If you are planning to get married and want to explore as many cheap wedding ideas as possible to cut the cost without diminishing your experience or that of your guests, you could try 20 tactics. My wife and I wedded during the summer of 2003. The event was quite frugal and taught us many things that a bride and groom can do to come up with ?professional wedding plan.
Avoid Guest List Boat
One of the keys to success is inviting few guests. This is an area where we erred, but would want others to get it right. We invited many of our friends as guests simply because we felt obligated to do so, and this ended up increasing the cost of the wedding while compromising on the experience. Make a small guests list, as most people understand the need to spend wisely.
Ask for Wedding Support, not Gifts
Another great way to keep your wedding on a fixed budget is asking family members and friends to offer financial help or services that align with their natural abilities. We used this approach. We asked some of our talented friends and family members to provide musical accompaniment for the ceremony and professional wedding photography images.
Hold the Wedding at Home, or Outdoors
Using your home or perhaps a public park with a stunning view is cheaper to renting a building or function hall. In each case, it is prudent to have your reception outdoors. Nevertheless, the outdoor route requires that you have a backup plan in case of bad weather. Renting a sturdy tent if you anticipate rain or a few industrial fans if you forecast a hot day is an excellent idea.
Use Cheap Catering Services
Either hiring a family-owned restaurant or doing the work yourself with the help of friends is very desirable in your case. In our case, we handle catering and related tasks with the help our relatives. It significantly reduced the budget. If this is not your forte, approach a family-owned restaurant and ask for support. They generally more understanding with your budget needs and will almost certainly go an extra mile to make your wedding special.
Be Economical on the Flowers
Flowers will die off shortly after the reception, so spending boatloads of money on flowers is unfitting. Simply keep it simple but elegant. With a very small bouquet for the bride and a single rose for each bridesmaid, you can actually make the event refined.
Skip the Bridesmaid and Groomsmen Gifts
While giving gifts to the bridal team is customary, you should consider writing the special note to say “thank you.” Make your understand appreciation the decision. If they know your intention is to a frugal wedding, they will understand.
Make Your Own Invitations
You can save a lot of money by making invitation on your own. With a quality home printer and sometimes, you can make classy invitations without spending much money. Alternatives such as VistaPrint.com offer cheap wedding invitations that you can order at the comfort of your living room. Though these options might not very fancy, they will do the trick.
Use your Stereo Equipment or Borrow
If you have your own stereo equipment or a borrowed one, put speakers around the dance floor area. Choose your own songs to personalize the entire experience. You can also see if your friends can make a good playlist for you.
Stock the Bar Yourself
Alcohol is a major expense in most weddings, so be in charge of the bar stocking process. Cut alcohol costs by offering just beer and wine. Another alternatively can be offering a free cocktail hour then a cash bar.
Advertise for Service Providers in Exchange of Discounted Rates
If you are hiring service providers such as photographers, offer to advertise their products in exchange of reduced rates. Accept to put small vendor cards and contacts at the reception. Since this is an effective marketing strategy, if can get cheap wedding photographers and other services.
Contact the Local University
One place to get affordable service providers is your local university’s service departments. You can get musicians and affordable wedding photography services, and other services at low rates if you ask them directly. They offer many photography packages, so you can choose the most suitable one.
Price Shop for Decorations
Most shops have sales throughout the years. If you know what you are looking for ahead of time, you can buy it when the right time comes. If can also save a lot of money by buying used centerpieces and decorations from sites such as craigslist.org.
Ask the Ladies’ Auxiliary for Help
Most churches have active women groups that are always pleased to happy with wedding preparations. Get them involved, they are always very useful. Some of them are cheap wedding photographers or cooks. Our church’s “Church Ladies” helped us with decorations and other worthwhile things on the wedding day.
Buy Dresses of the Rack-and on Sale
You will save a lot of money by heading to a few stores with dresses on sale and looking for those that are “off the rack” for bridesmaids. Choosing colors and shopping ahead of time a great method for increasing your chances of success with this method. Another great tip is allowing bridesmaids to wear a particular color dress they already own.
Rent Tuxedos as a Group
Renting a tuxedo as a group is often useful, as you will always get a group discount. If the tuxedo route is not the best one for you, allow all the groomsmen wear a black suit from home or another matching formal wear.
Plan a Simple Honeymoon
A big honeymoon might sound desirable, but it is expensive. It is best to focus on what matters most. Whatever you choose to do, you should allow yourself to enjoy this first time together.
Involve your family and Close Friends in the Preparations
Close friends and family members often have surprisingly good ideas. They should be involved even at the brainstorming stage. If you ignore them, they may become hard to deal with at very critical times.
Avoid the ‘w-word’ When Hiring Vendors
When shopping around for the best photography packages, for example, avoid mentioning the wedding part first. Most vendors mark up their services for weddings. After getting a ballpark estimate for the services, but before signing the contract, you will need to explain that it is for your wedding.
Plan Well
Come up with a detailed budget in time. Put down all the things you need and walk through them systematically. The earlier you get started, the more time you will have to research other great ideas and get great discounts.
Do not Stress Yourself Up
No matter how well you plan, something will possibly go wrong at some point. For example, we barely rehearsed because our officiating pastor almost missed our rehearsal dinner. The trick is to remain calm and assume something little is going to go wrong, but someone will fix it. Most likely, no one will notice little issues.
