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One of the most pressing issues when it comes to putting on a wedding is the battle between having your dream wedding and not going broke. You get in the midst of it and realize that your Pinterest board dreams may not come true without you robbing a bank. Well, one of the major things I learned while planning my wedding was how to cut wedding costs. I searched high and low for deals that gave me quality products for a reasonable price.
The places to focus during weddings are on small decor items, wedding party clothing items, catering, and venue. These will be some of the key players in cutting costs.
Wardrobe
One of the biggest ways to cut costs during a wedding is finding affordable wedding party attire. If you’re paying for your wedding party’s clothing, going the traditional route can be extremely expensive. Bridal shops can charge up to $300 for a single dress. Even if you aren’t paying for your party’s clothing, the less they spend on a dress or suit they will only wear once, the more likely they are to purchase you a gift or help out financially.
For my bridesmaids, I chose Sew Trendy Accessories because I needed an infinity dress. These dresses can be styled several different ways to accommodate the body shape of the person wearing it. My bridesmaids were all shapes and heights so this worked best for me and the dresses were less than $150 dollars. BUT, it can get better than that. One of the greatest places to find affordable but cute dresses is SheIn.com. SheIn has formal dresses, cocktail style dresses and more that look great for…wait for it…..less than $25 dollars. This is also the perfect place to get a bridal shower dress or a bachelorette party dress.
For those who are wearing suits, don’t assume you need to go rent a Tuxedo. If your styling allows for it, piece together the groomsmen’s outfits. Our groomsmen purchased a specific Levi Jean that was easy to locate with Levi’s unique code. Then we had them purchase the same vest from JC Penny’s. Again, they could purchase it at their convenience, all they had to do was to bring in the item code to their local JCPenny’s. Other than that we told them white button down and cognac dress shoes. This allows them to either reach into their wardrobe for pieces they already have or seek out the best price point for them.
Don’t just rely on bridal shops! Some of my favorite wedding attire shops are ASOS(2.5% Ebates), SewTrendyAccessories, BHLDN, LULU’s(1% Ebates), Shein (6%Ebates) and Department Stores
You will notice that I have percentages next to some of the sites. This is how much you can get in cash back through Ebates for that particular site. Ebates is a site that allows you to receive cash back on purchases that you are already making. You can sign up quick and easy here.
Decor
While wardrobe will do wonders for your budget, the decor is hand’s down the best and easiest place to cut costs. Often times, things look expensive only due to the styling of them. So, for our wedding, we sought out things that fit both our vision and our budget and styled them to make them look 10 times better.
The decor was also a huge place we cut costs. Our goal was a strategic balancing of expensive statement pieces and affordable accessory pieces. I’ve listed some of the places we purchased from and what we purchased below. You will notice that I also placed how much cash back you can get on Ebates from each of these store’s website.
Etsy(1% Ebates)
Most people know of Etsy as being a resource for handmade unique items. We got our custom cake platter from here, along with pieces for the boutonnieres. Garters, our mother’s gifts, our rings, the groomsmen’s bowties and our cake topper all came from Etsy!
Tradesy is a great place to find and exchange wedding related things. If you don’t find some great, gently used items here, consider selling your items here after the wedding to get some money back.
Hobby Lobby (2% Ebates)
Hobby lobby was my point place for most things. Many of my vases and flowers, my wedding arch and other small things were from here.
Michael’s (2% Ebates)
My biggest purchases from Michael’s were my flowers. Between the constant sales and coupons, I was able to get a few flowers every couple of weeks, not stressing my budget.
Both Hobby Lobby and Michael’s have wedding sections where you can find small themed trinkets for low prices, make sure to continuously check them out.
Dollar Tree(1% Ebates)
Dollar Tree was great for my vases and flowers and small things like lighters. You can place orders online also.
My Wedding Favors and orientaltrading.com(2% Ebates )
These two websites are great for small gifts, trinkets, paper goods and niche or themed items.
Amongst other things, I got my invitations from Target. They were on clearance, simple blank invitations with a color and border that I liked. I created the actual invite in Publisher.
We got small foldable tables from Sam’s because we could use them later and would have to rent less from the rental company. We also got catering needs like disposable cups, plates, etc. from here. They looked quality and we got plenty for the price.
Family & Friends
Another HUGE way we cut costs was to outsource family and friends. If there is someone in your life that can do something toward your wedding, seek them out, let them know what you want and see if they can deliver. My husband’s father is a caterer. Naturally, we sought him out first to see if he could do what we needed. We went into it hoping to at least get a discount, in the end, he catered our wedding as our wedding gift, 100% free! Then, we did the same for our dessert bar, luckily my husband’s family is into food because him mom runs a dessert/treat business and set up an entire treat station for us, again for FREE!
We supplemented with some additional cakes and our wedding cake(also made by a long time family friend who ran a wedding cake business for years so we got great quality and a discount!) but for in total for food(wedding cake included) and supplies, we spent less than $400.
Now, I know that we got lucky on the food front, but it doesn’t have to be your mom or dad. Seek out family friends and see if you can get a discount or have friends refer you to someone they know, they may also work with you because of your connections. Cutting costs is the goal, not to get absolutely everything for free.
Unconventional Venues
The last place you can cut major costs is by seeking out non-traditional venues. Like, I stated in my post on choosing a venue, not every place markets themselves as a wedding venue but they will still accept your business. Make sure to think outside the box, the worst that can happen is that someone says no.
We were married in a brewery, you can also check out the zoo, botanical gardens, aquariums and local spaces. When you’re out and about try to view places as if they were a venue.
Creativity is key when cutting costs. Make your budget work for you and don’t stress.
Best of Luck!
This post was proofread by Grammarly