It’s been nearly 6 months since our wedding and I’m finally sitting down to write this post! When Bruce and I got engaged we quickly figured out our wedding budget. And it came in a good 25k below “average” according to my wedding magazine. That’s crazy to me! Our budget was 7K and while that wasn’t always easy to stick to, we put together a beautiful wedding that we loved and will always remember! So here is my how to plan a wedding on a budget taken from my real life as a bride on an (apparently) small budget.
LET’S TALK NUMBERS
The first thing to do it sit down & figure out where your money is coming from and how much you have. I know, I know, the first thing you want to do is pull up your “dreaming” album on Pinterest and start ordering things on Etsy. HOLD ON. You can do this soon, but first you really need to see how much money you will have.
My parents had a chunk of money in mind and Bruce’s parents were gracious enough to pitch in a bit (because we cut in other areas). So check with family members and ask them up front how much they are willing to spend. Also talk with your fiancé and see if you two want to/ need to pitch in any money. The Mr. and I were also in the middle of buying a house so we couldn’t pitch in more & we wanted a honeymoon more than an expensive wedding.
The number you set, you will reach. There is ALWAYS MORE to do & get. Be honest with yourself and set a budget you can do. Once you hit that point, you will stop spending and just let the wedding happen. I also promise it will BE OKAY & it will be beautiful!
When I sat down with my pile ( Real Simple & Southern Living Weddings) of wedding magazines, I was shocked to see that $10,000 wasn’t even a MINIMUM for a wedding!!! That is about as much as our down payment on our house!
$7,000 was my budget and $7,000 is what we paid. I want to share with you my tricks with cutting spending but not cutting corners. Now that you know how much to spend, let’s figure out your priorities.
LET’S TALK PRIORITIES
From the beginning, Bruce & I thought about what our MAIN priorities were in our wedding. things that money or other people couldn’t make us change. Want to know what we said?
1. People are important.
2. Ceremony & reception same place. Ideally a barn.
3. Photography from Stellar Propeller Studios (our friend!)
We were not going to let our $7,000 budget stop us from doing these three things and we didn’t.
What is important to you? We wanted lots of people (in our wedding party & at our wedding) but you may want a small wedding- DO IT! You want to get married at the place you have always been dreaming about – DO IT! You have always wanted a church ceremony – DO IT!
If you have priorities, you can make the most of those things and find cheaper replacements for those things you don’t care “as much” about! Also, don’t say EVERYTHING is your priority. I know it is not. You may want a perfect wedding, but everyone has a different definition of that. Your wedding is all about you & your groom. People LOVE that & that is why we all love going to weddings – to celebrate with the couple!
FOR EXAMPLE:
1. Bruce and I wanted LOTS of people, so we had a large wedding party and loved it. We also made our wedding a night wedding with a dessert reception! It saved us so much money on food costs. People ate before they came and still had fun. We were even able to do fancy food things like brew our own beer, have a candy bar, and have lots of homemade cupcakes for less than half the price of a plated dinner! (People were more important than formal meals.)
2. We did not settle with a location that we didn’t want. I had faith that the Lord would provide and I was not ashamed to ASK AROUND. Network, ask people if they know anyone who…. (fill in the blank). Though some friends, we heard of a barn and were able to get a GREAT deal on it because it was not necessarily a huge wedding venue.
3. We wanted our good friend/ mentor AKA talented photographer to do our wedding. She was able to give us some of the wedding photography as a gift but before we even knew that we were willing to pay the price (1/3 of our budget) because we wanted BRILLIANT photography and we would find a way to make that happen!
Just because you have a small(er) budget for your wedding DOES NOT mean you have to a) go into debt or B) have a sucky wedding. You can do things you want in a small budget and you won’t even notice the places you didn’t spend the big bucks in the future.
LET’S TALK MONEY SAVERS
- WHO DO YOU KNOW?
Don’t be afraid to network! think about it. Who did you know in college who studied photography – would they be willing to cut you a deal? What about that your friend who is into design – can they design your wedding invites? What about your church or work – are they willing to let you print at a cheaper cost or even free? I’ve found that the people you love and who love you want to help you get ready for your wedding! How many times did you hear someone say “I am so happy you are getting married! Let me know if there is anyway I can help!” LET THEM HELP!
We were able to have a dear friend (who was also a bridesmaid!) do all our design work for free and we then printed at our church where they offered to do all our printing free! We only had to provide the paper. You can find things like this too, just ask around. We also borrowed tables and chairs from our church! If you need to provide your own, renting is pretty pricey, but schools and churches may willing to lend out their furniture or give you a deal. look into it!
2. WHO WANTS TO HELP?
I had signs all around the barn (inside & out) getting people to the barn and letting them know what was going on. My bridesmaids made EVERY ONE. I didn’t even do any signs! I also had a center piece party in my basement where I had a bunch of friends over and we crafted together. It was so fun and we were done instantly! YOU MAY THINK YOU DON’T HAVE TIME FOR HOMEMADE… your bridesmaids, friends, moms DO HAVE TIME and they want to help you! They feel important and you save money because they are free labor!
3. COSTCO/ SAMS CLUB
Have you heard of these places? You can buy everything in bulk! Candy, brownies, treats, glass bottled soda, whatever! Instead of catering, buy your own food and put it on cute trays.
4. DOUBLE YOUR BOUQUETS
Use your bridesmaids bouquets as centerpieces during the reception! It is prefect – the bridesmaids need a place to put the flowers so they can eat and dance & the flowers need water. TA-DA!
5. FIND THINGS IN YOU HOUSE
This may sound silly, but you probably have a lot at you home you can use! Serving trays, decorations in your home that can double at the wedding, picture frames, old books, mason jars, silverware, bottle openers, lighters, twine, burlap…. look around. When we made the mason jars for my wedding, I just pulled out my box of scrapbook stuff, fabric, and twine and we used leftovers to create my centerpieces!
6. GO TO THRIFT STORES
For everything you can’t find in your house, look to thrift stores first. I had a candy spread at my wedding with a bunch of glass jars in different sizes. I made a rule that I would not pay more than 99 cents for each one and I ended up with a bunch by the time of the wedding!
You will be surprised by how much these tricks will save you!
BE YOURSELF
You will find that when you are most focused on enjoying the moment with your fiancé (soon to be husband!!!) you don’t waste your money on things that you will regret. You know yourself and you know your man
My best advice is spend the money on the things that matter most to you/ don’t spend the money on things you don’t want/ need (don’t let obligation or keeping up with the Jones take over your budget!)
