How to Cut Costs on Your Wedding: 10 Ways from an Event Organiser
Some Pre-Wedding Panic Never Hurts Anybody
This article can be read by two categories of people:
- those who have already made a wedding cost estimate;
- those who have not yet proceed with this task.
If you belong to the first group of people, the main thing is not to panic, not to run to the bank to apply for a loan and not to go to the nearest pawnshop to sell jewellery and consumer electronics. All you have to do is follow the example of the second group and adjust every point of your manuscript.
If you belong to the second group of people, take a pen, a piece of paper, a cup of latte, and proceed to draw up a wedding estimate following the presented advice.
To roughly understand the structure of wedding expenses, take a look at the table below. You can find statistical information about the wedding costs and the share of each item on the whole expenditure.
Item of the Wedding Expenditure
| Share of Costs, %
|
|---|---|
Restaurant, wedding banquet
| 40
|
Wedding rings
| 5
|
Invitations
| 2
|
Transport
| 8
|
Decoration of the hall
| 5
|
Photographer, video-operator
| 10
|
Host
| 10
|
Wedding dress, accessoires
| 10
|
Additional expenses
| 10
|
Objects of wedding expenditure
So, the main items of expenditure for the wedding preparation are:
- Clothing and jewellery;
- Registration;
- Transport;
- Restaurant / Banquet Hall;
- Wedding industry professionals;
- Additional expenses.
But not all of these points can be reduced in cost without negative consequences.
Approach the issue of saving money wisely. And before reducing wedding expenses by 40 per cent or more, ask yourself the question: "Why am I organizing all this?" Maybe in your case, it will be easier and more pleasant to spend the available funds for dinner at a restaurant with parents and a honeymoon.
Not everything that is expensive is good. Remember this and be brave in the way!
Way #1 Reduce Costs on a Wedding Car Service
Limousine is expensive, uncomfortable to park, turn around, manoeuvre in traffic jams, drive up to the places of the photoshoot. Choose more suitable for the city traffic car.
One of the most correct and effective ways is to ask for cars from friends invited to the wedding. Surely among the acquaintances of the newlyweds there are people with a suitable auto. In this case, the bride and groom have only to pay them for gasoline and decorate these cars.
Sometimes there are situations when a car is not suitable for a wedding procession due to just a few scratches. Compare the cost of renting a car in a special service and the cost of fixing these scratches. In most cases, it is more profitable to correct defects in the car than to rent another one on the side.
Way #2 Inexpensive Wedding Invitations
Invite guests on Facebook
Create a special chat on Facebook, Instagram or any other social network. Call there only those who will be your guest. A good variant is to create a website where your friends will not only find all the necessary information but will also be able to follow your preparations for the wedding.
Well, if you want to surprise your family and friends, shoot a video where, besides the story of your love, there will be an invitation itself.
This method is absolutely free, but you need to understand that in this case, you can't be sure that the invitation will reach all the recipients. You will have to ring up all guests and clarify whether they will come or not. People do not take such invites seriously.
Make photo invitations
If you want to arrange a pre-wedding photoshoot, be sure to use the resulting photos to design invitations. You can even order wedding invitations to your photographer by making a series of pictures on which, in addition to the future husband and wife, the date of the celebration will be presented.
The hand-made invitation is a false economy
Choose this way only if you want to make unique wedding invitations and show everybody your creative abilities. You will pay next to nothing for standard wedding cards, but you will have to shell out for crafting products in order to create the piece of art (well, a hundred of such pieces).
Way #3 Cutting Down the Costs on a Wedding Cake
Tips not for the faint-hearted with a sweet tooth
Remember that the wedding cake is brought out at approximately 10 pm. By this time, a certain number of guests has already left the wedding party. Another small percentage of guests will not eat it at all.
Therefore, order a cake for fewer guests than you expect to see at a banquet.
Many confectioners nowadays absolutely incorrectly calculate the number of kg for the cake. 200g per person is a lot, of course, and the cost of the cake will pleasantly surprise you with such calculations.
The optimal number is 90-100 gr. It will be enough for everyone, and as a rule, even with such a quantity, a part of the cake always remains.
Now it is very fashionable and convenient to make a cake plus cupcakes in a wedding style, sometimes it is cheaper than 1 big cake.
Banquet Costs
As a rule, 30% or sometimes 40% of the budget is spent on a banquet, the costs directly depend on the chosen place and the number of guests. You can reduce the number of guests invited. But don't save money on the products themselves. It shouldn't turn out like this: everyone is invited to the wedding, and the table is empty or there are not enough alcoholic drinks.
Way #4 Lower Cost of Photo and Video Services
Save your wedding money at this stage carefully
Take a more expensive photographer to a photoshoot and a cheaper photographer to a banquet. Production and reportage shootings are two different things.
Do not hire a photographer until the end of the evening. Towards the end, guests' faces radiate less and less aesthetics and it is unlikely that anything worthwhile will turn out in the final pictures.
Some photographers and videographers make concessions, and the rest of the payment can be given when you get the photos on hand, this can be clarified at the meeting.
Book photographer and video-operator in advance. If you have a wedding in the peak season remember that many professionals increase the prices at this period of the year.
It is also possible to ask for a discount for "early booking" (in this case, be sure to make an agreement with a professional in which all conditions will be spelt out).
Final Thoughts about Making Your Wedding Cheaper
Wedding expenses should be harmoniously balanced. To order a good restaurant, but to hire a cheap photographer, to refuse a video is not the best way to save money on the wedding.
When cutting costs, the first services to remove from the list are additional artists, salutes, videographers, decorating the hall, car rental.
If the budget is average, then the cost of all items should be average in comparison with the market's prices.
