easy to get caught up in planning the perfect wedding, but what about the actual marriage? What about the man your committing your life to? Focus on your future husband and forget about the ice sculptures and the $5,000 dress that you just have to have! (People don't actually want those things do they?) It's OK to fore go the expensive caterer in favor of cupcakes and homemade snacks because no one really cares anyways. Besides it's your wedding and you can do whatever you want.

3. Don't hire people to do something you can do yourself!  The only thing we hired people for was to style the bridal party's hair and to make the cupcakes. (And boy were they worth every penny!!)  Everything else was done by us and our family and friends. Our loved ones operated the sound system, video recorded, took pictures, made and served food, arranged flowers, and decorated the venue. We also printed our own invitations. By doing most of the grunt work ourselves we saved lots of money. Most people are more than willing to lend a hand and a lot of people volunteered without us having to ask. Take advantage of willing family and friends and remember to repay them down the line when they need a favor!

4. Consider a weekday wedding. Although it may sound strange, we got married on a Friday afternoon. Since we were getting married at a non peak time my mom was able to negotiate our venue for half the price! Normally it rents for $1200 a day, but she got it for $600. Our wedding and reception were at the same location so we didn't have to pay a church and a reception facility. This was by far the biggest expense for the whole wedding, but it was worth it to us because it was exactly what we wanted and so beautiful! If you have a church that you're a member of and could use for free, take advantage of that! Most churches have reception areas as well.

5. Skip the florist and buy in bulk. It's awesome that carnations are my favorite flower because they're basically the cheapest! We about fell over when we priced them at our local florists because they were 1.50-2.50 per flower! We ordered our flowers from Sam's Club in bulk and arranged them ourselves. I believe we got 300 flowers for around $120. That's .40 per flower. Keep in mind that choosing something like roses or lilies is going to cost you more, but ordering in bulk can definitely save you some money.

6. Consider a casual and simple wedding. We had an afternoon wedding in a barn for goodness sake so it was easy to pull off the casual atmosphere. We got married at three thirty so no one expected to be served a meal. We served fruit, cheese, little smokies, hershey kisses, cupcakes, and sweet tea! The groom and groomsmen wore pearl snaps and cowboy boots and the bridesmaids wore $25 dresses from target! (Please don't ever pay for those $200 bridesmaid dresses at bridal shops no matter how cute they may be! You can always find a suitable and cheaper option!) The more casual the atmosphere the less pressure to spend lots of money!

We planned the wedding that we wanted at a price that we could afford and you can to! Refuse to believe that you have to spend tens of thousands to have a nice wedding. Have fun and do it your way!

Linked at Raising Homemakers and The Little Green Project @ Heavenly Homemakers