12 Genius Tips to Save Money on Your Wedding
Organizing any event on a tight budget can be a challenging task, and a wedding even more so. There surely are some more common tricks, like making your guest list shorter or choosing an off-season date, but this kind of celebration involves many more factors.
5-Minute Crafts is here to share some clever tips on cutting your wedding costs, that not many people would think of right away.
1. Go for a sample dress.
A sample sale is a great opportunity to purchase a designer wedding dress with a huge discount. Still, we’d advise you to have a few factors in mind before heading to a sample sale:
- Make sure you choose a weekday to avoid a crowded sample sale.
- Try on some wedding dresses at regular prices before going to a sample sale to get an idea of what style suits you.
- Inspect the dress before buying. This is important because they might be torn or stained, as they have been tried on. Pay close attention to the zipper, armpits, train, and hem.
- Wear nude and seamless undergarments so you get the right idea of how the gown looks on you.
- Most dresses are size a 8, so make room in your budget for alterations.
“I was secretly dreading dress shopping, but found the perfect one on trip #1 for $400!” — courtneythehbic / Reddit
“Just scored my dream dress for $600! Had to share the excitement with you all. I cannot wait to get married in this dress.” — outerspaceotters / Reddit
2. Search for an affordable wedding dress online.
Nowadays, you can buy almost anything with a few clicks. Online selling platforms are becoming more popular even for future brides, as their offer is suitable for any budget, body type or style preference. The best thing is that the shipping is usually fast and easy.
“Got married yesterday. Waiting for the professional pics to come in, but in the meantime here is my $92 dress bought online and my homemade bouquet at our free venue in Austin, Texas.” — Wittyfem / Reddit
3. Book an unconventional venue.
Booking a fancy club or hotel are pricey options, and not everybody has a family member with a big backyard for an outdoor wedding celebration. However, bear in mind that you’ve got other options too. Some out-of-the-box venues like a library or a city park, maybe even a museum or a boat, can turn your special day into a unique experience for less money.
4. Choose the easy and cheap solution for invitations.
Saving money on invitations is easily doable if you follow these genius step-by-step hacks:
- Download printable wedding invitation templates for free. If you don’t like them, design them yourself by using Canva, for example.
- Avoid costly letterpress and choose flat printing instead.
- Do not print and send save-the-dates because you can send digital ones. Save the trees.
- Make a free wedding webpage with all the info for the guests.
- Before sending printed invitations, make sure they weight is under 1 oz to reduce postage costs.
“Invitation cardstock from Amazon (sample pictured). 50 invites, 50 RSVP cards, 50 envelopes, AND 50 return envelopes all for $15 (plus free printing templates online)! We need about 80 so had to get 2 kits but still seems a more frugal option than Shutterfly, Vistaprint, etc...” — victastic91 / Reddit
5. Design a seating chart display.
Having a central display with the seating chart can be a lovely piece of decor at your venue and help you cut your expenses. You can choose a DIY technique, like using chalk ink on acrylic. Keep in mind that you can do the same with other wedding signs, like craft an order-of-events display on a mirror instead of printing wedding programs. Just be creative with techniques and materials.
6. Go for great dishes with low-cost ingredients.
Catering is for sure one of the most expensive items on your wedding organization checklist. That doesn’t mean you have to spread your budget thin, though. The key point here is to avoid food that is hard to prepare and go all in for dishes that require low-cost ingredients. These include pasta, eggs, ramen noodles, potatoes, beans, and canned fish. Just make sure you get your creative juices flowing, present the dishes in a non-traditional way, and your guests will be more than happy.
“This is what I ate for my wedding meal. (best decision I ever made)” — j4ckalop3
7. Repurpose your bouquets.
Bouquets made of fresh flowers can cost a lot, but you can save on your venue decor by assigning your wedding flowers a double-duty: just use the bridesmaids’ bouquets as centerpieces for guest tables or bring the florals from the ceremony site to adorn the reception venue.
“I really love how our DIY paper flowers turned out!” — Vvorried / Reddit
“Thoughts on my homemade bouquet? (Lego and dollar store flowers)” — ZaZaZiggy / Reddit
“Origami wedding flowers! Made by me.” — Kittietet / Reddit
“Hand-made flowers” — edenunbound / Reddit
8. Seat guests at larger tables.
Guest tables at weddings usually include decor like centerpieces or printed signs, as well as linens. More small tables equals more expenses. Here’s a simple tip: just seat your guests at larger tables to avoid per-table costs.
“I ordered a bunch of sola flowers, and dyed them myself. Went looking for twisted branches in the woods, and had some left over wood slab off cuts. I still want to add geometric brass shapes hanging from the branch.” — Sewing-superwoman / Reddit
9. Create a polaroid station.
Renting a photo booth is fun, but pricey. You can make a similar setup by simply creating a nicely decorated photo area with a couple of polaroid cameras and a bunch of film. Your guests will, for sure, appreciate this unique idea and have their memorable moments printed instantly.
“Polaroid guest book: $150” — ktheway / Reddit
10. Get your wedding makeup done at a local shopping mall or do it yourself.
Many beauty stores in shopping malls employ makeup artists who offer makeovers as a gift if you buy an item there. Just do your research on time and make sure you are in the right place at the right time, so you can get your makeup done professionally, basically for free.
Another option is to do your own wedding makeup. But make sure you start practicing doing it much earlier, so that you can get an idea of what works best for you.
“Here’s my DIY makeup. Feedback/advice? Lip recommendations? Eyebrows? Please and thank you!” — em_rose10
11. Cover your cake with buttercream.
The traditional fondant-covered wedding cakes are durable and fancy, that’s true. But keep in mind that they can be easily modified into a cheaper version with a buttercream icing. Not only is it tastier, it will also help you save some dollars, because you can make it yourself. Just prep for it in advance.
“I’m baking my own wedding cake and will be baking a ‘test cake’ once a month until the wedding in 16 months. This is my first try and the second cake I’ve ever baked from scratch!” — griefandpoetry / Reddit
12. Use plastic.
Plastic containers and cutlery are a good way to replace glass vases and regular cutlery, and use your budget money elsewhere. You can have a variety of choice when it comes to sizes, colors, and shapes and your guests won’t even notice.
“Wedding win! Michaels has 120 count plastic cutlery on sale for $9.99. It comes in gold, silver, and rose gold. Just wanted to share the savings!” — ginger***ontheplane / Reddit