How to Save Money at Your Wedding

This post is not about how to save money by creating a lot of your wedding items through DIY, or asking your friends and family to pitch in with services, or how to negotiate to save money. I think by now, couples know to save money, they just have to put in the time and do a lot of the work themselves. As such, here are some other (unconventional) suggestions on how to save money at your wedding!

1. Borrow and rent for your wedding.

Often it is cheaper to rent than to purchase them from IKEA for example. A perfect example of this is if you are hosting your own wedding or your catering company does not provide cutlery or plateware. You may think it is cheaper to purchase everything from IKEA and then you will own it afterwards right? But honestly, what are you going to do with a 100 plates afterwards? Sell it to someone with the same idea? This is a lot harder than you think. Another perk to renting is you will get better quality items and you can afford to get a side plate, salad plate, entree plate, and dessert plate. There is no way you would have purchased all of these plates right?

2. Barter and trade services.
If you are a graphic designer that can help your DJ redesign their business cards, just talk to them about potentially trading services. Bring this up only if you know your DJ is actually looking to redesign his business cards. Don't start the convo by dissing his cards. Another thing not to do is ask a vendor for a discount in exchange of telling all your friends about him/her. I've had this asked of me before and my answer was: You are going to be so happy with my services that you will WANT to tell your friends and family about me.

3. Plan your wedding early.
If you plan your wedding early, it gives you time to budget and save along the way. Often couples throw out a number as their wedding budget without knowing how much everything is. One couple decided on a wedding budget and after factoring the reception costs, learned they only have $3000.00 for everything else for their wedding. If you plan early enough and find yourself in the same position, you might still have lots of months to save for your wedding. Planning your wedding early also prevents from hefty last minute costs, such as booking an overbooked vendor or rush shipping costs on wedding decor. Word of caution to all my clients and readers: Always plan your wedding within your means, try not to go into debt for your wedding.

4. Don't be picky.
The more open and flexible you are with all things related to your wedding, the more savings are open to you. A photography package for 7 hours can be significantly different in costs as opposed to a 9 hour package. Wanting a specific shade of teal for your chair covers or table cloths also mean big bucks. I'm not asking you to settle but if you are flexible to a shade of teal that is not quite the same shade as your bridesmaid's dress sash, you will save some money in the long run.

5. Sell everything after your wedding.
This is a lot easier if you don't have emotional attachments to everything. Decor can obviously be sold online but so can everything else you can think of. You never know who might want everything you had for your wedding. You can also sell your wedding gown online or on consignment. Try selling everything soon after your wedding. You want to make your items available and early enough for someone else's wedding.

Got any more tips on saving money? Make sure you comment below to share your tips with other brides!

~Monica Hui
Owner, Lead Planner and Designer

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Arina B photography via Green Wedding Shoes