16 Ideas for Stretching your Wedding Budget
Advice 26.07.2022
With the cost of living on the rise, the wedding you have always dreamt of may feel a little out of your reach. Not so. You can still have beautiful and memorable wedding day while sticking firmly to your budget.
The important thing is to prioritise. Where do you want to spend the money and where are you happy to cut back? Here are our top 16 tips for stretching your wedding budget as far as possible.
Go off peak
Forget the Saturday wedding. Cool couples are opting for midweek weddings now and grabbing themselves a reduced rate in the process. Many wedding venues have a lower rate for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday weddings. So shift the date slightly and save money.
Don’t decorate
If the wedding venue you’ve chosen needs to be brought up to scratch with draping, floral displays or special lighting that could quickly get expensive. So opt for a wedding venue that already looks pretty and welcoming without you having to add anything else to it.
Or go DIY with the décor
If you do decide you want to add a personal touch, opt for DIY décor and get your family and friends involved. Have someone run up some homemade bunting, put old family photos in frames, or pick wildflowers and drop them into jam jars or tin cans as table centre pieces.
Cut the guest list
This can be difficult. But if you’re on a tight budget, reducing the number of people you invite is the way to go. Strike off work colleagues, plus ones, rarely seen relatives and people you don’t actually like as a starting point. A smaller guest list with only the people you love will make your wedding day more relaxing too.
Use silk flowers
Real flowers can be costly. So think about using silk flowers in your bouquet as a longer lasting and less expensive option. These days, artificial flowers look as good as the real thing, and you can have the exact colour and type of blooms you want all year round. After the wedding is over, repurpose the flowers into a floral display for your home as a lovely memento of the big day.
Or only use in-season fresh flowers
If you really don’t want to go without the lovely scent of fresh flowers, only choose flowers that are currently in bloom, stick to one kind of flower too and keep your bouquet small. Not using flowers that have been grown on the other side of the world will help keep costs down, as will having a bouquet that doesn’t feature a dozen different types of flowers. If you have a bouquet made from fresh flowers, choose silk flowers for the boutonnière and bridesmaids to save money.
Avoid a sit down wedding breakfast
The price per head of a three or four course meal can quickly mount up. To make the wedding breakfast more affordable opt for a buffet style meal or have a hog roast, BBQ, picnic or food truck. Or even better, have guests bring a dish instead of a gift. It’s always fun and a real conversation starter too.
Drop the cake
A fancy three tier wedding cake is impressive but pricey. Instead opt for a store bought cake - see Waitrose or M&S - and have someone decorate it with fresh fruits and flowers. Don’t like cake? Have a ‘cake’ made from your favourite cheeses instead.
Have cake for dessert
But if you’re all about the chocolate ganache, red velvet and you really want some kind of cake, serve it instead of a dessert to keep the catering costs down. Or have a tower of brownies instead and serve with coffee before the speeches start.
Don’t buy a new, expensive dress
Savvy brides these days are still choosing beautiful designer dresses. But they’re opting to hire instead of buy. Or browse for second-hand or vintage wedding dresses in specialist shops or charity shops. Or buy a dress from the high street that you will wear again. Coast, Monsoon and Phase Eight are all worth a look at for their gorgeous wedding collections.
Don’t buy new shoes
It’s tempting to go out and splash the cash on those 4 inch high designer shoes. But is anyone going to really see them? And chances are you’ll swap them out for trainers, flip flops or bare feet at some point in the evening. Have you got a pair of dressy shoes or sandals in your closet that could do the job and are already broken in? Or buy a pair of trainers and have them personalised. This is a cheaper option than those white Jimmy Choos you won’t wear again.
Ask the bridesmaids to buy their own dresses
Buying half a dozen never-to-be-worn-again bridesmaids dresses is costly. So ask your bridesmaids to buy their own dresses but with the caveat that they get to choose what they like. Within reason. You might want to give some kind of guidance around the colour or at least the palette. Your gals will almost certainly be happy to pay for their own dress if they really like it and it’s something they’ll wear again.
DIY your Music
A DJ is always going to be cheaper than a band. But an even more cost-effective option is to create your own Spotify list to play at various points during the day. Make sure you download the playlist to your device so you’re not relying on your venue’s Wi-Fi to stream your music.
Reduce the bar bill
A free bar is all well and good. But you may end up with a hefty bar bill to pay at the end of the night. When it comes to setting up your bar, a good option is to pay for wines and beers but not spirits. This is a good compromise that keeps costs down but ensures everyone still has a great time.
Cut out the extras
These are the things that are on the nice-to-have list but aren’t essential for people to have a good time. We’re talking about photobooths, dessert stands, sweet tables, wedding favours, individual place cards and individually printed order of the day handouts. Get creative and save money by upcycling an old palette for the order of the day.
Make use of other people’s stuff
Find out who your wedding neighbours are – those couples who have a wedding either side of yours – and see if you can share items such as candle holders, table cloths, lanterns or vases.
At Ash Barton, we also have the famous ‘Goody Cupboard’ which is full of lots of bits and pieces that get left behind after each wedding. You can help yourself to anything you find in there. It’s good for the environment to recycle items and it’s great for your wedding budget too.