I am a strong believer that you can have your dream wedding without breaking the bank. As a self-proclaimed frugalista with a voracious appetite for all things chic and cheap, I wanted to save as much moolah on the big day as possible. Below are a few tips and tricks I used to plan a budget savvy wedding.
1.We booked our venue on a Sunday. But we choose a holiday weekend to take advantage of the Monday off. Booking your wedding on any day other than Saturday is going to save you money. For most brides, a weekend wedding is a must so I suggest a Friday or Sunday night. (Take advantage of Memorial Day or Labor Day). Another big way to save is getting married in the off season. Most venues offer discounts so even a Saturday night wedding in April is going to cost less than one in June. For brides who are very flexible with their date, last minute bookings can equal huge savings.
2. Catering Costs
- For our cocktail hour, we skipped the cubed cheese platter since it is considered the least popular item at a wedding. Most of our guests are Asian so cheese is not a very palette pleasing food. We also choose less expensive but filling appetizers like mini pulled pork sandwiches with corn bread over pricey shrimp cocktails. We did have a fruit and veggie display and food stations so guests self served which saved on labor costs. Our caterer told us that serving comfort foods with a twist is a great way to save money. Think mini grilled cheese bites and garlic smashed potatoes in martini glasses. People eat with their eyes so offering a creative visual presentation makes the food more enticing without raising the cost
- Family style is a marriage of a sit down dinner and a buffet. There are definite pros and cons to this type of dinner service but it worked well for us because traditionally Asian weddings serve up multiple courses. Family style offers guests more than two entree selections. You also don't have to worry about losing money if a guest doesn't show up since you are not paying by the plate. However, some caterers are opposed to self serve meals simply because they don't have the experience to estimate the appropriate portions for a dish. And while family style is more expensive than a buffet - you and your guests won't be waiting in a long line. You also have the option to serve some dishes family style and have a couple of food stations set up that offer up something totally different like say sushi :-)
- An all-inclusive wedding package does not give you the same freedom or flexibility like booking your own vendors. This is especially true when it comes to providing alcohol for your guests. It was important to us that we host an open bar. We saved money by purchasing our own alcohol (tax free) from the state liquor store in NH. We bought a liquor license online along with our venue insurance and hired bar tenders for their professional services with all the bar fixings (ice, sodas, mixers, plastic drink ware, ect.). Our bar tenders were able to get us a deal where any unopened beer would be returned to the store. At the end of the night, we collected all of the left over liquor to stock our personal bar at home :-)
- Mind you, we bought a mix of premium and ultra premium liquor. The really good stuff was reserved for straight shots. We also skipped the champagne toast which saved us some money too. People toasted with whatever they had in their hands at the time. We did offer glasses of Moet & Chandon to our guests and we kept the liquor flowing with a good selection of beers and the basics for mix drinks.
- Cake Cutting Fee
If you decide not to use the in-house baker supplied by the caterer, than you might incur an additional fee to cut and serve the cake which is between $3-$5 in some cases. We had a dessert bar which included cupcakes, parfaits, cheesecake and other scrumptious sweets served up in unique dishes and martini glasses. Our guests really loved the eye candy display, it was a real treat for them and it was less expensive than the traditional wedding cake.
- Gratuities
Not to be confused with service charge. Definitely consider this as part of your final tally for catering cost.
- Taxes
There's no way to avoid it but paying the taxes in one lump sum will help ease out the existing payments. Also ask for different payment options because going the green route (cash) will sometimes get you a discount on your final bill.
3. Rentals
chargers and fine linens can add up. Skip the chargers and buy the linens in bulk online. You can always resell them after the wedding or use them for other occasions. Keep the table setting simple and uncluttered. Buy fancy disposable napkins instead of linen napkins which can cost up to $3 per rental. We used origami napkins with a linen texture that were cheap but elegant and also disposable.
4. Postage - For the DIY bride, make sure your invite is not over sized, bulky or irregular because you will pay dearly for it. Things like envelope liners can be skipped (nobody will notice) and fancy multi-layer invites add extra weight that will increase the postage cost.
5.Overtime - When planning for the big day, factor in the time you need to get ready, travel and the time reserved for pictures among other things because the last thing you want to do is incur extra cost from your venue and vendors because you went into overtime. For photography, 5 hours is really limited so make sure you carefully plan your day of timeline to include everything you want including extra time for any mishaps!
6. The Wedding Dress
via Etsy
Ladies, there are bridal outlets like Vows in Watertown, MA that will deliver you your dream dress for way less than retail. If you are up for Running of the Brides than you might be as lucky as me and score your dress for $250. Also, make sure you get properly measured by a professional seamstress so you know that the bridal consultant isn't ordering a dress size that is way too BIG for you. This way you are not paying for extra alterations to get the dress down to your size. Used or Sample dresses are the best way to save. Most designers will also offer discounts at trunk shows so be on the lookout. And whatever you do, stick to your budget! Bring in pictures of dresses you like and don't be afraid to try on different styles. KEEP AN OPEN MIND. You might be surprised to find that your dream dress is something you never imagine yourself wearing in the first place! The custom route is another option for the bride who has done her research and knows exactly what she wants because she can have a pro recreate her dress for less. Also, you can order a WHITE bridesmaid dress and accessorize it with a nice bling belt and hair accessory - turning it into a simply stunning wedding dress.
7. Do yourself a favor and skip the favors altogether. Unless you can DIY on the cheap, it isn't worth it. Most wedding favors are usually cheesy and tacky and get tossed out. However, edible favors are popular and are relatively inexpensive. If you want to splurge, your guests will appreciate the photo booth more than that expensive paper weight. It is still one thing though that can easily save money if crossed off the list.
8. Flowers
I highly suggest using seasonal blooms to save money and to use less flowers by decorating with ribbons, lanterns, glass bowls using flower heads or candles. Non floral centerpieces are a great alternative. We alternated between floral and non-floral centerpieces. Reusing blooms from your ceremony (or skipping them altogether) will save you money too. For instance my bridal bouquet was the centerpiece for our head table. I cut down the flower bill by having my bridesmaid carry fans instead of bouquets. They also had floral wrist corsages as a floral accent. Non-Traditional bouquets made from brooches and fabric flowers are also a nice alternative plus they last f-o-r-e-v-e-r as a keepsakes!
If you are a flower lover like me, certain blooms like orchids will be costly but having a great florist helps. My florist suggested mini Cymbidium orchids instead of using Phalaenopsis or the full size Cymbidums in my bouquet which brought down the cost. Also, roses...they are available year round and they are lush/full and come in a myraid of colors. Cheaper flowers like carnations make a huge impact as clusters.
9. Shrink the guest list. This is the quickest and surest way to save money. We did not have a big fat Cambodian-Chinese wedding. However by most standards, 200 guests is still a lot of people. Each time you subtract a name from your guest list, you significantly lower your overall cost.
10. Lastly, be realistic. If you have grand visions of a gold gilded ballroom venue and chiavari chair rentals at $7 a piece than you need to prioritize! Find the 3 things that matter most to you and your beau because most couples don't have a unlimited budget. So if you decide to splurge on that designer Monique Lhuillier wedding dress or the 6 tier fondant cake than you have to find other areas to cut or save.
- Most brides have some half baked preconceived notions about wedding budgets (myself included). The DIY route doesn't always equate to savings, just more creativity and control over the final product. Most brides don't complete all of their DIY projects because they fail to factor time and money into the equation. Sometimes it is best to hire a professional like say for alterations on the wedding dress (unless you are an expert seamstress with experience). Also, don't expect the parental units not to put their two cents in when they are contributing dollars to the wedding budget. Our parents did not and therefore had little say in our wedding plans although we respectfully listened to their ideas, opinions and advice. Just remember, the person or persons who hold the purse strings have the final say.
11."You get what you pay for"
While I don't believe you have to pay an arm and a leg for great service - it goes without saying that hiring a professional is always a good idea. So do you research! Weddingwire.com, The Wedding Channel and Yelp to name a few have thousands of vendor reviews available online at the click of a button. The Knotties on your local board can also recommend vendors in your budget too. Less experienced vendors will be significantly cheaper but if the deal is too good to be true than you are probably not getting the quality service you deserve.
One fellow bride told me about how she hired a amateur DJ for her wedding - who not only showed up late but he was also very unprepared (he forgot the no play list) so there were several songs played that raised more than a few eyebrows.
- A friend who is a vendor can sometimes be a slippery slope. They are called friendors. If this friendor is hired for his or her expertise in a profession they do for a living than go ahead and hire him or her. However to ensure the friendship is still intact after the wedding please pay them for what they are worth even with the discount. Show your appreciation. Also be upfront with expectations so there aren't any surprises. C-o-m-m-u-n-i-c-a-t-i-o-n is key with every vendor including the ones who are your friends.
I asked for small favors and designated certain tasks to members of my bridal party and family in order to avoid the messy ordeals with friendors. My bridal party completely understood my expectations and my family knew how to handle me - and my sometimes silly demands :-)
Everything else I left in the hands of my Day of Coordinator (another great wedding investment).
- The non-professional-friendor. I am kinda against hiring them. They don't have the experience or insurance to handle a crisis should god-forbid something goes wrong on your wedding day. Don't take this huge risk if you want peace of mind. It is complicated enough to hire your friends but if you are unhappy with their services because the friend didn't decorate your wedding cake to your specifications or the photos your friend took didn't include the detail shots on your photography list than you might lose a friend because of a wedding snafu.
Case and point - Your photographer friend gets sick or something terrible happens to him or her on the day of your wedding. Does this friend have a backup available to shoot your wedding? Probably not. Does this friend have liability insurance to cover costs for any damages that occurred during the wedding? Probably not. Does this friend have backup equipment for the backup? Probably Not. Does this friend have the experience, education, skill, software and lenses/lightening equipment to shoot your wedding come rain or shine? Probably not. If so, he or she would be a professional in their field. Yes, you will be saving money hiring your friend but your visual memories should not be measured in nickels and dimes. They are a treasured keepsake that should be a reflection of the happiest day of your life. So you NEED a professional with a artistic vision to capture all of that!
I had 3 professional photographers plus a family member who is also a pro. We had him marry us so there was no way we could ask him to shoot our wedding too. We also had a friend, who is really talented but because he didn't have the experience, we could not ask him to shoot our wedding. He did deliver us some amazing pictures but when I compared them to our pro photographers' work, there were definite differences in style and the types of lens and post production work. We knew we made the right decision to hire our photographers. They were worth their weight in gold.
Below are a few articles worth reading in regards to hiring a professional photographer. There are differences between consumer photographers, commercial photographers and wedding photographers so it is worth noting that wedding photography is a specialty. The last link is a tool to help you find a wedding photographer. G.L
http://www.vandenheuvelphoto.com/2010/why-hire-a-professional-photographer/
http://www.weddingwindow.com/blog/2010/11/26/why-everyone-should-hire-a-pro/
http://www.bridepop.com/advice/professional-for-wedding-photography/
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