13/11/2024

Wedding Wonder

Making Your Dream Wedding a Reality

Ways To Save Money When Planning Your Dream Wedding Day

Ways To Save Money When Planning Your Dream Wedding Day

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. It’s about celebrating your love for each other in front of your family and friends. We all want that perfect day with the wedding dress of our dreams, the traditional three-tier wedding cake, amazing transport to the venue, bridesmaids/page boys, band/disco, the wedding reception to die for, well, the list could go on and on.

Planning your wedding is a very exciting time but with the organisation, also comes stress. Lets face it weddings now days are not cheap, on average a wedding costs between 15,000 and 20,000 Pounds! Times are hard for many people at this present time and we are all trying to find ways to cut costs in our everyday lives. Why should your wedding day be any different? Why spend more when there are ways to cut corners? This doesn’t mean you have to go without, it just means you have to ‘think outside the box’. There are many ways to cut the cost of your ‘Big day’. Just looking around and doing a bit of research could save you hundreds if not thousands of pounds. This doesn’t mean your wedding day need be any less glamorous or memorable, it simply means the stress of raising the money will be minimal.

Here are a few simple ways you can cut your costs.

Wedding Venue

First you need to decide where you would like to get married. Do you want to get married in a church, a registry office or maybe a civil ceremony is more for you.

Getting married in a church or registry office means you will also need a separate reception venue. To help cut the cost why not try getting married on a weekday or out of season (meaning not between the months of May and October) as many reception venues are more desperate for your business and offer an “off peak”discount or you may simply be able to haggle more and get the price reduced.

Another cheaper and very popular option is to have a civil ceremony. This means you can get married and have your reception all under one roof, cutting out the cost of the church or registry office.

Why not think about hiring your local village hall? They cost a lot less, meaning you could go to town with the decorations. These can be bought leading up to your big day from local shops or from the many available online stores, enabling you to spread the cost.

Of course your choice of wedding venue will also depend on the amount of people you wish to invite. Why not consider having a smaller, more intimate ceremony and then at a later date have a big party for the people you were unable to invite. This means you get to celebrate twice and you could also wear your wedding dress again!

Food/Drink

Many wedding venues offer a variety of menus for different budgets. To really help you save on the cost some venues also offer a buffet style menu. So why not think about having a less formal sit down meal and go down this avenue instead. Another idea is to do the catering yourself and rope in family and friends to help you.

Reception drinks are another thing to think about. Hotels and wedding venues usually offer a good selection of wines and champagnes but can seem a bit pricey. Why not find out if you can supply your own drink instead. They will probably still charge you corkage but it would still bring the price down. Alternatively offer your guests a welcome drink, wine with their meal and the first drink from the bar at the reception. People don’t expect a free bar at wedding receptions anymore, as they know how expensive weddings can be and they are only too happy to pay for their own drinks.

Wedding Cake

The wedding cake is quite a focal point of your wedding reception but do you really need to spend hundreds of pounds on it? The answer is no! Have you heard the saying “Less is more”? Well when it comes to wedding cakes this can be true. A simple wedding cake, adorned with fresh, seasonal flowers makes a real statement and won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Some well known high street stores sell iced fruit or sponge wedding cakes at great prices. So all you have to do is hire a cake stand or layer them on top of each other and add some fresh flowers or other cake decorations that can be bought from any craft shop or online store.

You may not wish to have a traditional wedding cake. Many brides and grooms don’t actually like wedding cake so choose to go for something they do like. Why not try something chocolatey or have lots of little cupcakes displayed on a stand. These ideas are much kinder on your pocket but will still have you and your guests talking about it for years to come.

Dress/Bridesmaid Dresses

For any bride this needs to be perfect! Of course choosing a wedding dress should depend on your budget. There are many wedding gowns out there to suit every budget. Look out for sales of gowns or check out the high street stores that sell some amazing wedding dresses at a fraction of the price of some wedding dress shops. Another option is to think about hiring a gown. Many shops now offer this service, meaning you can have the dress of your dreams at a snip of the price it would cost you to buy.

The same ideas apply for bridesmaid dresses. Think about hiring them or maybe go down the less traditional route and get them dresses that they can wear again.

Flowers

We all know flowers can make a wedding. Having the church and reception venues decked in floral displays is a beautiful idea. Unfortunately these can prove to be very pricey when done professionally. If you do want to have them professionally made think about choosing flowers that are in season or you could choose to have more foliage with the odd flower here and there. This can really give you the wow factor but at a fraction of the price.

When choosing the bridal bouquet, why not think about a hand tied arrangement. Lilies or Roses with foliage made into a simple, elegant spray are simple to make but make a great statement. This you can make yourself. Visit a local flower wholesalers and tell them what your ideas are and they will be only too pleased to offer you their advice. While you are there why not also get some carnations for button holes, then get family members and friends to help you make them the day before the wedding.

Photographs

Photographs are a crucial part to any wedding day, leaving you with memories to cherish. There are a few different ways to save money here.

If you want to use a professional photographer, they will normally have several packages, varying in price, that you can choose from and if you have chosen to have an “off peak” wedding, some photographers will also offer you a cheaper deal.

There is also a more fun way to save on your wedding photo’s. Why not buy some throw away cameras and get your guests to take the photos for you.

You could always combine the two and have a professional photographer take photos of the ceremony and then put throw away cameras on the tables at your reception and ask your guests to take the reception and evening photo’s.

Or maybe you have a friend who is a keen photographer, who would cherish the thought of being your photographer for the day. Maybe they could do it as a wedding present to you or you could offer to pay them or buy them a memorable present.

No matter which option you choose, you will have memories a plenty of your wonderful day!

Remember this is your wedding day and it’s not the amount of money you spend on it that makes it special, it’s the friends and loved ones you are surrounded by when you say “I do”. This is what will make it the truly magical day you wish for and that you will all remember for ever.