[Zucchero]

I’m getting married next year and I’m looking for tips on how to save on wedding expenses. What are some effective ways to cut costs without sacrificing the special moments and overall experience?

Any advice on budgeting, DIY ideas, or money-saving strategies would be greatly appreciated!

[Marsha]

Elope and go on an awesome honeymoon.

[Diane]

No greater waste of money than on Weddings and Funerals. Use your local Church, have a few flowers, Tie bows on the pews. ONE Maid of honor and ONE Bridesmaid.

He gets a Best Man and one Groomsman. RENT the dress, you will never wear it or show it..You’ll pay to preserve it, store it in an attic and when you die, somebody will ooh and awe over it for a minuet & then sell it at a yard sale. The Cake need not be fancy, the topper is all you will keep 😉 and it will eventually wind up in a box somewhere.

DO hire a photographer, the pictures are what you will cherish but you don’t need a 1K professional ones, since everybody got phones

[Kay]

Whatever you do, remember that the marriage is SO much more important than the wedding!

[Kimberly]

Me and my BBF chose same date and same wedding venue (to save money). Her weddimg was 2pm. My wedding was 6pm. We split costs for flowers, aisle runners at the church. We also both had our wedding receptions, seperately, at our each church reception hall.

[Lora]

Go to a justice of the peace with 2 friends for witnesses.

[Jimmy]

Remember it’s about you and him making a commitment. Not entertaining your guests. Honestly I was overwhelmed by all of it.

Hindsight tells me I was not in the moment at all. I was too busy wanting it to be perfect for the guests.

If I had a do over I would have just went to the courts then hosted a pot luck and announced the big surprise!

Proposed: Married 40+ years: How to show appreciation for a supportive spouse?

[Patricia]

We got married in a gorgeous ceremony on a public beach! All decked out, but just the minister and our photographer, along with all the public that realized what was going on and watched! We had a reception at our house about a month later and had just close family and friends! We spent a total of $1100 and the day was TRULY about us!

The following year, we had saved enough to go to Europe for the first time! Paris and Rome, which really felt like an absolute dream!

[Christine]

Courthouse wedding and take the money you would’ve spent on a huge wedding and instead spend it on the honeymoon.

[Diane]

Send invites electronically, if you brave ask folks to bring pot luck, definitely let them buy their own drinks. Do not have a destination wedding, it’s so rude to expect folks to drive far and pay for own accommodation. Centre pieces forest theme, sticks and dried leaves.

Church flowers can be a vase filled with apples.

[Regene]

Decide what you want and what can do without.

[Lou]

I did my whole wedding for £2,000. This was 14 years ago so I’m aware that things are now more expensive. But anyway here’s my tips

1) Buy second hand, do the whole wedding dress shopping to find what you like. Then find a second hand dress on vinted or eBay. Wedding dresses have very little resale value, so you’ll get a bargain. Find a good seemstress to alter in for you if needed.

2) Second hand bridesmaids dresses.

3) Choose a popular colour for your colour scheme. You’ll find it easier to find bargains in popular colours then some obscure shade.

4) Get married on a week day, anyone that’s important enough to be missed will book a couple of days of work

5) Order direct from China, use Hacoo or Ali express. You’ll be amazed at the savings!

6) check out fake flower arrangements, I had beautiful bouquets of foam roses made by someone on eBay. I paid £100 for 2 bouquets and made my own baskets for the flower girls.

7) really consider what you want and what will make your day special. I couldn’t afford a luxury car to take me to the reception and I didn’t miss it. I also remember getting fixated on the need for chair covers at the reception. I couldn’t afford them and in the end the wedding was beautiful without them.

Wedding cakes are expensive, but you can buy a tiered cake stand off Amazon and the just buy 3 cakes. If you want to save even more, get the cakes plan iced and decorate them yourself. You’ll find amazing cake toppers on Amazon.

9) my brother in-law did a ‘pot luck’ wedding. All the guests bought a dish, and since everything was made with love it was the best tasting wedding food I’ve ever tasted.

10) Congratulations

Another topic: How do married couples invest money? Joint or separate accounts?

[Susan]

American Legion rents a party room with a nice kitchen.

[Lynn]

Girl, I’ve got you if you’re willing and you’re really frugal? when my husband and I got married.

We had a wedding at home we invited just close family and friends and asked everyone to bring a dish.

My husband picked flowers from our yard which happened to coincide with the time they were blooming I bought my dress at a discount store he just wore a nice suit we spent less than $500 on everything including rings now of course that was a long, long time ago depending how frugal you’re willing to go you got this.

[Kim]

My best advice is to go for something lowkey! I got married 2 years ago and we found an old barn as a venue we rented for 2500 for the weekend. I got my white “prom dress” on clearance, $50.

We had a local barbecue place that caters buffet style, and a local DJ that was fairly reasonable.

We chose a few things to splurge on that were important to us like photos and having an open bar, and for the rest went with relatively cheap options for the rest.

[Lisa]

My brother got married in Mexico. He saved money on the wedding for every “night” that his guests booked in the hotel. About 40 of us went so ultimately his wedding was entirely free. No one gave them gifts as our attendance was their gift but it was without question the best wedding I’ve ever been to. Spectacularly beautiful, surrounded by a week vacation with a hunch of friends and family.

I had a very budget friendly wedding (got married in the back yard) and still spent a fortune compared to him.

[Dot]

Order plain iced cake in 2-3 sizes. Order pesticide free flowers and petals from a florist. Order your own topper or decorate with the flowers.

Stack your own cake once you get to your venue.

Petals surrounding the cake on the table.

Do NOT tell them it’s for a wedding (or your starting price will be $150+). Saw this suggestion in a magazine years ago and saved a lot of money.

Preferred: I am getting married soon and I bought a $300 dress that I just like, but I want a $1400 dollar dress

[Alexus]

If you do want a bigger celebration, don’t feel guilty. It’s easy for people to say “elope” but some people have always dreamed of your big day and that’s ok!

Weekday weddings are the way to go! Even Friday can be cheaper. Do it early afternoon with finger foods so your guests are fed but you don’t have the costs associated with a formal dinner.

Costco for flowers!! Or make your own using felt.

[Maureen]

Pick one or two things to splurge on that are important to you. Then find ways to do budget versions of the rest.

Keep your priorities in line. Sure, it’s your big day, but there’s so much crazy messaging in our culture that says you have to spend huge amounts of money to make it look perfect and be perfect.

If we had it to do again I’d do a guest list of about 50 people, politely tell my mom to buzz off when she whined that it really need to be 150 and we need to invite all the extended cousins of cousins, spend about $4000 on a great backyard wedding with good food, a decent photographer, and a lot of heart, then spend another $2000 on about 2 years of monthly marriage counseling to help us build an amazing relationship foundation.

One day is just one day. Your relationship will be one of the biggest parts of your life for decades to come.

[Author]

Posts