Brides, grooms, parents of the newlyweds- EVERYONE wants to know how to cut down the cost of a wedding without sacrificing on the unique touches that matter most to you and you sweetie! From the venue & catering to recycled decor & crafty finance tips, our Wedding Experts are showing you the best ways to cut down on wedding costs & save money- all the while hosting the most magical, and most spectacular day of your life.
The most expensive part of the wedding is typically the venue, food and beverages. Here are some successful ways to optimize your venue budget:
- Find a public venue with low rental fees, and bring in a reasonable caterer. We love food trucks!
- Consider a partial cash bar or even just serve beer and wine to avoid the high cost of a full open bar – your friends and family will drink more than you think! When it’s time to close the bar, you will be having such a good time that you may make a poor financial decision by leaving it open.
- Have a destination wedding! This shortens the guest list (only your nearest and dearest will come) and event costs are much lower in some of the popular destination wedding locations like the Rivera Maya. Plated dinner on the beach for less than $30 per guest – drinks included? Yes, please!
Think outside the box! Here are some creative ways to save money on all the little wedding details:
- Find a venue that offers natural beauty so that you can save on flowers and other decorations. Gardens, beachfront – let nature decorate (inexpensively).
- Recycle and reuse for your centerpieces – candles in hurricane glasses, find items in thrift stores – one quick Pinterest search will give you lots of ideas!
- Skip the expensive, elaborate invitations. Build a wedding website to provide your guests with the majority of information, and opt for a simple, elegant (and inexpensive) invitation.
Keep your wallet as full as your heart- below we’ve highlighted some fun (and easy!) ways to fund your wedding day!
- Build a honeymoon registry. This is a way for guests to gift you wonderful experiences for your honeymoon and wedding. The secret here is that you receive these gifts as cash – for you to use as you wish.
- Have a huge garage sale – you will be combining households and getting lots of household gifts anyway, so clean house and make some money before the wedding.
- Check to see if your bank offers something like Bank of America’s Keep the Change program – each transaction is rounded up to the next dollar, and the balance automatically goes into savings. Or, set up a weekly amount to save, and write yourself a check.
And last, but surely not least- The Ever After Wedding Budget Calculator is the ultimate, FREE wedding planning tool that helps you save money and cut costs! It estimates your wedding venue costs, and helps you understand how much you can spend on your wedding ceremony, wedding reception location, as well as beverage, bar and food costs.
There it is- the best ways to make the most of your hard earned wedding budget, without sacrificing all the bells & whistles that mean the most to you. Happy Planning, Happy Saving!
