There are many ways to keep your happiest day under budget and I'd like to share a few ways that worked for us. My parents generously gave us a budget of $15,000 and told us that whatever was not used for the wedding was a gift to use however we liked. We ended up using the entire budget for our wedding, honeymoon tickets (to Costa Rica!) and the rest for our move to Texas.
The best thing is to prioritize what is important to you, and create your budget accordingly.
1. Venue
This was by far the hardest part of planning for me. Many venues either have the entire package with no flexibility, or provide nothing at all (and still charge exorbitant rates). My sister lived in San Clemente at the time and discovered that Wedgewood had just partnered with the public golf course to provide wedding packages. At first they were out of my price range but they worked with me to fit my budget and were very flexible with whatever vendors I wanted to hire.
2. Off Season Date
Spring and summer are generally considered wedding season, but in California we have GORGEOUS weather all year long! This means some venues may struggle with filling up for those "fall/winter" dates and might be willing to work with your budget; some even offer discounts up front for off season dates.
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| Our 90 degree October day |
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| So glad we thought to provide water bottles at the last minute! |
3. Morning/ Afternoon Wedding
This worked for us on so many levels.
1. Lunch/ Brunch menus: When working with Wedgewood on our budget, the meal price was still more than I could spend. I asked if they had a lunch menu. Low and behold it was the exact same menu minus the carving station and the price fell well within our budget. I don't even know what a carving station is?
2. Alocohol: Neither My Sweetie or I are huge drinkers although we did have the option of champagne for a toast. Guests don't typically expect alcohol for a brunch or lunch wedding so it's not even missed. The golf course did have a bar for a few of the guests that wanted a beer with their lunch.
3. Pictures: Sweetie did NOT want to do a first look. And while that wasn't my preference either, I also wanted to eliminate as much stress as possible and take our time with pictures. We decided to do our family pictures immediately after the wedding but waited till after the reception to do our bridal portraits. I had a chance to freshen up and we had a great time with our photographers taking pictures with no one rushing us. It also worked out that the light was the best around sunset and our photographer did an amazing job.
I was so excited to go dress shopping...till the first boutique we went to had nothing less than $1,000! As much as I wanted a gorgeous dress, I also wanted to have a cake. I ended up finding a dress on sale off the rack at David's Bridal for less than $600 that I absolutely loved. It needed 0 alterations, and my mom sewed the bustle.
Keep in mind when you budget for your dress to add about $500 for the veil, shoes, jewelry etc. I spent more then I anticipated on shoes, but it was worth it! Even so they hurt my feet after awhile and I wore my flip flops most the afternoon. Make sure whatever you do, that you will be comfortable!
5. Music
Ipod playlist: free
Have a fun loving, trust worthy friend play DJ!
6. Cake and Cake toppers
We got our cake from It's All About the Cake in Dana Point. They are AMAZING. We opted for a small cutting cake, with sheet cake in the back. It was a fraction of the cost, and by using flowers from the ceremony to decorate the table, it still looked gorgeous.
For the cake toppers I knew I wanted little birds. I found a salt and pepper shaker that were perfect. I used clay, beads and tulle to decorate them.
7. Save the Dates and Invitations
Paper and postage is expensive! Yes, it's cute. Yes, it sets the theme for the wedding. But, all these costs add up. We decided not to do save the dates. We only had a 6 month engagement and I barely had time to get the guest list and invitations out anyway.
The other thing is that if people have save the dates- they will, uh, save the date. Which means if you are tight on space or are counting on cancellations to fit your budget, that may not happen. All of our closest friends and family knew the minute we got engaged and the minute we had the date anyway. For fun we threw in a cute little picture in the invitations to hang up on the fridge with the date on it.
Our venue cost happened to include invitations. While my "scope for imagination" may have been limited in that regard- it probably saved me headache in the long run. There was only one invite we really liked, and it was perfect for our theme.
(Another option: e-mail! (you could even make a cute video!!!))
8. Favors
Favors are another small item that can add up quickly! I opted to put a succulent in a votive candle holder at each place (with a fun questionnaire that helped pass the time, and entertain us on our drive cross country) I think the candle holders were $40 on amazon and the succulents were free thanks to my mom's garden and some unknowingly generous flower boxes around town.
There are so many fun ways to do a photo booth. And for some the expense is totally worth it. I wanted something that was fun to do but low cost and low maintenance. I built a booth based on the picture below that I found on this etsy site https://www.etsy.com/shop/ModernCelebrations?ref=unav_listing-r. I just made up my own dimensions. We then hooked the TV monitor to this site http://eventstagr.am/. Our friends took great pictures using the photo booth and props on their phones and then instagrammed using #chadandsteph2013. It then appeared on the TV in front of the reception room, and I can look at them whenever I want!
10. Friends and Family
They love you and are there to support you. We have so many talented friends that offered or discounted their services. Some may even be willing to do something for you as a wedding gift. The best part is spending time and money on loved ones instead of vendors that hardly know you.
- My talented sister drew our programs, water bottle covers, and thank you cards (www.roneymacaroni.com)
- My sisters best friend Corrie (my "other" sister) is a talented videographer. I just wanted the ceremony and a few special moments. She did an amazing job putting this together. https://vimeo.com/76648419
- My high school mentor turned photographer worked with my budget for our engagement and wedding pictures
- My mom's talented friend did my flowers way more beautifully than any florist and also within my budget.
- My parents friend played the saxophone for the ceremony music
- My beautiful and artistic friend Christina drew chalkboard art and painted signs, as well as helped me with the cake toppers.
The list goes on and on...
Hopefully you found one or more of these helpful!
And as Cameron Tucker (Modern Family) says: "Think big, then whittle down" ;)
If you were a bride- how did you save money? What was worth the splurge?
