Saving Money Tips

Cheap wedding ideas for the Bride who wants to save money.. and make the Groom very happy!

Do you want a fairytale wedding on the cheap?  We have some cheap wedding ideas that will help you save money on the cost of your wedding. 

The good news for budget brides is that the era of the big wedding is coming to an end.  The fashion for weddings now is simple, happy, personal, and just a little bit quirky! Handmade is very much the trend, for invitations, favours and even wedding cakes.

The most important thing when planning a budget wedding is to set out your priorities.  If you have always dreamed of arriving at the church in a horse drawn carriage you should not compromise on that but make sure to make saving elsewhere. We have come up with some helpful tips to keep in mind while planning your big day.

Dates and Times

Off Days such as weekdays or Friday or Sundays (especially mornings and afternoons) are usually less expensive than the more popular Saturday evenings.  Off Seasons such as winter instead of spring or summer are less costly as well so timing can be the key to saving money.

Having a Morning Tea, Brunch or Lunch wedding will save you quite a bit.  With most weddings, there is a minimum spend for Saturday night (some places are around the $20,000 mark) but if you say you would like a lunch time wedding and be out of the venue by 4 or 5pm, they will lower their minimum spend quite substantially as they are still able to book a Wedding from 6pm that night.  Works well for everyone!

Guest List

Do not feel you have to invite everyone! This is your special day and it is 100% understandable if you cannot invite everyone you have ever known just for the sake of manners.

Why not invite people to your wedding and only invite a select bunch of people to attend the reception? This is a polite way of letting people know that your budget is limited, and you wish only family and super close friends to attend the after event.

Try to trim down the numbers, ask yourself when was the last time I saw so and so? Do i foresee them as friends/family in the future? If the answer is no or you haven’t seen them in ages – reconsider whether they are worth inviting. Be ruthless as after all it is your special day!

Trimming your guest list down this will help to save the costs on the catering and on the number of tables you have to decorate. Trimming your least by just 20 people or more can help save hundreds of dollars. Try to keep your list intimate with your closest friends and family.

Wedding Party

Try limiting the bridesmaids and the wedding party keeping it small will help to reduce unnecessary expenses.  If you have a big family and cant decide on only 2 or 3, dont have any.  If you chose to have just yourself and your soon to be hubby at the end of the aisle, there wont be any jealousy between siblings. Or if you only have a few close firends, just have a maid of honor and best man. If you let guilt get the better of you, your bridal party could look like this

Imagine how long it would take on your photo location shoots and how hard it will be to get everyone looking at the same time. It may cost you more with the photographer if it takes longer then expected to get the perfect shot.

Wedding Food

Speak to a wide variety of caterers and ask them what they can do for you. Leverage off your original discussions with each new caterer as the industry is very competitive and they are known for matching prices and discounting service fees to win business.

Food at weddings also tends to be overdone and overly flashy. Why not stick to lean meats and vegetables that are presented nicely? I am almost certain 90% of the guests would prefer a really well made steak and vegetables that is nicely presented over the oyster chicken couscous with caviar toppings. This will greatly decrease the cost of your wedding food and should be brought to the attention of the catering company on first discussions, as it will allow them to have a price range that can fit your wedding budget.

Simple changes in wedding planning can help to lower the costs, having a brunch instead of dinner time wedding will help to save on food. Keep the menu light and if at all possible make your own food or have your friends help with making the food.

Wedding Alcohol and Beverages

Wedding drinks and alcohol can drain a large portion of your budget very quickly. This is why it is crucial that the first thing you do is limit the drinks available to your favorite select few. For example; Wine and Beer, Wine and Spirits or a combination in between, as an open bar tends to finish very quickly when people can order any style of drinks they want.  If you are going for the beverage packages, try a 4hr package instead of the full 6hrs.  6hrs is a LONG time to be drinking and it eliminates the amount of drunks at the end of the night.  Nothing worse than having someone throw up on your dress or having people ruin your photos.

Wedding Invitations

Saving money on wedding invitations can be quite easy to do. These days we see a great deal of invites hand made with beautiful rice paper and multi coloured papers. All you need is a printer and a wide range of papers and rice papers so that you can design and develop your own invites. This will save you a lot of money from printing commercially, as the commercial printers will charge a premium for the papers and the construction of the invites once printed.
Why not sit down with your family one night and put them together over a movie?

We also supply DIY Printable invitations that start from as low as $45! (www.paperhearts.net.au)

Wedding Flowers

Flowers make your wedding beautiful; they also make your wallet lighter. Less is more with flowers, so ask your local florist whether they can arrange some beautiful displays that match the theme of your wedding.  Simple flowers back in fashion.. Gone are the days of 2,000 red roses.

When you go to your florist, do not mention it’s for your wedding, that “wedding” word magically adds another zero to your quote. You can save money on wedding flowers by booking well in advance and arranging your flowers yourself. All you need is someone with plenty of room in their fridge or a bath tub with some ice to leave the flowers in overnight, if the flowers need to be chilled.  Also, if you by chance know someone who is a registered florist (trade cert and business name) You can ask them to attend the local Flower Market with you and put in an order.  From my experience, you can purchase a bunch (12 stems) of Lisianthus for $9 each where your local florist will sell them to you for $25+  

Some ideas for cheap but elegant wedding flowers?? Thought you would never ask! So here are some flowers that are very cheap and look elegant, simple and unique when done properly:

Carnations – Spray or Stem

Sweet pea – Sweet Peas come in almost every colour.  They are great filler and they are also very elegant, simple and chic in a little bouquet by themselves.  They are a good idea for decoration and centerpieces, just chuck a bunch of different colours in a vase and your done!

Chrysanthemum

Lisianthus – Cheap alternative to roses.  Much more character and bloom if you ask me

Statice – Purple is my favorite, again this is a great filler or beautiful on its own.

Daisy’s - Not everyone is a fan of the humble Daisy but if you are after a very simple, garden theme, Daisy's are the go.  They are also good fillers.

Baby’s Breath – Now don’t cringe, we are not talking about the 80’s style baby’s breath, when done right, they look amazing amongst other flowers as a filler

Iris

Wildflowers – Living in Australia, we live amongst ample amounts of wildflowers and we should really take advantage of this.  You might think of the drabby brown or brown reds but some of our native flowers are really quite stunning and bright..

Lavenders – Not only do they smell devine, but if you are going for a boho/rustic look, these are amazing!

If you do want roses in your bouquet, maybe just have a few roses and add some peonies or lisianthus, it will be cheaper then all roses and will look great.

Time of Year to Get Married

This plays a large role in the costs of your wedding. Summer is especially expensive, with many weddings happening also in spring. Why not have a non conventional wedding in winter at a lovely water side restaurant or lodge? Or have some fun and create a “Winter Wonderland” Wedding theme.. Guaranteed most of your family and friends haven’t been to one before. Check out our Gallery for Inspirations for Winter Wonderland Themes

Wedding Cake

Seeing the same old cakes at every wedding, 3-5 tiers, white icing.. Sometimes with that grandmother fruit cake filling? Most Wedding Cake companies in Perth are costing couples $800-$1200! Why not do something different? For the price of say $300 - $500, you could have around 4-6 different large cakes and pies. Having a variety of different flavours is sure to please everybody. It will also look fantastic having cake buffet with different height and coloured cake stands.

You can also have a look on your local business websites for private bakers or cake makers.  Just because they don’t have a massively flash shop front, doesn’t mean they can’t possibly be as great.  Allot of the private businesses or people working from home will bake you cakes in different flavours so you know what you are getting.  Most big companies will not do that unless you are spending $1200+

Music

Gathering your own music together and/or renting a stereo system and hiring an up and coming DJ or a music student can help to cut your costs. Music students can also provide other forms of music such as instrumentals and even in some cases bands or ensembles at an inexpensive price.

Favours

Do you really need to give your guests presents for coming to your wedding? You have just spent thousands and thousands on a night for them to get dressed up and celebrate with free food and drinks.  If you want to give a little memento to remember your Wedding, by all mean go ahead, just dont feel obligated to do so because someone else did it at their wedding.