Easy Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding

Everyone’s looking to get the most bang for their buck when it comes to their wedding, however they don’t want to sacrifice quality. It’s your big day, you shouldn’t have to give up what you want, but at the same time you shouldn’t be broke after your ceremony either. Here are some simple tips to help you save money on your wedding without giving up what you want.

Cut the Guest List
Inviting less people is the most effective way to save money on your wedding. Many things that you pay for are based on a per person basis like food, cake, favors, invitations, and linens. If you are having trouble shortening your guest list, what you can try to do is invite less people to the wedding and more people to the reception. Although the reception is generally more expensive, this is the traditional way that people handle cutting numbers so that if they spend less money during the cocktail hour and before or after ceremony refreshments.

Buffet-Style
Serving your guests their meal buffet-style is the cost-effective alternative to four-course meals. This way your guests can take however much they want of whatever they want. Often times you can offer your guests more choices with buffet-style food than you can with traditional seated-style serving. Many cultures prefer to have their food served buffet-style, for example Korean food and Indian food are traditionally served this way, even at weddings. This doesn’t mean that your guests will have to self-serve, it simply means that they will get to choose what they want and servers from your catering company will serve them the warm food and refill the trays as they run low. This way, you can often serve your guests fresh, warm bread.

Get Married at a Free Venue
There are many low-cost or free outdoor locations to get married at. This is particularly great for summer weddings since parks, beaches, and friends’ backyards can be beautiful, free locations to recite your vows at. Historic landmarks and churches are generally low-cost venues in which you can have your wedding ceremony. You can also have your reception at a free outdoor location as long as you are willing to invest in a tent in case of adverse weather conditions.

Original Desserts
Wedding cakes can add up to a lot of money and bakeries often double their regular cake price just for weddings. An alternative to the traditional wedding cake can be fancy cupcakes, dessert cups, a chocolate fountain with fruit and snacks, an ice cream sundae bar, or assorted truffles. This will save you money on a cake cutting fee, which is also usually a per person fee from the venue or caterer.

Electronic Invitations
Invitations can be so expensive! You have to pay for your customized design, envelopes, RSVP cards, postage, and sometimes additional stationary items. Since you are not paying a flat rate, this can add up because you are paying per item. Send electronic invitations such as Evite, My Punch Bowl or Global Wedding Invitation. If you don’t like to idea of electronic, then Do It Yourself…try it out!

The Bar
Open bar can add up to be very expensive. Having a cash bar for your guests can save you tones of money and hassle. If you feel obligated to treat your guests to free drinks, one option is to have an open bar for one or two hours, then having a cash bar for the rest of the reception. Another option is to offer beer and wine on your tab, then if guests order well drinks they pay for those drinks out of their pockets. Get creative and have a couple of signature drinks that you can offer on your tab while guests can order anything else from the cash bar.

Keep in mind that places where you save money can contribute to your honeymoon, investing in a house, or just be tucked into a savings account. These are easy ways to save money on your wedding without having to do much yourself. However, keep in mind that bending over backwards to save just $100 isn’t worth the hassle of doing something yourself in the grand scheme of the wedding. Enjoy your wedding…without being broke after the wedding day.

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