Every girl wants to feel like Cinderella on their wedding day.
However, you don’t need to spend a fortune to have your dream wedding.
There are many ways you can plan a wedding on a budget and still make it the perfect day to celebrate your love with your friends and family.
Plan early
If you want to keep costs down, you should start planning early for your wedding.
Throughout the year wedding stores offer discounts.
If you plan early and know what you need to buy then you can grab the opportunity to buy things when they are on sale.
Shopping the sales will allow you to buy wedding essentials like the dress, shoes, or ring at much cheaper prices.
Planning early also allows you to shop around and get the best price. Online stores are a good way to compare various vendors.
Choose your venue wisely
Booking a good venue in a prime location can be costly.
If you have a big garden in your home then you can host the wedding at your home as well.
If there is a big garden or lawn all you’ll need to do is set up a marquee tent.
If not, think about if any of your family members or friends have a property outside town, with a quiet and beautiful view.
If the space is large enough to fit your wedding guests then you could use it as your wedding venue.
Alternatively, you could use a public park as an affordable venue for your wedding.
If you want to have your wedding at an indoor venue then restaurants are an affordable option. An advantage of restaurants is that they already have furniture and crockery so you won’t need to hire these.
Save on catering
Catering is another major expense for any wedding.
So, you need to cut down your cost in this area and one of the best ways to do so is to order food from a family-owned restaurant.
They will cook the best meals for you at a lower cost compared to the big restaurants or catering companies.
When choosing the menu stick to the seasonal food as this is cheaper. You should also stick to a 3-course meal and limit the number of drinks.
Go for a small and simple cake
The wedding cake is one of the major features of any wedding, but a big and ornate cake will cost you a lot of money.
One of the ways to cut the cost of the wedding cake is to go for a smaller cake.
Also, consider the type of cake – stick to a basic flavor like vanilla or chocolate, instead of the black forest, for example.
You will find many home bakers today and they can make a beautiful wedding cake for you at a lower cost than fancy wedding cake suppliers.
Get busy with DIY projects
Hiring a wedding planner to decorate your venue can be expensive. Instead, give this responsibility to your friends and family members.
They can come up with an excellent decoration plan for your wedding.
You can buy flowers, lights, and other decorative items from local stores and use your imagination to make the wedding venue stand out.
When choosing flowers, go for seasonal options, as well as simple arrangements and bouquets. This will drastically cut your floral expenses.
Instead of spending too much money on a makeup artist and hairdresser, you can ask a friend who is good at styling and makeup, to do your wedding day makeup and hair for you.
You can also make your own wedding invitations to save some cash. Another affordable option is to send electronic invitations to your guests.
There are lots of sites that help you to send stunning digital invites. You can also simply call up your friends or invite them over social media.
Time the wedding carefully
Timing can help to cut costs, such as having your wedding in the afternoon and offering afternoon instead of dinner.
You should also consider the time of the week, as venues are usually cheaper on weekdays.
Photographers and DJs will also offer a lower rate during the week.
Finally, getting married in the off-season rather than in spring or summer means more resources will be available and you will need to pay a lot less than if you have your wedding during peak wedding season.
Skip the DJ and photographer
Instead of hiring a DJ you can create your song playlist and use your only equipment to play music on your wedding day.
Like DJs, photographers are also expensive. You can ask your friends to take photos instead.
Some of your friends may have a good DSLR camera and if any are amateur photographers, ask them to help you out!
Events before or after the wedding, such as the bachelor and bachelorette party can get expensive.
Make these extra events simple. Instead of hiring a band or other entertainers, run simple bachelorette games for lots of fun. With a few simple strategies, you can enjoy an amazing wedding on a budget.