Getting Ideas

Unfortunately I agree with everyone here... everything is way more expensive than you expect! Taxes and Gratuities manage to bring up costs way more than expected.

You can penny pinch here and there with different vendors! However the best way to save on costs is to invite less people...

We are having about 200 guests and our original plan to do everything for 20k was quickly denied haha!

Thank you everyone on your advice! It was really helped me confirm where I could save money and how I can be smart in planning this wedding! All of you are so wonderful, thank you!

I would start with looking at how many guests you would like to have at your wedding and start calling around to see what prices would be like for that many people.

From there, you can either decide to cut the number of guests or to cut some non-essential things from your wedding. Also decide what you can actually afford, without going into debt, and then decide later if you need.

You can certainly do a wedding within any budget, but decide what is most important to you and your fiance and see what those costs will be. We spend $40000 on our wedding, which was more than I was expecting to pay, but we had all the guests we wanted to invite and we didn't go into any debt, which was what we wanted. We had also been saving for a while since we knew we would get engaged at some point.

Hi Miranda, welcome! Keeping your guest list small is your biggest cost saving measure, that saves money on food, drink, linen, chairs and tables, favors, centerpieces, invitations and all stationary, cake...

Our Wedding Ideas section has a lot of articles on saving cost on various wedding items, including 5 Ways to Cut Wedding Dress Costs, 5 Ways to Cut Wedding Catering Costs, 5 Ways to Cut Wedding Flower Costs, and 5 Ways to Cut Wedding Invitation Costs

A wedding can cost $100-unlimited; it all depends on what your expectations are and your guest list. Start with a guest list of those people you must invite, then work your budget around that. I found that using a wedding planner binder (I purchased mine from Chapters) really has helped me get an idea of what a DJ, florist, décor, etc. should cost if I have XXXXX budget.

It all depends on how far you are willing to take it. We are having a 3 entree buffet style with fully open bar reception, so with this the cost skyrocketed. Then, I was initially thinking on buying a cheap wedding dress, but the one I liked the most was about 3000, so budget totally blown. I think that if you are on a tight budget, you should write down the most essential parts to your wedding and book these first. And after that, see what you can spend in no-too-priority aspects.

Like everyone said it usually costs more than you think. I would do some research before booking. My fiancé and I created some comparison lists of Djs and photographers with what they all included for what price and then we picked the best one. I found looking at the wedding wire venues helpful to find discounts. We got 100 dollars off our DJ because of a 10% wedding wire discount and another 100 off for booking a year before our wedding.

Also when looking for a photographer consider if you want to pay extra for them to create your album with back and forth edits or if it’s something you can do yourself. I am going to talk to my photography teacher if he knows a good site to use. I’ve used photo books Canada and it’s fairly easy to use and there are usually group ons for sale for discounts. Not sure if there is a better website for it.

Everything costs more than you think! That's what I've found. Do some preliminary research. Before we chose a budget, we looked at different venues and got quotes for their location and menu. Once we saw an average price, we visited venues that were in our budget. We started with a $15k budget and it has grown to $18k for roughly 120 people.

There are ways to cut down costs. Serve appetizers or dessert instead of a sit down dinner. Reduce the number of guests. Community centres tend to be cheaper but you have to do the set up and clean up yourself (and sometimes rent linens and dishes). Don't serve alcohol or cash bar. Off season weddings can be cheaper, or weddings not on Saturday (I honestly didn't find these to be true for me as the venues I was looking at had a set rate for the space regardless of the day or the event)

I had originally thought my budget was going to be around $15k.... I’m at $20k. Do your research! Ask for quotes on everything and anything you might be interested in. Just cause you ask for a quote doesn’t mean you have to book them. But the cost of everything is definitely what caught me off guard about wedding planning.

Venue will most likely be your biggest expense, so if you're able to keep your numbers down, that'll be a huge help. The longer you have to plan and shop around for everything, the better deals you can wait for or find or find a way to make something yourself, and that can help too.

How many guests are you thinking? What day of the week? How much decor are you thinking you'd want? Open bar or cash bar?

There are lots of ways to be cost effective, but some of the major basics are head count and the type of venue you want/need, to start off the budget.