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Wondering how to save money on your wedding? Our team has pulled together some budget friendly tips from their own bridal days and also what was WORTH splurging on!
How To Save Money On Your Wedding
Are you in the process of planning your wedding and looking for budget friendly tips? Since we're a frugal group around here, I asked the PPP Team to dig deep back into our memories and recall what we did to save money on our weddings. Some of these photos are going to date us…. eeeek!!
We asked each member of our team these 3 questions:
- How did you save money at your wedding?
- Did you splurge on something that was worth it?
- What wedding gift was your favorite (just for fun)?
Planning a wedding on a budget takes some creativity and help from friends – but it's not impossible! Figuring out where your priorities ARE and where they're NOT will help you decide what areas to save in and where you may want to invest more. Here are some ways our team remembers saving and splurging on their big day…
💐Wedding Registry Tip: If you set up an Amazon Registry for your guests to shop from – whatever is LEFT on your registry you can purchase for 20% OFF! So go ahead and add all the stuff you need for setting up house – so you can buy it on sale at some later date.
Laurie:
Save – We saved on our photographer but looking back I regret that a bit ~ our photos were taken in the church gym (and the 3-point line is in the pictures right below my dress in all of them!)
Splurge – My splurge was on our music. I've played violin since I was 9 and always dreamed of having a quartet at my wedding, but hiring four people to play would have been way out of our budget. Instead, we hired a harpist who played at the wedding and reception, and it was just perfect and something that meant so much to me. It was probably my favorite thing about our wedding… other than getting married!
Gift – My favorite gift was this Waechtersback Celebration plate – it says “you are special today” and we bring it out for all sorts of occasions when I want to make the kids feel special on their birthday, or for good report cards, etc… I don't know if these “special” red plates are still a thing – and eeek looking at that price I'm sure noone spent that back when I was getting married! – but I do love that thing 🙂
Wedding Decorations on a Budget
Shannon:
I loved our wedding but as y'all know I am not a fancy kinda girl. I loved the simplicity of it!
Save – We saved a lot by using my sister in law's wedding decor, we picked flowers from one of my husband's cousin's property for the center pieces and had family bring sides. I also got my dress for less than $300 at a wedding dress store in the mall. Who knew?!
Splurge – We ordered Zaxby's Chicken Tenders since we met at Zaxby's – we found that fitting. 😉
Gift – Well I would have to say money, but we also really loved a Scrap Book a co-worker of mine made for us! It was like this.
Nicole:
While not married myself, I recently helped with my sister's wedding!
Save – She saved the most on her decor and venue. She decided to have her wedding on a Sunday because the cost of the venue was much less. For the centerpieces at the reception she used a bunch of beautiful candlesticks that we found on clearance after Christmas, and she had a friend DJ. My sister and mom were the “wedding planners” (the special events coordinator at the venue was also super helpful on that front – no charge!). She also ordered her veil and crinoline underskirt online for a fraction of the cost.
Splurge – My sister did splurge on her wedding dress. (She really loved it though, and looked like a princess!).
Gift – She said her favorite wedding-day gift was probably a Ninja blender (but she did receive a Kitchenaid mixer at her bridal shower that she also loves!).
Save On Wedding Food
Jamie:
At the age of 19 and 21, and with $3 in our pockets, we relied on help from literally everyone in our circle to make a wedding happen!
Save – I bought my dress off the David's Bridal $99 sale rack. (And loved it!) For food, my family set up a giant deli platter and everyone brought side dishes to round it out, pot-luck style. Our flowers were silk arrangements donated by a friend who'd renewed her vows recently. My mom's friend made our cake as my wedding gift. My brother DJ'd and played cd's we had burned playlists onto. A nice couple from church printed out our invitations. We were too happy to care if it wasn't the fanciest!
Splurge – I didn't splurge on anything because I couldn't – but if could go back I WOULD have splurged on a real photographer. A friend of a friend took formal pics and they were't great. Luckily we had asked everyone else to do candid shots and share them with us!
If you have enough money to hire a photographer – do it! Or you might get pictures like this….
Gift – My favorite gift I received was a large nativity set. Our wedding was December 18th, so right before Christmas. It was so thoughtful for our first Christmas together!
Amber:
Save – One of the ways that we saved for our wedding was that my grandmother and aunts made the food for our reception rather than having it done by a caterer. This also allowed us to have a few family favorites served!
Splurge – We did splurge on the cake – I wanted a large cake with tiers and a fountain. (It's totally not as fancy as it sounds – you can see a pic below.)
Gift – The one gift that I clearly remember receiving was a crystal punch bowl set.
Save On The Wedding Venue
Cheryl:
Save – The biggest item we saved on was our venue. We opted to get married on a Friday evening, which was half as much as a Saturday. The wedding and reception were held in the same room, saving on one location verses two. It was wonderful and easy for everyone to come to the wedding right after work. We really saved a bundle by booking on a Friday evening AND by combining the two venues.
Splurge – My biggest splurge was on flowers for myself and the venue. I’ve been madly in love with flowers for over 45 years and chose a bouquet of roses and lilies, two of my favorites. We also had two huge florals to serve as the backdrop for our photos and ceremony. This was the one item I felt comfortable splurging on (but I secretly wish I had splurged on a photographer.)
Gift – My favorite gift and one I still use 14 years later, was a muffin tin. This was my absolute favorite gift from a friend who knew, that my new husband called me muffin. She pasted photos of my husband and I in each tin, which made us smile when we opened it. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gift.
Staci:
Well, my wedding seems like it was a lifetime ago as we will be celebrating 30 years this June!
Save – My savings for our wedding was a single venue for the wedding and the receptions (as in same room) so that we did not have to pay to decorate two spaces, but only one.
Splurge – I am so very grateful that we invested in a quality photographer, but even more so a videographer. We even paid extra for the videographer to interview members of our family and some of the guests. Watching those interviews is such a precious time for me each year especially since some of the most important people in them are no longer with us.
Gift – As far as gifts go, the money was the most helpful as we took it and purchased a couch so we would have something to sit on. (you can now do this on the Amazon registry and it's so helpful) But, my most meaningful one was set of crystal glasses that had belonged to my great grandmother who had passed away since our engagement. My grandmother (her daughter in law) wrapped them up for me but put a card in it with my great grandmother's name and signature.
Ashley:
Save – I think we managed to save the most money on the venue. We got married in our church (which was free) and then chose to have our reception at Country club and got married at an “slow season” at the very end of March, which really cut down on the cost!
Splurge – Our biggest splurge was our fantastic photographer and the amazing videographer!
Gift – My favorite wedding gifts were things that helped me set up my kitchen and house. I would say the set of towels, my iron, and my vacuum were the most useful!
Save On Your Wedding Dress
Cheree:
Save – The dress I ended up buying was the very first one I tried on! It happened to be a sample that they were phasing out so I saved soooo much money by purchasing it right off the rack! Plus it was fun to discover that my dress had been featured on the cover of Bride's Magazine that year (ummmm 1987) and I was able to get a copy of the cover as a keepsake. 🙂
Splurge – The one thing we splurged on was a professional photographer. My daughter was married a few years ago as well and that was one thing that she had high on her priority list too. It's definitely worth it if it's in your budget.
Gift – We were so blessed to receive so many thoughtful wedding gifts. My in-laws gave us a vacuum, which at the time didn't seem very exciting, but that Kenmore vacuum from back in the day lasted us nearly 20 years! I've heard these Shark vacuums are awesome so I'm keeping that in mind for when the rest of my kiddos get married.
Mary:
Save: I had a pretty tight budget for my wedding, so when it came to choosing my dress, I headed straight to David's Bridal and found something on their $99 rack. I spent more on the alterations than I did on the actual dress! (My mom had offered her dress as well, but the style would have required a lot of altering and I didn't want to do that to her dress).
Another way we saved is had a friend photographer take our photos. They turned out great and we saved a ton. Also, our venue was in a fancy hotel and our wedding coordinator was amazing – she got us so many bonus extras at no extra cost – including an ice sculpture and she even took flowers from a wedding right before ours to decorate the venue. I couldn't believe how resourceful she was!
Also, this may seem weird, but my dad works in the funeral industry and had connections with a limousine company and was able to get us a free limousine for our getaway car! My dad also loved doing flower arrangements (he worked in the funeral industry!) and had access to a lot of flowers, so he was able to get all sorts of free petals and flower pieces for the big day. I know – weird, but hey!
Splurge: We wanted our big day to be intimate and special, so we decided to have a sit-down dinner so everyone could mingle and talk over a lovely meal. It was fabulous – and worth every penny! We also hired a DJ and that really changed the atmosphere and got people up and dancing.
Gift: We received so many thoughtful gifts, but we still have and use this gorgeous set of crystal glasses and pitcher with the letter “F” etched into them. They've lasted over 20 years and still look beautiful!
Wedding Budget Tips & Takeaways:
Here are our team's tips for how to save money on a wedding, in a nutshell! I'm sure there are sooooooooo many tips we didn't get to – but I'd just love to hear yours in the comments. 🙂
Dress: Save on your dress by borrowing from a friend or family member – or taking advantage of the David's Bridal $99 sale. Also check out local department stores, as Shannon was pleasantly surprised by her inexpensive dress there!
Photographer: We all pretty much agree that a good photographer is worth spending some money on. However, if you don't have much to spend, hire a student of photography or enlist photo-savvy friends/family to take the best pics. Ask on Facebook Marketplace or a local Facebook Buy/Sell page for recommendations – and then thoroughly vet them by asking for a portfolio of work.
Flowers: Use Sam's Club or Costco for bulk floral orders that won't break the bank. Pick your own from a friend's property, or even use re-purposed silk flower arrangements. Always try to choose seasonal flowers for the best prices.
Venue: Book on a Friday or Sunday to save money – as Saturdays are the most popular (and pricey) days of the week for venues. To save money (and time decorating) consider having both the wedding and reception in the same location.
Food: Have family and friends bring a side dish to the event to add a personal touch as well as save money. If a big, fancy cake isn't important to you, have a small bride/groom cake for pictures – and then opt for a cupcake tower (or even donut tower!) for the guests.
Music: Choose a friend or family member to DJ, or hire a musician to play rather than a group.
Decor: Ask a recently wedded friend to borrow their decor to supplement what you have.
Invitations: Print out invitations on cardstock or watch for coupon codes at sites like Shutterfly
Planning a Hawaiian Honeymoon? Don't miss our 17 Secrets to Planning a Hawaiian Vacation!
We got married in December 2000. We saved by:
~ My grandmother wanted to buy my wedding dress & happened to be less than $200.
~ My aunt wanted to pay for a DJ as our wedding gift.
~ My dad wanted to pay for the meat for the reception.
~ I did the sides for the reception.
~ I made all of the flowers (silk), utilized what was already decorated for Christmas, bought a few poinsettias.
~ Got married in our church.
~ Had our reception in our local volunteer fire departments barn, that we only had to pay $15, since my uncle served.
~ Our cake person backed out exactly 1 week before, so I went to Marsh (local grocery store that is no longer around) & they were able to create a beautiful cake for $120.
~ We did splurge on our photographer (I believe she was a couple hundred bucks). She has always done our pics.
~ My cousin was the videographer.
~ Our favorite gift all the above, then the cash, because we had just built a home & furnished it earlier that year, spent all we had left on the wedding/reception, & we wanted to get away for a couple of nights….so we were able to. (We did love all of our gifts, though.)
I saved money 26 yrs ago by finding my wedding dress on clearance and ordering my wedding and groom cakes from a local grocery store. $330 is cheap for both being 3 tier! To decorate the wedding cake I made tiny silk flower bundles to stick in after arrival. It was my favorite!! We splurged on a photographer and string quartet which I loved so much.
My favorite gifts were $ for a washer/dryer from one set of grandparents and a fridge from another set. It helped us so much and both lasted over 15 yrs!
Love that Cindy ~ thanks so much for the tips! 🙂
We eloped! Then held a small ceremony/reception later for friends/family. I saved by ordering my bouquets on Etsy from a girl who made them from sheet music. They were beautiful, unique, & we each were able to keep them forever & they will still look great. And they didn’t break the bank.
We got married in 2000 and the best advice I was given to invest in a great photographer! We were older (32 $ 41) so the cost was all ours! We paid the most for a photographer and then our friends helped with everything else!! 20 years later, people still talk about our reception! SCORE! Everyone had a great time and we enjoyed the night with everyone who meant the most to us!!!!
I saved on my wedding dress at David’s as well. It was probably my first coupon that I used. I bought last seasons dress because which ended up costing me $125! The designer changed the pearls on the bodice from round to teardrop! Other than that the biggest difference was the price $1099 new design $150 older design (-$25 coupon)! I also made all the flowers for the bouquets and groomsmen. The hotel where we had the reception had a coordinator who happened to have all her floral stuff and we used everything at the reception. I had a local cooking school cater and do ice sculptures. The students had to a final exam. So all I had to do was grade them. Cost was very low because the school provided the food because of the program. My husbands friend did the photography- he had a side hustle doing weddings. So they were professional. I’d say my wedding was very frugal. My dad told me I had $3800 (this was in 1992) for the wedding. Whatever we had leftover was ours for the honeymoon or whatever. We used frequent flier miles for our plane tickets to Hawaii. LoL. I ended up having about $1500 left!
Did a lot of budget things for daughters wedding .
1. Shopped for Bridal gown at “Brides for Breast Cancer research ” sale – they travel the country raising money thru Bridal gown sales – many new and used gowns for sale at a fraction of the price .
2. Took the Wilton cake decorating classes and made the wedding cake myself – along with grooms cake
3. Center pieces on tables were 8 inch cakes with gum paste flowers to match the wedding cake – each table cake was a different flavor and guests walked around trying different flavors and mingling. Because the venue did not have to cut the cake you save $$$
4. Cake stands for each table were made from glass plates and sundae glasses glued together and found at thrift stores
5. To save money for the bridal / grooms party the guys wore black suits ( they all wore the same ties ) girls wore LBD’s and were all given the same necklace.
6. Thank you gifts were made by us and were family recipes of candy and candied nuts that are a huge hit in our family.
7. Had friends do the photos, another preform the ceremony , another be the DJ, another be the bar tender,
8.Did wedding and reception in the same room
9. Think of this as a big party and not the “biggest day of your life”. Your marriage and financial health are more important than the wedding!!