Ways We Saved.
1. Research, research, research. We never settled for a price or a location. We put our budget in front of our wants and wishes, and it really helped us save. Sure we still splurged in some areas (my dress), but we also really saved on others by shopping around.
2. We are getting married on a Sunday. The price for Thur-Sun is less than half of the price for a Fri-Sat wedding. That saved us $3,000.
3. Our family is so graciously making our own food. My dad is an excellent cook, and has catered a wedding once before. Our food isn't anything fancy, but it's dirt cheap, and tastes great. We were going to spend thousands on a caterer whose food we had never tried before, but it is well worth the savings. By having DIY food, we are saving ourselves at least $2,000.
4.We are buying our own linens. Why rent when you could buy and resell? We have found linens online for the same prices as the catering and rental companies are willing to rent them for! You can even buy linens on ebay for cheaper! We plan on purchasing the linens, cleaning them, and reselling them. Other knotties even rent them to other brides.
5. DIY flowers. You would be amazed at how easy it is to arrange a rose bouquet. I started by putting birthday/Valentines/anniversary flowers into a bouquet. I watched youtube videos and looked at lots of photos, and I made a gorgeous bouquet. My bouquet may not have the most exotic flowers, but it's still going to look just as pretty. I plan on purchasing the flowers from a wholesale flower website to save even more.
6. Purchase things online. We have bought, and are planning to buy a lot of our supplies online. There are many online coupon codes that make shopping online much cheaper. Ebay is a great resource if you are patient enough not to settle.
7. When you are looking for vendors, look for a new company or go with a vendor who is right out of school or training. Bartenders, caterers, DJ's, videographers, and photographers can be novices, and no one would know.
8. Shop at second hand stores. Many brides purchase things for their wedding and then give them away! I have seen vases, candles, tablecloths, garters, veils, slips, silk flowers and lots of other unique finds. A lot of second hand shops even give back to the community, which is fantastic!
9. Forget what is important to your family. It's your wedding day, and if you're paying for it, you should have the things you like. If Dad insists on having a full bar, then ask him to kindly chip in.
10. Decide early on what is most important to you, and splurge on that, and only that. The only person that can make you stick to your budget is you, so stick with it. It feels terrible when you can't have everything you want, but so does paying off your wedding for years.
2. We are getting married on a Sunday. The price for Thur-Sun is less than half of the price for a Fri-Sat wedding. That saved us $3,000.
3. Our family is so graciously making our own food. My dad is an excellent cook, and has catered a wedding once before. Our food isn't anything fancy, but it's dirt cheap, and tastes great. We were going to spend thousands on a caterer whose food we had never tried before, but it is well worth the savings. By having DIY food, we are saving ourselves at least $2,000.
4.We are buying our own linens. Why rent when you could buy and resell? We have found linens online for the same prices as the catering and rental companies are willing to rent them for! You can even buy linens on ebay for cheaper! We plan on purchasing the linens, cleaning them, and reselling them. Other knotties even rent them to other brides.
5. DIY flowers. You would be amazed at how easy it is to arrange a rose bouquet. I started by putting birthday/Valentines/anniversary flowers into a bouquet. I watched youtube videos and looked at lots of photos, and I made a gorgeous bouquet. My bouquet may not have the most exotic flowers, but it's still going to look just as pretty. I plan on purchasing the flowers from a wholesale flower website to save even more.
6. Purchase things online. We have bought, and are planning to buy a lot of our supplies online. There are many online coupon codes that make shopping online much cheaper. Ebay is a great resource if you are patient enough not to settle.
7. When you are looking for vendors, look for a new company or go with a vendor who is right out of school or training. Bartenders, caterers, DJ's, videographers, and photographers can be novices, and no one would know.
8. Shop at second hand stores. Many brides purchase things for their wedding and then give them away! I have seen vases, candles, tablecloths, garters, veils, slips, silk flowers and lots of other unique finds. A lot of second hand shops even give back to the community, which is fantastic!
9. Forget what is important to your family. It's your wedding day, and if you're paying for it, you should have the things you like. If Dad insists on having a full bar, then ask him to kindly chip in.
10. Decide early on what is most important to you, and splurge on that, and only that. The only person that can make you stick to your budget is you, so stick with it. It feels terrible when you can't have everything you want, but so does paying off your wedding for years.
