How To Have a Wedding Rich in Love, Not Cash

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Congratulations! You’re engaged. You’ve begun thinking about the type of wedding day you’d like to have, all the people you’d like to share the day with, the funky music that a band will be playing live all night long...and, oh my, is that how much everything costs? In the States, the average wedding costs around $36,000. If you’re looking at that figure and thinking, ‘well, guess we’re not getting married,' then fear not: because you can still have an awesome day, and it won’t have to cost anywhere close to the figure mentioned above. All it takes is a few simple cost-cutting measures.

Be Ruthless

You’ve got a lifetime of friends, family members, colleagues, and so on and so on under your belt, and so does your fiance. If money and space were no object, you’d be able to fill a large venue three times over. However, it’s important to remember that each guest will eat into your budget. As such, the best way to keep the costs down is to keep the guest list at small as possible. Make your list of potential guests, then cut it down. And then cut it down again, and then once more. Once it can’t be trimmed anymore, stick with it. People will understand!

DIY Wherever Possible

Your entire wedding experience could be one where you barely lift a finger, instead opting to pay someone else to take care of all the details, but that’ll cost a pretty penny. Instead, take a look at the tasks that you can do yourself; no-one will be able to tell that it’s been a DIY job, and you’ll save plenty of cash, which you can use for the tasks that you can’t do yourself! For your wedding invites, you can use a site like Pure Invitation and assemble your invites yourself. When it comes to the wedding party music, you don’t need to hire a DJ; simply add your favorite songs to a Spotify playlist and let it play throughout the night. You can even ask guests to pick a song for the playlist in their RSVP!

Tipple Favorites

Not all alcoholic drinks are created equal. A double gin and tonic will be much more expensive than a glass of beer, for instance. While you’d like to offer every drink combination under the sun, doing so will severely eat into your budget, so why pick a few favorites and let your guests drink that? People are often much less fussy than wedding planners think. They won’t complain that they only have a few drinks to choose from!

Go French

Of all the wedding day staples that should be reconsidered, none are as expendable as the meal. Like most things, it’s nice to have a delicious, three-course meal, but it’s absolutely not essential. There’s even one school of thought that says - gasp - it can disrupt the party atmosphere, and make people too full for the party! Instead of serving a huge meal, look at adopting the French style and serve small bite size eats (plenty of them) to your guests. Pick those healthy canapés, and your guests will be well-fed without being overfed.

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers?

Flowers are nearly as big a part of a wedding as the gown, but how many do you really need? Flowers are expensive! They don’t have to be everywhere, decorating every hallway, table, room; cut the flower budget in half, and you’ll still have enough to make an impression, provided they’re well placed. If you insist on having a lot of flowers, don’t pick arrangements that are overly complicated, and pick only a handful of flower types.

What Do You Already Have?

And talking of flowers, how many vases do you have in your home? If you’re willing to use them in the wedding, you won’t have to pay someone else to bring theirs. This is one example of using what you already have, so have a think: what decorations, tables, sound systems, and so forth do you already have in your home that can be used in the wedding? There’s no point paying for new things if you already have a good option sitting in your house.

Remember Why People Are Coming
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Finally, here’s the best cost-cutting measure: remember why people are coming to your wedding. They’re not traveling to have an extravagant, all-inclusive day at your expense; they’re going to celebrate your love! If your wedding day has some cost-cutting measures, they won’t mind so long as the day is filled with love.