How to save money

I saved money on the bouquets and boutonnieres by getting fake flowers so I could splurge on beautiful real floral centrepieces which the guests will see more up close anyway.

Our venue choice by far saved us the most money, by picking a non traditional venue we saved easily 1000 or more. Shopping around for caterers and photographers can save a ton as well. I am not doing as much DIY as I expected but I have been shopping around for decor both online and in-stores. Clearance and coupons are my best friends.

This isn't a savings tip. but one thing that just mentally helps me is that each pay we are paying vendors more of what we owe. so when we have extra money. I give it to a vendor. so that way I don't have it on hand. and when the final bill is due. there won't be much to pay.

if you are wanting to do an open bar or toonie bar. find a venue that will let you bring your own booze. we are having a large wedding with a lot of big drinkers. and by getting a hall that lets us BYOB we are saving 6K

wedding dress wise - david's bridal or clearance rack at another bridal store. don't use the in store seamstress. you will usually find better prices (and better work) going to someone outside of a bridal store

décor is a HUGE way to save to. you can still have everything pretty and not spend a lot. whether you DIY (dollar store is your friend...dollar tree lets you order online so you know you can find enough of what you need). and check out fb groups/marketplace in your area. people are constantly selling wedding things

food wise. buffet is usually the most affordable. but if you don't want buffet. look into family style. we are doing that. they bring platters of food to each table. guests get to pick how much they want. but they aren't in a buffet line. I love family style serving.

hope some of this helps!

I am trying to keep our wedding budget low as well. That is why we started planning early because when you start early, you can wait until things go on sale and you have more time to shop around to get better deals. Also, my FH and I have committed to put aside $750 each month (both of us contributing the same amount) so when the wedding comes, we would already have the money ready. Most of the costs comes closer to the actual day so we do have some time to save up!

View quoted message Yeah, I am a crafty person in general but I have been debating doing my own flower (with fakes) for this reason. Never done flower arranging soooo realistically I going to botch some bouquets on the way...lol

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And the cost of screw ups lol

(I am not a crafty person so I would definitely go through a lot of extra materials because of screw ups lol)

* this is a bit long, sorry, but I have been doing this too so it hit home! Lol*

Though my fiance and I haven't finalized a lot of plans, like you, we have been looking into alternatives for saving money/keeping the budget small/reasonable. A few of the things we have found researching idea wise or discussed:
- Instead of sending printed save the dates, make a video and e-mail to people. The few people who don't have e-mails you can call or burn it onto a CD (the 4 or 5 cds are going ro be less expensive than 50+ STD)
- E-invites and RSVPs. Many wedding websites have an on-line RSVP. Facebook event for it with invite is another thing I have seen. If you are not artsy, you can buy a design digitally on Etsy for under $15-$20 and attach to the e-mail instead of getting printed. Like the STD, you might have print one or two for the non-techy people.
- If you are artistic, design your own stationary. GIMP is a free program you can use, and DaFonts.com has so many free fonts that are causual to classy for whatever style weding you are having. Youtube has a billion tutorials for GIMP too. I am doing this, but I already use GIMP on a regular basis and am a total art nerd.
- Use any discount. A lot of DIY brides here on wedding wire mention Micheals 50% off coupons. They are great, but also think of any other one that could apply to you/your fiance (or even someone willing to purchase something if you gave the money) like teacher, student, military, services (emt,rcmp, etc), senior, enployee, etc. Aldo, membership discounts can be worth it. Where I am DIYing a lot of the wedding involvong signs/ fabric, the Fabricville membership for discounts is going to save me way more than the cost of the membership itself.
- Start early and buy end of season. This was a great tip a friend of mine gave me especially for bridesmaid dresses. If you have a traditionally popular spring colour, go out woth your bride tribe at the beginning of the year before when everything is marked to go. Same is true for most seasonal items or second hand items for weddings that would be the same season as your wedding.
- explore alternative venue options, but do the math. I looked into the price of a less expensive venue with renting all the chairs,catering, etc myself and it worked out to be cheaper than some all-in-one deals at resorts or hotels...it also worked out to be more expensive than half of them too.
- if your venue has a sound system you can use or you have a family member with equipment you can borrow, do playlists instead of a dj. If you ask someone to MC, they can also cue specific songs or change lists (dinner vs dancing music)
- instead of a DJ and dance, do alternative entertainment. A friend of my fiance skipped the dance and took a fraction of what the DJ would have cost to boost their favours budget at their wedding. They bought board games as favours and everyone got to open them up and play them. For what I heard, it worked well as an ice breaker and, where they had a lot of families there, to entertain the kids too. Still worked out less expensive in the end.
- lower the size of wedding itself, but it sounds like you got this one in hamd already. Fewer people means lower per person expenses (food, venue size, etc). This can be a balancing act with who you want there though, so tricky one sometimes.
- Have a smaller "Wedding cake" and get simple sheet cakes (or dessert bar...bulk barn is amazing for saving on this idea, especially with their discounts and coupons) to substitute for numbers. You will save on the decorating time done by the chef on the fancy cake versus a simple iced sheet cake with a simple trim.
- If you are willing to put in the time and cannot get it cheaper in bulk, DIY some things.
- Dollarstores! I have found basically the exact same item at a dollar store that I saw at craft stores for projects I have done in the past. Worth a check.
- Go to and take advantage of any wedding shows in your area. I have been to one or two as a MOH for my sister (also engaged). A lot of vendors will offer discounts for booking that day (I would personally do research before going on some of the vendors abd general pricing of services) or draws for free services (one I saw was for free a weding cake). There is a show where I live coming up that they do a giant clearance blow out on dresses from all the boutiques to get rid of previous years styles (50%-90% off wedding and bridesmaid dresses). Good place to save on attire. Check out what your area offers.
- know and ask about every fee with vendors and venue. Some are optional but added in for quotes because they are standard in packages.
- If you haven't already set your date, pick an off day or season. The difference can save hundreds for picking Sunday or Friday instead of Saturday with venues or more for late fall/winter wedding vs. Summer. Even the day of day (morning vs evening) can reduce venue costs sometimes
- See if venues will let you bring your own alcohol. You can buy in bulk and it is cheaper. Do a cash bar instead of an open one (or have a dry wedding...this works better for morning weddings I have been told)
- ask venues and vendors if they offer a discount for everything being paid all at once/ upfront. Some places in my city have a policy like this. I would know the refund policy inside and out if you opt for this though.
- swapping flower decor for non-flower decor. Works our cheaper in most cases because you can buy during sales and keep longer.
- If you are doing flowers, Cost Co has great prices. If you are doing a florist, find out what grows locally and is in season at the time of your wedding. They will be less per stem and lower the flower cost.
- Don't rent a limo. Use your own or a bridemaid's car. Same goes for any other splurge like options that you already have a good alternative for.
- This is one I don't completely agree with, but there is a good agrument for it: get quotes without mentioning it is a wedding using descriptions like "family gathering amd celebration with 70 people at a hotel ballroom". Quotes given are often cheaper than mentioning "wedding" initially until you have a quote in writing and coming clean before the event. I don't like this idea personally (both the honesty factor and getting off on a bad foot with vendors), but people on various wedding forums say it has saved them a lot.
- Ask friends and family if you can take advantage of their talents with non-day of prep (within reason and respect any declines). Example: If we do physical invitations, my mom's handwriting is really pretty naturally, so I am going to ask her to address the envelopes instead of a caligrapher (which can be $1.50 or more per envelope!) while everyone else assembles and stuffs.

Anywho, that's all I can think of off the top of my gead at the moment.

Hope everything goes fabulous for your big day and happy planning! :-)

View quoted message This is true. If you are doing DIY on things and don't regularly craft/art/etc, also remember to include cost of supplies or equipment you might not have already (like punches, paper, adhesives, etc)

Pick a venue that allows you to bring in your own alcohol. We are budgeting being able to save approximately $5000 by doing this, and we are going to be doing a toonie bar, so all the alcohol will end up being paid for by our guests and one less expense for us.

DIY as much as you can, and use second-hand things. pay attention to local buy and sell pages for weddings, we have been able to buy a lot of decorations at a fraction of the cost and even some materials for other decorations.

Keep things simple, the more extravagant and glamorous you go, the more expensive things get.

Minimize the guest list!! Honestly almost 80% of our budget is to just feed the number of people we have.....

A lot of people are suggesting DIY, and for the most part that is good advice, however it's always a good idea to compare costs to see whether certain items actually *are* cheaper when DIY'd as well as to account for your time as part of the cost involved. My soon to be sister-in-law ended up forgoing a few different DIY items in favour of bulk order because they were either going to actually be more expensive to DIY or because the monetary savings were so minimal they didn't justify the time investment.

Keep the décor super minimal, have minimal guest favours, and DIY as much as you can lol.

I'd try to find a venue where you can have both your ceremony and reception. You'll save on fees plus no need for Limo rentals if you can have your photos done on site. I watch for sales and try not to pay full price for any extras. Because I found our photo booth vendor on this site, I save 5 %. all the savings add up.

DIY saves a lot. Order decoration items ahead of time from places like aliexpress. Also do what your comforter with versus all the glam and excessive stuff other weddings are doing. It's easier if you keep the amount of guests small like with just close relatives and friends. Also see what talents you have available in your circle. For example my sister's friend is a baker so were doing our cake with her at a discount

Set a budget and a guest count so you venue knows how many your inviting.

Other vendors you will look into will depend on which direct you want to invest. First option is to look into students on colleges taking photography and videography starting out saving spending less. Second option is to get someone experienced and spend what they charge for a package.

Venues can add up in costs for open bar, plated service, corkage fees and alcohol if bringing in by you. Inquire if there is a package that has everything included and how long for the open bar before your getting charged for the rest. Ask if they do cash bar to avoid extra costs.

Purchasing vs renting decor and backdrop will bring the cost way down and no hassle of selling off after the wedding. Look into companies that have everything you need.

Flowers are not worth the cost for fresh unless you go costco which most brides have opted to go with. Alternative is waiting on specials at Michaels Arts & Crafts for artificial greenery and flowers.

One thing i did a lot of is online shopping for small items and saved over $500 considering the company refunds your money if your not satisified or not arrived on time/received at all. Amazon and ebay were my best friends in general.

Invitations, i created the wedding/Reception, Accommodations/RSVP cards, thank you cards, menu cards and stickers with names and dates and personalized pen for the guest book. A month ago, I created the wedding books too and saved more than what photographers charge. Size was small easy to store in a drawer too.

Less guests = less money.

If you arent picky you can cut a lot of the traditional aspects to weddings and save a lot. We did a 140 guest wedding for under $11,000. Any the wedding didnt come off as 'cheap' at all. We had a lot of people tell us it was one of the best weddings they had ever been to.

Our biggest cost savers:
-no DJ , we just made a spotify playlist

-backyard wedding. No venue fees other than the $450 to use the park for the ceremony. Paid close to $3300 in rentals though so depending on venue may not be cheaper.

-cheap wedding dress, picked off a clearance rack. $400 with alterations

-self catered, my mom amd step dad made all the food themselves and we just hired people to serve it. Estimated we saved over $3000 doing it this way.

-no fancy cake, just picked up a bunch of Costco desserts (pies and squares)

-minimal decor, almost everything is re-sellable. What we did have was almost all DIY.

-no bartender, we got various wines and 4 kegs of beer that were on tap. Bar was self-pour and worked out well. We drank 140L of beer and 50 bottles of wine which was either home brew or bought in sale at half price. Total cost was approximately $1100.

-no videographer.

-no limo, we drove ourselves all day and then just took a cab home at the end of the night

-instead of buying fancy gifts for our wedding party, we paid for the girls dresses and the guys pants, shirt and suspenders. They really appreciated it and we were able to get everything on sale between Davids Bridal and Moores. I think I got my girls dresses for under $800 for all 5. The 4 guys (and the groom) we got outfitted for about $800 as well. So this may hVe cost us a bit more, but was worth it to save our party the costs.

-minimal flowers. We just got bouquets and boutineers for the wedding party. I think it cost about $400.

Thats all i can think of right now. Weddings are horribly expensive, and it seems every time you turn around theres another cost, but there definitely are a lot of ways to minimize it!

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Watch for any hidden fees, and add ons. For example, here in Niagara one DJ service gave a base price for the night doing music etc, but would charge you to rent a microphone per hour if you wanted someone else to do MC.

Any time you put "wedding" in front of a service, they automatically charge more because they think everyone is made of money.

Look at places that rent out wedding decorations. I have found a business in the area that will rent card boxes, signs for the ceremony, and decorations for the reception at a low cost. So that saves you from paying for all this stuff and then having it sit in storage for years!

Take your time to plan and get a rough guest list count right away (I found once the guest count climbed over 100 costs increased exponentially). So keeping the guest count at or below 100 is a good way to keep costs in check if it’s possible.

Sit down and prioritize what is important to you on the day (flowers, food, photos, bar, guest count, etc). Once you know your budget start to divide it up using average prices for your area. I was shocked by how much something’s were in my area and it’s really made us rethink our total budget. When you know what’s not a priority to you it’s easier to adjust the budget from there.

Look for student or new vendors (photography, makeup and hair, videography,coordinator, dj) as they’re prices can be much better since they don’t have the customer base yet but you still get quality work. This also goes for rentals (we found a new company and they are giving us a big discount since they are trying to build their customer base).

DIY isn’t always cheaper if you need to buy all the supplies and tools yourself. Etsy is a great place to look for a lot of those diy projects as well as Facebook resale pages for yourself.

Our guest list right now is at 65 people wedding is still over a year away but we’re trying to keep it lower then 70.

Our guest list is less than 60 people, so we opted for a restaurant reception. It’s a seperate room from the resto and we can decorate and bring our own cake. We also have a limited menu with 5/6 choices to choose from. The room is free when over 25 people, so it works for us. Perhaps check in you area.

But like Tori says...the smaller the guest list, smaller the expenses.

Happy Planning xx

See we live in New Brunswick and we actually got lucky and have a friend who owns a barn and farm land they are letting us use for around $500 for the ceremony and reception. But this means we have to rent everything. Tables , chairs probably a tent incase of rain

Well the most obvious one that everyone told me (and I didn't listen) - was to keep the guest list small. I found that if you get a venue that is all inclusive you end up paying for things like "executive chefs" which adds up as well so I recommend using a venue that lets you bring in your own catering. Another big thing is location of said venue. For me; everywhere in the city of Winnipeg (not including halls - which I didn't want) was expensive and couldn't hold my 200+ guest list. We chose to go 45 minutes past the perimeter and got the venue for the entire weekend for $5000 which if we add the food cost and bar cost we are only at $15,000 when compared to the $30,000 starting price in the city! If all of this is still too much money then I would for sure say that a hall is a great way to save money and then you can put some of that saved money towards decor to make it your own.