Getting Married? Here Are Some Of The Best Budgeting Tips

When I began to plan my wedding, it didn’t take long for me to realize how expensive it was going to cost. Now, my wedding was back in 2017 – So I can only imagine that prices have continued to rise (and will continue to) as the years go on. There are a ton of ways to help save money on your special day. If you are interested in saving some money, here are the best budgeting tips.

TIPS: How To Budget For Your Wedding

Budget

First things first, figure out a general budget. Will your family be pitching in? Or is this something you are paying for completely alone? Set clear expectations of what your general budget is/what you feel comfortable spending. Once you identify a number that you would like to stay around, you can use it as your starting point. My in-laws offered to pay for the open bar, so we had that clear expectation right from the start. This was something we did not have to worry about putting money towards in our budget.

Non-Negotiables

Make a list of your non-negotiables. Most women have some idea of what things they MUST have in their wedding. Make a short list (3-5 things) that you feel like you absolutely want/need at your wedding. If you are able to come up with 5, you can probably narrow that down to 3. For me, it was a videographer, my dress, and our DJ. Everything else I was willing to cut corners on cost because it wasn’t as important.

Research

Do some research. I utilized TheKnot app to help me find all the vendors for my wedding. Once you enter in your location, the app will provide you with companies around your area. The app will show their photos, the websites of each vendor as well as reviews from their previous clients. This was extremely helpful for me. It also gives you an idea of what the average cost for the services you’re looking for. 

I truly think determining your non-negotiables is KEY to being able to save money and budget for your special day. When you can determine your non-negotiables at your wedding, you will figure out ways to cut corners with everything else. Here are some other easy swaps you can make to help budget your wedding.

Other Tips On How To Budget For Your Wedding

Cut down your guest list 
Skip the florals/make them yourself 
DIY as much as possible 
Have your wedding on a Friday or a Sunday – The cost differential can be HUGE
Don’t do a huge exit
Avoid outside rentals if possible (find venues that include a lot of what you are looking for)
Start planning early and Accumulate over time so you aren’t spending a large chunk of change on everything at once
Do your own makeup
Have a buffet style dinner vs. a plated meal
Skip Save-the-dates
Borrow what you can
Limit the plus-ones 
Keep your bridal party small
BYOB

Ways we were able to budget:

I will admit we were lucky on a lot of things which helped cut down costs. Here are the things we did specifically that helped cut down costs of our wedding:

Toured different venues: I had a dream venue that I wanted. But after touring and learning about the cost and the waitlist, I realized that the amount of money my ‘dream’ venues were asking for really wasn’t worth it. The venue was definitely not one of my non-negotiables. So we found a similar layout of the ‘barn’ style wedding that I wanted. We were also able to have it for a longer period of time (over 12 hours). With that, we were able to save a ton of money that we could use elsewhere.

In-laws paid for the open bar: I didn’t give much thought to having an open bar, but it was nice to have the offering from them.

A friend photographed our wedding: This saved a ton of money on wedding pictures. We of course still gave him a small gift because he wouldn’t accept any form of payment from us. He was more than happy to photograph our special day for us without the crazy cost.

We did a lot of DIY decorations: We spent a ton of time at craft stores. We did a lot of our table decorations which saved a ton of money. Craft stores always have a ton of sales. You can always search Pinterest for inspiration pictures.

Family and friends helped: We had so much help when it came to setting up all the decorations for the wedding. This was so helpful! It was nice to not have to pay someone else to set up and take down all the decorations.

We cut down the guest list significantly & didn’t use very many florals: I didn’t care much about having a lot of flowers at my wedding. If florals are important to you, don’t count out fake flowers. Fake flowers can look just as beautiful and save you a ton of money!

Weddings are definitely not cheap, especially if you are someone who has dreamt of your wedding for your entire life. But it is possible to have the wedding of your dreams without spending a fortune. If you are looking to save some money on your special day, I recommend start planning sooner than later and following a lot of the tips listed above

Check out my other blog post “5 Things I’ve Learned Since Being Married”

Check out our wedding video preview HERE