As a photographer I never 100% knew what my couples were going through as they were planning a wedding. Simply, because I had never done so myself. But now I am planning a wedding and I want to share all the ways I’ve been saving and making the most of the our budget during wedding planning.
I’m going to break down each “section” of a wedding and talk about them that way.
1. VENUE/ Location
There’s so many different options with this you can get married in a national or state park for hundreds rather than thousands of dollars! There are Air BnB’s that will host events at their location which not only is a venue location but also a place to stay before and after.
I’ve had couples have an intimate back yard wedding like Julia + Rick.
Couples that wen’t to a scenic location like Emily + Bill.
And those at a cool Schoolhouse venue like Sara + George.
There’s the traditional Venue’s BUT if you’re looking into these I would recommend really seeing if you’re getting the most of your money. Are they overcharging you for little things? Do they include anything? Do you feel taken care of? This is all personal decisions you’ll have to make but they will make a difference as you go searching.
2. PHOTOGRAPHER
YAY my field! I recommend choosing someone that photographs your wedding with YOU in mind. There are so many photographer’s out there that do this for themselves, their portfolio, for their instagram feed, and want to get the biggest dollar out of you.
I don’t suggest going crazy over budget there’s a reason you have one, but I don’t suggest always focusing on the number. Which I know isn’t “saving money” like this whole thing is about. BUT your wedding images are the only tangible thing that will be left after your wedding day. Therefore, find someone you connect with, someone that fits the whole package. If you cant find one locally look just on the outskirts of where your located you’ll be surprised how many people travel!
The best way to find people other than google is looking up instagram hashtags. So if I was looking in Erie, PA i would look up:
#Eriephotographer , #Erieweddingphtographer , #Paweddingphotgrapher, etc. I would even search locations on instagram and swift through those images!
3. CATERER
FOOODD yasss! I’ve seen some super rad business that will cater your wedding, and you’d be surprised! There’s the traditional catering companies, but I’ve had some of my favorite food from other options. Other options being, Food trucks, personal chef’s on site, fast food places like Chipotle, and family coming together to bring dishes (depending on the kind of wedding)!
Depending on what you want and can do, there are so many options out there that are fun and cool! Usually your photographer can recommend people, but deep diving the web also works too (;.
4. FLORALS
With florals, I’ve been surprised with all the options out there! There’s such thing as wooden flowers, silk flowers, and of course the real ones. If you want to have your flowers to last after the wedding you could go with those first two options, OR get real flowers and preserve them post wedding!
To save money you could eliminate a spending money on bouquet to throw, thats literally throwing out money. Having an alternative option for bridesmaids for what they hold, I’m having my girls hold a fan. Do the groomsmen need boutonnières? All things to think about!!
5. DECORATIONS
This is my favorite because I’ve had the most fun telling people about decor! Here’s what I’ve gathered.. you ready for it. Buy things that you can use again! I’ve bought stuff for my wedding that I will be using as decor in my home or having multi use. Another thing to keep in mind is buying things in bulk, which we did.
I have found that this has helped me stick to my budget and be smart about what I buy! For an example, our table runner’s we bought cheesecloth in bulk off of amazon and cut them ourselves. This means I’m spending $45 on 270 yards of basic material vs. $14 per table runner on Etsy. Such a steal, but we are limited in color its just a like creamy tan color!
Another thing we did was napkins that people can throw away instead of renting linens. I spent $20 on a pack of colored napkins that feel thick and will be used as a decorative place setting as well as a disposable napkin. This is more convenient for cleanup and both parties!
Stuff I’ve gotten is below:
6. Stationary
Now, don’t get me wrong I LOVE beautiful stationary done by some amazing small businesses! But if you’re ballin on a budget you simply cannot spend $300 on invites here’s what we did.
So, if you’re willing to spend the time on doing some DIY or know someone who can this is for you. I used Canva.com to create my save the dates, invites, and signage around the venue. This site is awesome and SUPER easy to use to customize the templates to what you’d want. If you use the 30 day free trial and that opens the option to have them print them and deliver them to your door. I got 50 custom save the dates with envelopes for $24.00. I say that’s a steal!
Here’s ours below:
7. Dresses
I’ve seen SOO many different ways to not make your girls spend so much money on their dresses. One wedding I had they wore American Eagle dresses and looked GREAT! ( See that dress in this wedding) Some sites to check out I recommend:
For my brides if you don’t want to spend thousands here are a few options available that might surprise you! I know some of these styles aren’t for everyone but i’ve been impressed with these options:
- Searching for wedding dresses on Etsy
- Searching white maxi dresses to find more beach styled wedding dresses!
- Lulus has a dress selection!
- There are wedding dress rental sites! If you’re okay with not keeping your dress.
8.THINGS WE AREN’T DOING
As we were going through the traditional list of things that weddings consist of, I saw so many things I just wanted to leave out. All these things are saving money and a ton of stress!
- Seating Chart
- We decided that it would be less stress to worry about where people are sitting during the reception. Instead we’re letting our guests sit where they want with who they want!
- Guest Book
- This is a personal choice, simply because I am not going to ever open this book up and browse through it 5 years after my wedding.
- Wedding Favors
- Most favors get tossed in the trash and are wasted money! So instead we’re using the money towards something our guests will actually want like food, drinks, etc.
- Bouquet Toss
- We’re saving money by not getting an extra bouquet just to toss it away,
- Cake/ Cake cutting
- Saving us time and money, we decided to not do a cake and do cupcakes to save us from having someone to cut the cake. Also so we could have multiple flavors!
I am sharing this based on personal planning and experience. I am in no way trying to discredit or bash other creatives that do AMAZING work. This is all based off of my personal wedding planning on a budget of 15K! I hope this helps any couples out there!
