On average, American weddings tend to cost $33,000, according to the Knot, a leading online wedding planning company. But since you are in the middle of planning your wedding, you probably already know how expensive the whole event can be. Even if you are going for a more budget-friendly day, spending more like $10K to $15K, this is still far from chump change, especially if you and your fiancé are paying for the whole thing yourself.
In order to help you start off married life without a huge number of wedding-related credit card charges on your Visa, you may want to look for a side hustle—or perhaps in this case a “bride hustle”—that will help bring in some much-needed extra money to pay for your wedding. Of course, between your regular work and planning your big day you are not exactly swimming in free time. With that in mind, the following ideas involve flexible schedules and in many cases, working from home:
Partner with a Direct Sales Company
If you don’t mind selling products to other people and are somewhat of a natural communicator, then a direct sales job would be a perfect way to bring in some extra cash for your wedding. For instance, you could become an Independent Business Owner through a company like Amway and work as little or as much as you wish in the weeks leading up to your nuptials. If you are wondering “What does Amway do again?” you may want to start by finding the company’s YouTube channel. Posted videos explain the types of products you’d be selling (including energy drinks, home care products, vitamins and supplements, and more), along with how you can set your own hours while working from home.
Look into Renting Out a Spare Room
If you have a spare bedroom that no one ever uses, except for the rare times when your dear Aunt Martha comes to visit, you could temporarily rent it out on an Airbnb. The home sharing website explains the benefits of becoming an Airbnb host, and it will even give you a ballpark estimate of how much you could expect to earn in a month in your city. You can control the availability of your spare room, as well as the price and the house rules, as well as if and how you interact with your guests.
Consider Babysitting on Weeknights
Babysitting is definitely not just for high school students. If you love kids, you could make a decent side income spending a few nights a month watching someone’s kiddos. Advertise your availability on your social media page and let your friends and family know that you are looking for babysitting jobs, or post a profile on Care.com. Once the word gets out that you are friendly and reliable, you may end up with more job offers than you need—which is not a bad thing.
Sell Your Gently Used Stuff
To earn some money to pay for your wedding, and clear out gently used things you never use anymore, you can sell them on sites like eBay. This is an ideal side hustle to do on your own time—you just need to take photos of your barely-used designer purses, clothing, collector’s items and other goodies and then write up great descriptions of them on the auction site. Then, you can focus on choosing your plate colors, invitations and wedding venue while shoppers are busy buying your items online.
Enjoy Your Special Day
Fortunately, you don’t have to take on another full time job or go crazy with credit card debt to get the wedding of your dreams. By finding jobs that are easy to start and can be done on your own schedule and sometimes from home, you and your boo can start your years of wedded bliss together on a solid financial footing.
