Mortgage Free Leigh

Let’s address the obvious before we start, weddings can be EXPENSIVE.  According to the wedding gurus over at hitched.co.uk the average cost of wedding in 2022 was £18,400 – Ouch!  But never fear, you don’t have to give up on your dream day just yet because with a little creative thinking, and by following a few of my tips, it IS possible to save money AND have your dream wedding on a budget.

BUDGET WEDDING TIP 1 – ASK YOURSELF, IS IT REALLY NECESSARY?

Before we get into the thrifty and creative world of how to save money on your big day, the first question you need to ask yourself when contemplating any wedding related purchase is whether you actually need to spend the money in the first place?  Just because someone else had a Rolls Royce, a seven tier wedding cake or an X Factor winner to sing them down the aisle doesn’t mean you have to.

I did a couple of unorthodox things for my own wedding and one of the biggest was the fact that we didn’t have wedding cars.  The reason for this decision was that my wedding and reception were held in one venue and I stayed there the night before meaning I wasn’t making a journey there from anywhere.  As everyone should be inside the church anxiously awaiting the arrival of the bride, not many people actually see HOW the bride arrives anyway so after careful consideration we realised that we didn’t actually need wedding cars at all!  My husband’s dad had a nice enough car so we bought an eBay bow kit and job done!  I don’t for one second regret it either as it was £300 we didn’t need to spend.

So remember, this is your wedding and if you’re trying to keep costs down and stick to a budget you NEED to make sure that any money you do spend is going on things you actually want, not tradition or impressing others.

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BUDGET WEDDING TIP 2 – IT’S A NUMBERS GAME

One of the biggest, and most difficult, decisions many couples face when planning their wedding is the guest list and guess what? The more people you invite, the more it’s going to cost.  Watch out for minimum guest number requirements on wedding packages at your shortlisted venues for this reason and really consider your invite list carefully with a few of following questions;

Are you inviting children? 

Does everyone get a plus one? 

How far into your extended family are you going to go?

Are work colleagues invited?

It’s likely that no matter what you do, someone’s nose will be put out of joint so you may as well make yourself happy!  Remember, it’s your big day and your pocket that’s taking the hit so if someone isn’t part of your life, why would you want to pay for them to be part of your wedding?  

BUDGET WEDDING TIP 3 – GET FRIENDS AND FAMILY INVOLVED.

With the amount of guests you are likely to be inviting to your budget wedding, there’s a high probability that you’ve got a friend or family member who has a skill that could be of use on the big day to help you save money.  People that love you will be happy to help out as their contribution to your wedding in lieu of a gift!  I can say this with confidence because at one point I had a small wedding venue dressing business (more on that later) and I have dressed the chair covers for a few of my friends’ weddings in exchange for either a hotel room at the venue or as my wedding gift to the happy couple.

I already mentioned using my father-in-laws car and in addition to that, for my own wedding, both of my brothers play guitar so they sang me down the aisle which was such a special touch.  My cousin is a hairdresser who did my hair for me and my husband and his groomsmen dressed the venue in the morning before getting ready.  All of these little things help to cut costs and keep the wedding budget firmly on track!

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BUDGET WEDDING TIP 4 – GET CREATIVE AND HAVE A DIY WEDDING

There are so many things you can do yourself for your big day and still have your dream wedding on a budget.  So get on Pinterest and get crafty with this little list of ideas to start you off:

Invitations

Wedding favours

Place cards and stationery

Centrepieces

DIY sweet stations

Hair and makeup

Wedding cars

I’ll do a follow up blog post with some actual practical tips and DIY wedding decoration ideas.  We made our own wedding centrepieces as we were having a winter wedding so we collected up fallen branches and spray painted them silver before hanging beads and lights off them.  I made DIY tea light candle holders from recycled jars, we made our own wedding invitations, table numbers and place cards and I learned how to make wine glass charms as wedding favours.  I also made extras with the excess materials and sold them on eBay to make a bit of extra cash!

I did also mention that I briefly had a wedding venue dressing business which allowed us to do almost all of our own chair covers and venue dressing.  This is because as I was buying items for our wedding, I realised I could easily rent them out in the interim to help fund our wedding.  Whilst that is an extreme example, if you are having a DIY wedding it’s likely that you can pick up secondhand decorations such as birdcages for centrepieces and still sell them on afterwards for a similar price than you paid to make back some of that money. 

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BUDGET WEDDING TIP 5 – SMALL COMPROMISES CAN SAVE BIG

The opportunity to save big on your wedding day begins the moment you think about setting the date.  If you choose well, you could slash the cost of your dream day so here are a few tips to think about when you’re saving the date.

The most popular, and therefore most expensive, day for a wedding is Saturday whereas a Sunday or midweek wedding could save you some much needed money towards your honeymoon.  Yes, your guests may have to take time off to attend (or nurse their sore heads the day after) but personally, I would be only too happy to take a day off work for the privilege of being invited to a friend’s wedding.

The same can be said of having a summer wedding where you are likely to not only pay a premium but you might also find that venues have a higher minimum number of guests which bumps up the price.  Winter wedding packages can net you a huge saving and come with various extras included with the added benefit that you’ve planned for the likely adverse weather unlike those who spend big to roll the dice with the unpredictable British summertime (I write this with confidence amidst thunderstorms in July).

You might also want to pay attention to whether the timing of your wedding could be adding to your bill.  1 – 2pm is the coveted time-slot and when I got married, it cost a premium just to have that time-slot whereas an hour before or after would have meant a nice little saving.

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BUDGET WEDDING TIP 6 – ELOPING IS AN OPTION!

Ok, so it may not go down well with those hoping to make the guest list but eloping IS an option and it can save you thousands compared to a traditional wedding.  You can either travel within the UK to a private venue in secret or take to the skies and start your married life in the sun with a wedding abroad.  This has the added benefit that you can double up on the wedding and honeymoon, saving even more!  

Eloping can be a perfect solution to those complex family scenarios where you’d just rather not deal with the drama of having any family present on your special day.  Alternatively, a wedding abroad with a very small guest list of your nearest and dearest can still work out cheaper than the traditional UK wedding bash.

And if eloping is too crazy of an idea, there are other ways that being unconventional can save pennies such as skipping the sit down meal and opting for a buffet instead, having an evening wedding or giving the stale fruit cake a miss in favour of a fruit plate.

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THE TAKE AWAY

Getting married doesn’t have to cost the earth and you can still have your dream wedding on a budget if you’re willing to think outside the box and consider what REALLY matters the most to you on your big day.  Starting married life with a pocketful of regret and unpaid vendors bills is not the way to go so if you leave with only one piece of advice, it’s this – It’s your day and your money, do it your way.

Happy Budgeting!

Leigh