1. Check out Costco. My parents are members and we are saving tons on plates/silverware/cupcakes/flowers. Apparently, Costco does it all!
2. Get other people involved. My cousin who works for a salon will do my hair and makeup, Philip's aunt is a professional baker who will be making our cake, and my dad (who used to be in the restaurant business) is doing the catering. They might even throw their contribution in as a wedding gift.
3. Don't include alcohol. I know, you might become less popular amongst your family and friends. But you might avoid some other undesirable incidents along the way. Picture your day without the drunken bridesmaid speech. My venue doesn't allow alcohol which provides the perfect excuse to save some cash.
4. Choose an outdoor venue. Do some deep breathing exercises and lots of praying before hand. Because, I know, a lot can go wrong outdoors. However, if you choose a season and live in a place where there isn't much chance of rain or it being too cold, you should be set. Outdoor is most likely cheaper (in our case it cut the price in half) and the best part: nature provides its own decorations. I won't need to add much to supplement the trees and landscape in beautiful Post Falls Idaho. I would recommend an indoor reception though. Food and outdoors and fancy clothes don't mix well. Unless you're at a church picnic.
5. Buy your bridesmaid dresses somewhere fun! Mine are from Forever 21. If they're too fancy your bridesmaids will never be able to wear them again, and you might wind up causing a 27 Dresses scenario. If you don't know what I'm talking about, leave my blog and go rent that movie right now!
6. Prioritize. Figure out what's important to you. Splurge on that, and be willing to sacrifice things you care less about. My top three most important things are: Venue (Ross Point Camp, where Philip and I met), Dress, and Photographs.
7. Be a decoration minimalist. You know what they say, more is less. I actually think a few classy touches beats the overdone, cluttered look of too many decorations.
8. DIY invitations and programs. First of all, does anyone care that much about these things? You send them out to your friends and then never see them again. Printing your own will save you a heap. Erin Dienst is helping me with the Graphic Design elements, and I'm printing one of mine and then using a local copying service to mass reproduce them.
9. Rent the tux. As hot as your man looks in it, he probably will never wear it again. Let's be real, after the wedding clothing won't be that necessary.
10. Use cupcakes. You really only need a small pretty cake for you to do the traditional cutting of the cake. From there, you can get a couple of sheet cakes for your guests or better yet use cupcakes. My favorite things about cupcakes: they prevent your guests from waiting while someone cuts and plates all the cake, and they are cute!
Extra Credit: My final piece of advice for you: Start being anti-social now. Because, the fact of the matter is, the number of guests you have largely contributes to the cost. (Of course I'm not being serious).
Sorry if this doesn't apply to you because: A. You're a nun. B. You're already married. C. Marriage is in the way way way distant future for you.
Share you wedding saving tips with me, or file this away for far-off-future reference!
2 comments:
Thanks Chelsea! Storing those for later. You and Philip will have an amazing wedding and an even better marriage :)
These are great tips. We had a DIY wedding too. I did SO MUCH myself, but we saved tons of money. I don't regret it one bit!
Post a Comment