Maximise your Wedding Budget and Save Money

Save the dates & Invitations

As much as I would love to say that your Save the Date cards and Invitations will be kept by your guests, sadly, most will be on show for a few months and then placed in the bin. You could save yourselves quite a lot of money by designing your own and even asking a local printing company to print them for you, instead of instructing a boutique wedding stationery company. You could even jazz them up with craft essentials like diamanté’s, ribbon, lace etc you can pick these up cheaply from online shops like eBay.

Priorities

Create a list of areas of your Wedding day you both consider to be the main importance to you. You could allocate a larger part of your Wedding budget for those select things . You won’t mind cutting back on other expenses if you stick to the things you want the most for your wedding day.

Compromise

Unfortunately you are not always going to be able to afford everything you would like, so learn to compromise on things to save money. For example: Having a band rather than a DJ will be more expensive, but if entertainment is one of your top important aspects of the day, then get creative, look at local bands rather than the top Wedding band of the year.

Groomsmen and Bridesmaids

The more you have the more it will cost. Ensure you are only asking the people you truly want to play a big role in your Wedding. The guest list is always a tough one, but is one of the biggest things you can re-think in order to reduce overall costs. It is important that you have who YOU want there. It’s your day after all and additional guests will quickly bump up the overall cost. Do you need to offer plus ones?

Flexibility

Be flexible on the day of the week or season. Midweek or out of season Weddings could save you thousands. Look out for venues that offer Sunday offers, but do not up the cost if the Monday is a bank holiday. That way, the majority of your guests will not need to book time off work.

Drink

Sometimes providing your own alcohol could be cheaper, even with the venues corkage charge. Do the maths and negotiate in stores to get a bulk buy discount.

Food

Be creative with the menu. Speak with the caterer, tell them your budget and stick to it. You will be amazed what the experts can come up with. Cut out canapés unless you have a long drinks reception or make your own, if your venue allows. Be original and come up with quirky alternative to canapes; like popcorn.

Do you need to provide a dessert when you will be having cake? Cutting a course will save roughly £5.00 per person, dramatically reducing costs.

Consider having smaller options for the evening reception instead of a full buffet, for example cheese, crackers and chutney.

Hit the high street

Hit the sales in high street stores, you could save yourself a fortune on bridesmaid dresses and accessories or it could even work out to be more cost effective to buy the groomsmen’s suits than hire! You could also check out the local charity shops for hidden gems to decorate your venue.

Hire a Wedding Planner

It make seem counterintuitive, but Wedding Planners have lots of experience in negotiating prices, crunching the budget and have built up relationships with suppliers, this in turn can help save you money.

Do It Yourself

There are many ways to produce your own favours, name cards, invitations. YouTube, Pinterest and Google are a brilliant source for inspiration. If you are short on time, why not get your bridal party involved and make a night of it.

Recycle

Use the flowers from the centrepieces as thank you gifts or reuse the flowers from your ceremony to decorate your reception venue.

A little help from your friends

Ask your friends and family if they have anything you could borrow. Perhaps if you are going for the vintage theme, they may have mismatch china or lace table cloths?

Flowers

Ask your florist to only use seasonal flowers. The more popular flowers like Calla Lillies, Orchids, Peonies etc. tend to be more expensive.

Hire

Where you can, hire your decorative items. This could save hours of research and more often than none, save you money.

Last minute

If you can hold off or are arranging a last minute wedding, suppliers are more likely to offer their services at a reduced cost.

Stay local

When sourcing your suppliers, try to stay local. Yes, the supplier may travel to your destination but most of the time this will incur an additional charge for petrol or even a hotel for the night.

Wedding Website

There are an abundance of websites that offer free wedding websites. Save money on additional inserts to your invitations and upload all the important information your guests require for example: venue details, travel, accommodation etc. You can even send your invites through some websites, via email and ask guests to RSVP, so it’s one less worry for you.

Table layout

Be clever with your table layout and opt for larger tables, that way, you have fewer tables to dress and it will save you money.

The Cake

Wedding cakes may seem expensive, but when you take into account the time and effort spent hand crafting sugar flowers and matching details to your theme, it all adds up. Why not opt for fresh flowers or real lace instead?

You can order simple fruit or sponge wedding cakes from local supermarkets, like Marks & Spencer’s for a fraction of the price.

Be ahead of the scouts

Contact local music colleges on the lookout for talent, hit the web and find forums highlighting new wedding companies and don’t be afraid to give someone new to the industry a chance. You could save yourself a lot of money!

Get in touch with Anna Lee-Munro, Wedding Planning Specialists for further assistance with your wedding – CONTACT US

Wedding Planner Cambridge.