A Guide To Planning Your Wedding On A Budget

Weddings are a lot of work. With a long list of vendors, a countless number of decisions to make, and the pressure to have the perfect day, it can be overwhelming to plan your wedding on a budget. Even on a tight budget, some elements of your wedding can make it difficult to stick to an affordable plan. You might not know where to start or what you’re even working with.

The following guide will cover everything from saving money on your venue, food and drinks, flowers and décor, music and entertainment, and much more. We want your wedding day to be about love and family-not about any financial stress you might be feeling.

Set a budget and stick to it

One of the first steps to planning your wedding on a budget is setting up a budget. Create a list of all your planned expenses and plan out how much you can spend. Estimate the amount of money you need for each purchase, and try to stick to that amount as closely as possible. If you’re having trouble sticking to your budget, start cutting back on expenditures that are not necessary or items that you don’t care about.

When it comes to weddings, the less spending you do, the more money will be set aside for other aspects of wedding day life. The best thing is to identify what you can realistically do yourself rather than pay a professional.

Find out what you want to prioritise

You and your partner need to discuss your priorities and find out what is most important to you. Figure out what elements of the wedding you would like to prioritise and what you’re willing to compromise on.

For example, you might decide that the top priority of your wedding is the venue, then the food, then the flowers. Knowing this will help guide your decisions as you plan. Some things can’t be compromised, the wrong venue and memories will be tainted. You can get value from cheap wedding rings but it’s important to remember you will wear it for your married life.

Find a Theme

A theme will help you stick to your budget and still have an event that’s worth celebrating. There are many great wedding themes that you can choose from rustic, vintage, destination wedding, and more. Finding one that matches your style and personality will make it easier to do the planning with less worry about the cost.

Venue

If you are not able to afford a traditional venue, check out alternative options, like churches, outdoor locations, or even your back garden. Even if you have a tight budget, it’s important to have an actual location for your wedding.

Ways to cut costs include a weekday wedding, or you can also ask someone with a large back garden or property if they would be willing to let you use it for the event for a fee. The main goal is to find an affordable location that still meets your needs.

Photographer

You may need to save up between £1000 to £1300 for the photographer but the pricing is all dependent on how many hours they work and where they are travelling to. If they are travelling to a new town or city then you may need to pay for the travel expenses and possibly hotel expenses.

Traditional photographers can be very expensive but there are some creative ways to find a cheaper option. You can ask your friends or family to take pictures for you on the day of the wedding; they could even make you an album as a memento of the day. It all just depends on if you want high-quality pictures that are taken professionally by the photographer or you just want simple pictures to capture your big day.

Caterer

This is often the first thing people bring up when they are trying to plan a budget, and it’s easy to understand why. There are ways to reduce costs like for example, finding a catering company that specializes in “catering on demand” or “family style” catering so you can save on labour costs. You can also save money by requesting a buffet instead of a sit-down dinner if you have a smaller guest list and don’t want to hire servers.

Wedding dress

Your wedding dress could be one of the most expensive items of your entire wedding. With that in mind, there are some creative ways to save money on your wedding dress. For example, you could buy a newer dress at an upscale consignment store or even get a sample dress from a designer. If you think about it, these dresses are only worn once and would be more than happy for someone else to get some use out of them.

You could also save money by using simpler styles of dresses rather than buying the latest fashion trends. This way it’s possible for you to find something that’s stylish but affordable. You can also find dresses at lower prices if you’re willing to purchase online rather than in person. Some websites like Amazon offer discounts if you’re willing to wait for your order (most likely up to two months). And lastly, you could make your own wedding dress. There are many easy tutorials on how to do this with no sewing experience necessary.

Guest entertainment

You can save money on your wedding by doing some of the décor yourself. For example, if you are planning to use flowers in your décor, consider growing them yourself or purchasing them at a local farmers market. If you buy online, make sure to buy wholesale and plan early so the flowers will be fresh on your big day.

Similarly, you can save money on decorations by opting for DIY projects instead of traditional suppliers. You can find plenty of tutorials online with creative ideas for centrepieces and other decorative items that are easy to do yourself with just a little time and creativity.

The last thing you want is to spend all of your budget on the decor only to have it look unoriginal or unsophisticated because you didn’t spend enough money.

Invitations

Too often, the cost of invitations is one of the first things people cut out when planning a wedding on a budget. But there are ways to make this cost minimal and still have an elegant result.

Instead of ordering professionally printed invitations, you can order free printable invitations online and buy some nice quality cardstock at your local craft store. It’s also possible to find pre-made invitation templates online that you can download and edit with your own information. Some websites will do all the work for you by having all the materials in one place.

You might also consider buying or making your own address labels to save on postage costs. You could even combine this with customizing your return address labels to tie in with the theme of your wedding.

If you’re looking for high-quality but low priced invitations, try using wax seals or stamps instead of envelopes with sealing wax or gold foil seals; they look lovely and can make a great impact on your guests.

Honeymoon

Deciding where to go on your honeymoon can be a difficult decision. You want to pick a location that is relaxing and affordable, but if you go somewhere too cheap, it might not live up to your expectations.

There are even some great deals to be had on the Internet if you look hard enough with even cheap flights for a European honeymoon. One way you can save money is by picking a holiday destination during off-peak season. This won’t only save you money on the price of the airfare, but also on hotel rates as well as other costs associated with an increased demand for those services.

If you’re not too bothered about going abroad then there are many places that you could honeymoon in the UK that cost far less than a traditional world famous destination.

Conclusion

In the end, you’ll have a beautiful wedding on a budget. Plus, you’ll be able to enjoy your wedding without worrying about finances for months in advance. All in all, it’s worth it to take the time and think about how you can plan your wedding on a budget.