Spend Smarter: Successful Saving Tips for Your Big Day

People who’ve fallen in love decide daily to take the big step toward happily ever after. An average of 2 million weddings happen in the United States each year (CDC FastStats), proving even in the current economic crunch, weddings are here to stay.

Although specific tastes vary in glitz and glamour, size and expense, even brides with budgets out the wah-zoo like saving money and feeling like they are truly getting ‘bang for their buck.’ With exactly that in mind…we’ve come up a few suggestions for the budget conscious, savvy spending bride. Happy planning!

1. Hire a wedding planner! This one is always at the top of our list! Having a friend or family member handle the details of your big day may seem like a great way to save money, and a true honor for the person offering, but hiring a professional with experience, skills, and connections to superb vendors is priceless. A good planner will make certain you have a realistic budget, a well-organized event, and an attention to details, causing your big day to be breath-taking! Well worth the money!


2. Do everything in one place! Look for venues that offer enough space for your entire event without leaving the premises. Have your wedding on the lawn, a cocktail hour on the veranda, and party the night away at a reception in the ballroom! Staying in one venue during the entire wedding and festivities afterward can easily cut expenses. Plus, you limit the amount of possible snafus that can occur: getting stuck traffic in between ceremony and reception locations, losing some of your guests because they opt to go home after the ceremony instead of traveling to another place, and keeping your guests waiting who arrive at the reception site early.

An addendum to this is to consider choosing a date around a holiday. The venue of choice may be already heavily decorated (hopefully with colors and décor of interest to you!) and lessen the amount needed to spend.

3. Use a smaller bridal party! Gasp! It’s hard to hear, but true…everyone you know does NOT have to stand up for you on the big day. Most states require only the bride, groom, a member of the clergy or authorized public official, and no more than one to two witnesses to have a legal ceremony. Because “warding off evil spirits” is no longer the main duty of bridesmaids, it’s not necessary to have more than two to three. This is a hard sale, we know, but seriously, does your childhood neighbor’s cousin who share’s the same day your braces were removed really deserve a spot standing in your wedding?! We thought not…neither do your four cousins who are only close to you in age. The role of a bridesmaid, maid or matron of honor, as well as the best man and groomsmen, should be just that—a place of honor, chosen with thoughtfulness in mind. These roles should be reserved for those whom you share heartfelt moments--laughs, tears, and choice words with on a fairly regular basis—folks who are truly close to you, support you and your soon to be spouse, and truly deserve to be a witness to the miracle of your marriage!

4. Choose and buy flowers in season. Unless you just have to have a certain flower that can only be found in New Zealand during the dead of winter, it should be fairly easy to find something that suits your taste within the season of your nuptials. This is not an attempt to sway any bride or groom away from favorites or must haves, but generally wedding dates are chosen during seasons of the year that remind the couple of places, flowers, food, sounds…all the things that cause warm thoughts and feelings. If you are having a Fall wedding, what are some things you love about autumn? Leaves and their changing colors? Pumpkins, cider and hay? Or do you love the lush blooms of springtime? Palm trees and greenery, succulents in groups? Use these things! They are generally easy to find and will bring some creativity into your décor and flower scheme.


5. Cut your guest list—this is another hard one, but honestly, if you’re on a serious budget, this is one of the easiest ways to shrink costs. Revisit the thought of who should be there with you celebrating this milestone. Will it really matter in ten years if your former college roommate’s cousin is in attendance or not?

One great way to whittle down the guest list is planning a destination wedding. They are widely popular during the economic crunch (and when money isn't a factor), have allure for guests who can plan their ‘vacation’ around your date, and most of the time you can decrease the number of those in attendance to 25 to 30, dependent upon wedding locale.

Again, these are some suggestions to help your wedding BE REMEMBERED. Enjoy!