As you know, I’m planning my wedding (it’s in less than 2 months!!). There’s so much to do in a day, all the financial stuff, budgets, timelines, pressure, responsibilities – planning your wedding yourself can be very tough and overwhelming. I’m listing some things I’ve done and kept in mind for my own wedding hoping to help other brides-to-be who might be looking for some hacks.

The Date:

♥ Having your wedding mid-year between the months of April – September usually will cost you a higher rate (it’s a highly desired time for weddings). Venues and vendors will charge you less if you book your date between January – March and/or October – December. Our wedding is before March!

♥ The day of the week also makes quite the difference. Weekdays are usually the cheapest rate other than Friday. Weekends are higher – Saturdays seem to be the most expensive. The venues we looked at went in this order: Saturday = highest rate, Friday = 2nd highest rate, Sunday = 3rd highest rate. The difference between the prices are by a few thousand dollars!

The Venue: 

♥ You can save a bunch of money by holding your Ceremony and Reception at the same venue. This is what we’ve decided to do! 

♥ If you can find a venue that already has a style of its own or requires less decor you can also end up saving money on decorations.

The Wedding Dress:

♥ If you’re looking to save on your dress keep in mind that at most wedding dress stores you can buy the samples. When I was a Bridal Consultant, if brides were on an extreme time crunch, if they had sizing issues, or if there was a reason why they needed to buy the dress off the rack, we’d sell it to ’em! And at a discounted price since it was a tester. Some dresses were in great condition and/or we had more samples for that dress in the back so it made it easy for both parties.

♥ Don’t limit yourself to just the known bridal shops for your dress. Online stores like Lulus.com, Asos.com and others have wedding gowns or a bridal dress line within their brand! You can find a beautiful, elegant wedding dress for a fraction of the price that you might spend in person at a big chain wedding dress shop. I recently recommended someone close to me to Lulus.com and she found her dress! It’s a stunning, classy lace wedding dress perfect for a destination wedding. And when I say “a fraction of the price” .. I mean like a dress for under 200 bucks! 

Decor & Flowers:

♥ For some decor don’t be afraid to DIY! Of course too much DIY decor may not look that attractive, but some things you can definitely get creative with! I’m DIYing our centerpieces!

♥ Flowers can get pretty expensive. If you need flowers/greenery for venue decor or bouquets, consider places like Trader Joe’s, the Farmer’s Market, or wholesale flowers. Trader Joe’s has Eucalyptus and Baby’s Breath for under $4.00! They also have a lovely selection of other flowers. I will be most likely getting flowers from TJ’s for my bridesmaids bouquets since I’m arranging them myself! Another option to consider for decor etc. is silk flowers. You can get some that are good quality and look real!

Photography/Videography:

♥ This service can take a chunk of your budget for sure. If you know any experienced friends, try working with them for a discounted rate.

♥ Limit the number of hours, locations and photographers/videographers for your event. This should definitely make a difference in price.

Catering & Cake: 

♥ Cost per head can really add up here. Catering is many times one of the heftiest parts of wedding expenses. Often times catering can cost anywhere from $85 – $175 per person on average. One tip is to opt for buffet. Plated meals may seem snazzier, but they are more expensive. As long as you have good food I don’t think your guests will care, so consider doing a buffet style dinner for your wedding!

♥ Some people find it more cost effective to do a dessert bar or cupcakes instead of a 2 or 3 tier cake as sometimes cakes get pricey.

DJ & Entertainment:

♥ If you don’t need a DJ (some places only work with partnered DJs who know their sound system), think about creating playlists yourself. For my younger brother’s wedding they used Spotify and I know many other couples who’ve gone this route for their wedding music as well. Put someone in charge of playing the appropriate playlist at the right times of the event. If you want an Emcee for the night, look to Amazon for a speaker/mic system and have a family member or friend who doesn’t have stage fright Emcee!

♥ Don’t have the budget for hired entertainment? Have your bridesmaids/groomsmen/parents/couples etc. choreograph dances, skits and more. It’s the people you love that are performing for you, making you laugh, being creative and making more memories on your big day! Never a bad idea 🙂

Guest List: 

♥ Run through your guest list a few times. Make sure you have the people you really want there and cut the people you don’t really want (just my personal opinion). You’re spending money and time on each person at your wedding so you might as well make your guest list one with those that really matter.

♥ Remember each person on your list go hand-in-hand with your catering cost. Each person costs a certain amount. Be frank with yourself – do you really want them there? Will it really make you happy on your big day? Is it worth the cost?

I hope these tips, hacks and ideas help anyone that needs it. These are some things that I have done in my own planning for my wedding. I’m thinking about doing a wedding series after my big day where I can talk more about the things I did, my wedding weekend, budgets, other helpful tips and so much more.

See ya’ll in my next post! xo