Dream wedding ≠ spending a fortune.
Planning a wedding isn’t free, but it can cost less than you expect! Here are some tips for how to tackle wedding planning on a smaller budget.
When you’re crunched for time, it’s tempting to spend more money as a shortcut. But if you carefully map out a budget and plan, you’ll have time to choose the best, most cost-effective options.
Having a longer engagement period can help with this.
Where possible, thrift and DIY your decorations and other wedding paraphernalia.
Nature-y items, like fallen leaves and branches, can be some of the prettiest décor. And instead of heading to the craft store, browse the resale market online first—check often enough and you’ll strike gold!
Plus, don’t underestimate your connections. Be sure to ask your newlywed friends what they could pass on to you. More often than not, they’ll be glad to hand things over.
Also keep in mind, you don’t have to purchase everything. Rent where you can for things like chairs, linens, and an archway.
Wedding packages are tempting for convenience, and they can be great, but evaluate the cost. Sometimes it’s less expensive to source and coordinate yourself. Do your research!
Looking back on your special day, your wedding guests will remember things like conversations, speeches, dancing, laughter, and the general joyous atmosphere. They probably won’t remember details like an expensive cut of steak or the quality of the linens.
With that in mind, prioritize the attributes of your wedding that are most important to you. If you want to dedicate more to one thing, like a lavishly decorated cake, think about what you can cut back on for something else.
The guest count determines the overall cost of your food, alcohol, tables, chairs, linens, centrepieces… the list goes on. Carefully choosing the number of people on your guest list is one of the biggest ways you can control overall expenses.
If you do choose to invite a broader circle of family and friends, try choosing one of the more budget-friendly main courses, like pork, chicken, or a vegetarian option.
If you make a budget and don’t follow it, spending can get out of hand. If you spend more than you expected on one item, think of where you can make up for that amount somewhere else.
If you don’t know where to begin with your wedding budget, you probably don’t have a general personal budget yet either. Book a meeting with one of our advisors anytime and we can help you get started!
We would be happy to discuss your unique situation with you.
Our goal is to make complex topics like this one, simple.
