Cutting on budget? whats worth spending on?

Major Vendors worth the price:

Photographer

Videographer

DJ

Baker (Fake tiers and real top tier) or slab if deciding no tiers.

Vendors worth renting:

Backdrop

Centerpieces & artificial flowers (real look to them)

Venue has everything you will need, food, linens and head table set up. Alcohol bases of open bar included in the price range. Otherwise, cash/toonie bar after the time frame given to save the cost.

We set our priorities, we were actually able to save money on the venue by booking at a bar. We are paying a little more for an amazing photographer and we wouldn't skip a DJ. The atmosphere they create is worth it. We are doing minimal decor since our venue is gorgeous to start with. We did online RSVPs and saved some money there as well.

We chose our top three things we were not willing to cheap out on: food, venue, photography. We used our centrepieces as ceremony decor and our favours so were able to save there. We did online invitations. Didn’t do a cake. Minimal decorations. Used the venues white linens. My SIL made our bouquets and only charged cost of flowers. And we had a limited bar since we bought our own alcohol.

Food, booze and photography are musts for us.

Things I could skimp on: favors, linens, stationary. I would never cut a DJ, music is really important to us.

View quoted message Yes I agree with the cake option and i do cakes and I at times do see the price hick just bc it's a wedding cake I was thinking possible a fake cane for sure and a dessert bar instead and for flowers I'm not a big fan of them anyways so I will definitely look into doing less flowers

Digital invites! So cheap and work really well.

Skip the DJ. Make your own playlists on Spotify.

Keep florals to a minimum. They add up real quick.

Skip wedding favors. Your guests honestly won’t miss them.

Align your day so you need less hours of photography. We paid for only 5 hours and it was more than enough time and saved us a lot of money!

Skip the cake! Do something creative for dessert, but wedding cakes cost wayyy to much for what they are in my opinion. We did a variety of pies. I’ve also been to weddings that did ice cream sundays and it was awesome.

Hey Melanie, do you mind if I ask what your budget is and how many guests you're expecting?

I'm also having an August wedding and have attempted to browse around for the best deals I could find.

As for tips and tricks... I used Vistaprint for my Save the Dates and Invitations. We're doing homemade wedding favours, having a Sunday wedding, and having a tiny wedding party.

One of our best decisions was to go to a Bridal Show at a beautiful country Club. As soon as we walked in, i just started to cry. I knew this was where we were meant to get married. We met all the vendors & Inside the The Country Club booklet was their Winter special package. We could never have afforded a June Wedding but with their Winter special, it helped make such a wonderful venue a possibility. We are not doing videography, programs or Wedding gifts for each other. Our DJ does ceremony music & plays till 1am. Ceremony, Pictures, cocktail hour & reception are all at the country Club. We have our table mock up soon & we will be choosing linens included in our package. We are renting chargers because I really like them. I am making all of our Guests favours as well.

View quoted message It’s totally up to you. Only you know what’s right for you and what’s in budget for you both.

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Yeah im trying to look at restaurant style venues as a friend of mine did mention its cheaper then a hall but i keep thinking of location, parking... should it be a thought or should i just let it be as a con and have guest just figure out parking on their own??

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Im not big on video as well i agree with you id rather just have pictures but i was thinking of getting a video done for a father daughter time as i won't have my father dance with me at my wedding i was thinking a video in place of our dance in memory of him instead.

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I have been looking at Vistaprint for invites and will deff look for when they have a sale to get them... never thought of ceremony programs.. i don't really look at them when I'm at a wedding but i also haven't thought if its something i want.. thanks one thing ill def looking into not doing is the program

I agree with the invite tip. I did all ours on Vistaprint and ordered them Black Friday 50% off. So I saved a ton!
You can also cut costs for flowers. Our venue is naturally beautiful so I am only worrying about flowers for the wedding party instead of ceremony/ reception decoration.
Also not doing ceremony programs as I feel like they will just get thrown out.
I am huge on pictures so that was a big thing for me. But wasn’t concerned about a video as family members who had one done haven’t watched it since they got it. I will most likely get family memebers to video certain parts.

Venue will likely be your biggest cost, especially since, like me, you’re having a summer wedding. Along with food and alcohol (if you’re having alcohol). Maybe try to look at some banquet halls - lots have all inclusive packages!

Like Michelle said you can cut costs on invites by going with vistaprint, etc. If you have a friend or family member who does photography, perhaps ask if they can photograph your day? Photography was our 2nd highest cost so far.

you can cut out videography to save some money also!

I am not doing favours or ceremony programs. I got invites and save the dates from Vistaprint and used a coupon, so they were very inexpensive.