17 Clever ways to save money on your wedding (updated)

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The best ways to save money on your wedding

I have listed below the best wedding budget tips to save money on your wedding, you don’t have to do all of these but if you seriously need to save money on your wedding costs this is the best place to start.

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Wedding Budget Tips:

1. The Wedding Date you choose will affect the cost of your wedding
2. Create a wedding budget early
3. Track ALL of your wedding expenditure.
4. Research your ideas before you start spending.
5. Keep your wedding Theme Simple
6. Make sure DIY is cheaper than buying
7. Haggle with suppliers for the best deals
8. Consider a midweek wedding
9. More guests equal more spend.
10. Is your venue space too big?
11. Have the Ceremony and wedding in one venue
12. Choose a registry office over a church
13. Get married later in the day
14. DIY your wedding invitations
15. Consider a non traditional wedding cake
16. Buy high street for your wedding dress
17. DIY your wedding catering.

For a more detailed explanation on these wedding budget tips read on. 

Essential Wedding Budget Advice

My one piece of essential wedding budget advice is not to be underestimated and that is to formulate a plan.  I see so many couples rushing off to the next wedding fair with an open mind and a vague idea and unfortunately that can be a very expensive path to follow.  Having a plan from the beginning is key to preventing your wedding costs spiraling out of control.  A plan takes time to develop so don’t rush it, your wedding plans need to be detailed. 

1. Choose the date wisely

When you hold your wedding is going to have a direct bearing on how much your wedding will cost.  One way to save money on your wedding is by being flexible on the date and the season you get married.  Try not to get sentimental over a specific date and remember that the day itself will be your special day, your writing your own destiny on this one not following something you think you should.

• Summer is the height of the season for weddings.  Peak season means dates and suppliers are in high demand which pushes the price up.
• Jan, Feb, Oct and Nov tend to be slow months for weddings so there is a better chance of picking up a deal.
• Avoid months with key holidays Christmas, Easter, Bank Holidays and Mother’s Day as typically venues will run events to boost trade.

2. Set a Wedding Budget

Define your budget and get quotes so you can track expenses.  This is one of the most expensive things you will ever plan, even if you are on a small budget the wedding is still likely to creep into 4 or 5 figures.

• Work out what you can afford, what you can save, if any financial contributions will be included and set your budget.
• Always leave room to go over, so never set your budget at the maximum level you can afford.
• The chances are you will be asking how much a wedding costs, of course you want to know to be able to get a feel for how much your wedding will cost.  However, google can be confusing a wedding dress for example could cost anything from £50 to thousands. What people spend on weddings from the cake to the venue has a vast spectrum so you won’t get a clear answer from google and this could skew your idea of what you should be spending on your wedding.
• The best advice I can give you is to set the overall budget with the amount you can afford and allocate money to each element within the budget as a guide.  It may need some tweaking you may go over in some areas and you may come under budget in some areas too.

3. Track ALL of your wedding costs

• Track all of your wedding expenses ongoing so that you don’t overspend.  The emphasis is on ALL expenses here as the saying goes the devil is in the detail and there is a lot of detail in planning a wedding.  When you are made to track all of your wedding expenses it will perhaps make you  think twice about whether you need them.
• Avoid late night online shopping binges, yes we are all guilty of this one.  Only go shopping with a list not an idea.

4. Research your ideas first

Research ideas online first, do not go window shopping at wedding fairs -resist the temptation to splurge on impulse ideas.  When you are planning a wedding on a budget you need to shape your own plans and it may mean getting creative with your overall vision.

5. Keep the theme simple

Keep the theme simple so you don’t need to go mad on props. This is where you need to think outside the box.

• Make a wish list and ask friends if they can help with either a DIY element or an alternative idea.

6. Is DIY really cheaper?

Cost out and compare your DIY ideas to ensure that this idea will save you money.

7. Haggle with suppliers

Haggle with suppliers for the best deals. There is definitely an art to negotiating to get better prices, the trick is to getting a balance. Everyone should walk away feeling like they have gained something. The trouble is if you go in too hard and  screw someone down so hard on price you risk undermining the good will of the relationship; you certainly are less likely to get any extra’s or above and beyond help. 

Top tip:  Look around for new suppliers, ones just starting out that are perhaps hooking to build a portfolio, a great recommendation at the end is a good incentive. 

Cons: Expect teething troubles.

Pros:  Equally the supplier is more likely to be exceptionally thorough as they won’t want anything to go awry. 

8. Consider a midweek wedding

Midweek not a Saturday as this is the most popular day, demand pushes up the price.

• Try a Friday or even a Sunday to see if this makes a difference.
• Often the most popular venues will still charge a premium for Friday and Sunday.

9. More Guests equals more cost – fact!

Trim the guest list and keep it small, the number of guests will seriously rocket the wedding bill. Start reducing the numbers by taking out plus ones, kids, work colleagues and distant family. I also think we are starting to see a lot more smaller more intimate weddings now so you shouldn’t feel as compelled to go big. 

10. Is your venue space too big?

The venue is probably going to be the biggest area of spend. If you get a cheap venue deal but its a large space you will fill compelled to fill it, so your guest list gets bigger. Consider smaller venue spaces as this will make you keep your guest list small. Everyone always over invites to their wedding.

The venue is also likely to be your biggest spend and this is where you can save the most money on your wedding. Village Halls, Pubs and more informal places are going to be your cheapest wedding venue options to consider

11. Combine elements

Ceremony at the venue will combine two things at once.  It will also cut down on fancy transport you may think you need too.

12. Cheaper ceremony options

Registry office wedding is cheaper than a church wedding, make sure you research your options as costs will vary locally also.

13. Get married later in the day

Combine the day and evening do and get married later in the day. This could be a huge cost saving for you. Only one set of guests to invite. Likely to only need to feed the guests once too, big cost saving here. Probably only one lot of entertainment needed – bonus!!  

14. This DIY will save you money on your wedding

DIY your wedding stationery or send e invites, this one idea alone can save you hundreds of pounds.  No one remembers the stationery, ever!

Related Post:  10 wedding stationery printables that will save you money

Pre-designed stationery that you print yourself either using an online printer or even your home printer.

15. Getting creative with your cake will save you money

Opt for a DIY cake, we are not talking tackling a 4 tier showstopper but think outside the box.  

Can you create a profiterole stack, baked chocolate brownies can be piled up and dressed with fruit and flowers high street or even a fresh donut stack.  

If this doesn’t float your boat opting for a single tier wedding cake could be the way to go. Especially if your already including a dessert in your menu.

Some venues may allow you to serve the cake as a dessert this could be something to haggle over.

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16. This is how to save money on your wedding dress

Choose wedding outfits from the high street will most definitely save you money.

• Take a look at online retailers ASOS where you can seriously bag a bargain.  These wedding dresses on ASOS are around the £100 mark which is incredible when the average wedding dress could cost more like £1000.
• Another advantage of taking your time to plan the wedding is you can take advantage of the best sales.
• Beware of deals too good to be true, especially online.
• Look for pre-loved gowns on wedding websites such as Stillwhite

Related Posts:

Find your Wedding Dress for under £200 (updated 2022)

For advice buying your wedding dress online we suggest this post. 

Related Post: Internet Dresses Delight or Disaster

• Significant savings can be made on bridesmaids dresses take a look at these bridesmaid dresses under £50

17. DIY your wedding catering

DIY venue and cater yourselves, the venue is one of the biggest expenses and venues make their money on food and drink.  

Related Post: 8 Ways to save on your wedding catering

At a DIY venue you will have scope to use whatever suppliers you like, heck some weddings the guests all bring dishes to contribute to the food in a  buffet.  Grazing Tables are completely on trend where fresh meat, pickles, cheeses, fruits and salads are displayed. 

Make sure you print out all of these wedding budget tips and ideas and add them to your wedding planner, this way you won’t forget these ideas as you go along.