Weddings are expensive. If you sit down to plan how much you are going to spend before you start, you can expect to have almost doubled the total figure by the time you get to the big day. If you want to make sure you don’t blow your budget and that you can start married life without having to worry about how to pay the loan or credit cards off, here are some tips on cutting the cost.
Choose Your Date Carefully
If you want to get married on the third Saturday in June, you are going to have to pay a premium for it. Choosing your wedding date so that you say your nuptials at a less expensive time can save you a fortune on venue hire. The time of year plays a big part in the cost of a wedding. You should expect to pay a lot more in the summer than you will in the winter as weddings become less popular as the weather gets colder. A winter wedding can be cosy and romantic, and it could reduce the cost of the honeymoon too if you go away out of season.
Don’t Get Married on a Saturday
Traditionally weddings have taken place on a Saturday. This was done to ensure that all the guests could make it. However, this can add to the cost of your big day as you pay more for a popular day. Getting married on a weekday can be a lot cheaper and Fridays have become extremely popular for this reason. Some of your guests may have to take the day off work to attend but this means the people you have at your wedding are those that really want to be there. You didn’t want to invite your second cousin twice removed anyway.
Ask Your Guests for Help
Asking your guests for help could be a fantastic way of making them feel included in your wedding planning and it can save you a lot of money. Once you have planned your guest list, think about who might be able to lend a hand. Perhaps you have an uncle with a nice car who could give you a lift to the venue and save you the money on chauffeur hire. Maybe your cousin is a professional hairdresser and could do your hair for free in lieu of a present. There could be a lot of people on your guest list who would be happy to help, so don’t be afraid to ask them.
Send E-Invitations
Once your guests have saved the date and RSVP’d, they may not look at their invitations again. You could have wasted a lot of money getting them embossed in gold with fancy ribbon, not to mention the cost of stamps these days. It is far simpler to send e-invitations instead. You can still send custom invitations that have been created just for you, and by using a company such as GreenVelope, your custom invitations can be RSVP’d online, meaning that you can stay organized as everything is in one place. They also offer daily updates and auto-reminders so that you can stay on track while planning your special day.
Ask Your Guests to Take Photos
Even if you don’t have a professional photographer in your family, you will invite a lot of guests who will want to take their own photos. With this in mind, consider whether you need a professional photographer as well. Your guests are likely to take more natural photos that you can arrange in a photo album yourself, thus saving you a few thousand pounds.
Make the Centerpieces Yourself
The cost of hiring a wedding florist is mostly in the flower arranging rather than the flowers themselves. The longer they spend on your wedding, the more they will charge you. It is natural to want your bouquets to look as good as possible but if you have budgeted for this, you could leave it at that and save yourself several hundred pounds.
The centrepieces do not need to be complicated to look divine and depending on what material you use, you can sort these out a long time before you say, ‘I do.’ Fresh flowers are not an option unless you want to drive yourself crazy with only hours to spare, but if you don’t mind using twigs or dried flowers (both of which would look divine for a winter wedding) you could create these yourself and save yourself the cost of having the florist do it for you.
These six tips could help you to save a lot of money on your big day, meaning that you won’t have to break the bank to celebrate your love and the happiest day of your life.
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