The average cost of a wedding this year is $38,000, which is way beyond what many people can afford. Does this mean that you can’t have a great celebration if you are on a tight budget?
Of course not, you just need to get creative and use the money you have wisely. Here are some ideas on how to turn a budget wedding into a magnificent celebration of your love.
1. Use every trick to cut the venue cost
The cheapest option is to hold your wedding at home, but few people have this opportunity. If you aren’t one of them, you can try other tricks. First of all, start looking for a venue outside the city limit. Casey, who writes for MoneyCrashers, recommends this as one of the most effective ways to cut the venue cost. Also, she says getting married not on a Sunday can help bring that cost down a bit as well.
Alex, who works at event furniture rental in NYC, offers a way to make the wedding more luxurious without stretching your budget. He advises to rent the cheapest venue you can find and hire the furniture to make it into a magnificent place for the night. This way you can turn anything up to a warehouse into a luxury ballroom, without having to pay for an actual ballroom.
The final trick is to go for an outdoor venue, which should also be cheaper as well as add a special charm to your wedding. The furniture rental can be used to create a perfect space for your wedding theme. However, you’ll be dependent on the weather in this case, so consider the risks.
2. Have beautiful invitations for free
Having a tight budget doesn’t mean you can’t have exquisite invitations, cards, and other details of this sort. Kimberly from EverythingEtsy provides a list of 101 free wedding printables that you can use to make all the aforementioned things with your regular printer. Buy a pack of craft paper and create beautiful invitations at home with no problem.
You can also find free templates and designs for decorations. Use those to make that aforementioned cheap venue into a special place for your special day. The internet is full of free services, so you just need to take the time to find exactly what you need.
3. Go to families for catering
Catering services are many, but their prices aren’t budget-friendly. Your local family-owned café, on the other hand, might be much more accommodating. Catering isn’t the main source of income for businesses like this, so they are often more willing to negotiate prices.
Also, as a member of the local community, you might be able to get some discounts. Ask for a “pay in full” discount at the very least. And you can negotiate partial catering, as in you cook some parts of the menu and only have a few dishes delivered from the café.
4. Skip the flowers to the max
Florist’s services are a big wedding cost, so it’s the first thing you should skip. If you have time, invite your friends and make some cool paper flowers for decoration. In case this option isn’t available, limit your flowers to the minimum.
Use other items to decorate the place, like bows or lanterns. For an autumn wedding, go with yellow leaves and pumpkins. Those will help create a lovely atmosphere and make your wedding stand out.
5. Use your stereo instead of a DJ
Hiring a DJ seems to be the tradition, but do you need one? Really? With the tech available today you can set up a great playlist for the night with nothing but your smartphone and a couple of Bluetooth speakers.
If you have stereo equipment at home, just use that. You’ll have a lot of fun creating your own special playlist. Also, your friends can contribute. Perhaps, one of them is an aspiring DJ and would like to take over these duties for the night.
By the way, asking your friends for help where possible is a great way to cut the costs of a wedding. It’s your chance to save hundreds of dollars on a photographer. And you can be just sure that they’ll shoot lots of videos during the day, so you don’t have to hire a professional to do that.
Final Thoughts
No matter how limited your budget is, your wedding doesn’t have to look cheap. Choose a non-extravagant theme and do lots of DIY arts and crafts to set up a reception to remember. Meanwhile, use all community resources where you can score a discount.
