When we got married at the start of the new millenium, we didn’t have a lot of money. We got a little bit of help from both sides of our family, but most of the expenses were up to us. The lack of money molded the choices we made on location and the type of wedding we could have. Thankfully, I didn’t have a fairy tale wedding in my head to begin with and was flexible in what I wanted: an outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception. That was really the extent to what I had to have for my wedding.
Keeping those two ideas in my head and knowing I didn’t want guests driving from point A (the ceremony) to point B (the reception), we looked at all inclusive venues – mostly hotels that offered a courtyard and a reception hall. Since most of our family lived in other states, we were also open to having a wedding outside the state we lived in and that’s exactly how we saved money. Instead of getting married in California, we married in Arizona reducing the venue cost by 200%. Thankfully we had family in Arizona that hunted down a location for us and did a little foot work to secure a few things like a DJ and minister. That saved us time and money. We ended up having an amazing wedding for under $5,000.
Some other money saving tips for couples that are cash-strapped, but would rather not elope:
- Ask a close friend or relative with a big backyard to host your ceremony. A relative may be more inclined to do so. With a friend, you might have to bribe them with a little money and a lot of prep or clean-up time.
- Enlist friends and family members to serve as chefs, caterers, or creatively inclined folks to assist with decorations. Paying your friends and family members to help out will cost less than hiring professionals.
- Find an all-inclusive venue. The particular hotel we picked had a decent courtyard with fountains we were able to dress up a bit with twinkle lights, flowers, and ribbons. Their reception hall came with a buffet-style dinner and we could pick and choose which kind of bar we offered. Which brings us to….
- Alcohol -keep it simple. If you can afford kegs, offer your guests free beer and wine, but charge for well drinks. There are lots of creative options for this category.
If we had been more financially savvy, we still would have kept our costs low. However, we would also have been able to budget our money better to begin with. What we’ve learned since then:
- You’ve got to have a budget! Without one, you have no clue what’s coming in or going out.
- Have a plan – a plan for spending, paying down debt, and saving! And not just a “someday” plan. Stick with 1-, 5-, and 10-year plans.
- Be on the same page – have common goals you’re both working towards.
- Sit down and talk about it! Not the most romantic, but a definite “must.”
Better late than never though, right? With all of this knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years, I decided to package it into an ebook. You can download it from Amazon for Kindle or tablet readers, or download it here for a free interactive PDF.
P.S. I’m always looking for feedback, so feel free to download the PDF and comment-away!
Are you planning a low-budget wedding? Did you find ways to save money on your wedding?
9 Comments
I think it’s important to plan a budget for wedding ahead of time. For me, I don’t know where my future might lead, but I plan to create a budget for things that might cost money in the future (like house, car, wedding, etc). Even if someday I don’t end up using the money for the specific occasion I prepared it for, additional money is always nice because you don’t know what might happen 🙂
@Poor Student – Sounds like you are well ahead of yourself in planning and budgeting for the future. Budgeting is definitely the key to a financially stable future.
Great plans, sounds like it has paid off over time and you have some great memories. We created a budget and stuck with it (for the most part) back when we got married in 2007.
@Money Beagle – We have great memories from that event. I truly enjoy attending weddings. Too bad everyone I know is now married. No more weddings in the near future! 😉
I think cutting down the number of guests can help reduce the cost. At the beginning it doesn’t seem much but after we add up all the costs it’s indeed significant! Also I heard someone saying having a reception in the afternoon could reduce the cost, since having a full course dinner is more expensive.
My wife and I created a budget and stuck to it. But before we did that, we both sat down and discussed that was important to us. These are imperative when it comes to planning a wedding. The wedding industry is a giant machine that runs very well. They can get you to spend more money very easily. Had we not decided what we truly wanted and how much we could spent, it would have been easy to overspend. In fact, there were times when we were leaning towards adding things because of how great they sounded. Luckily we took a step back and realized they weren’t important enough for us so we passed on them.
@Jon -Those darn wedding magazines don’t help things, either! They have so many pretty knick-knacks in them that every bride thinks she MUST have. It’s so easy to get sucked into spending much more than you had planned.
That’s great that you had a wedding for a reasonable price like that. Totally agree that it’s important to talk about these things ahead of time and budget. So many brides get caught up in the concept of a dream wedding that they lose sight of very real practicalities of money.
@Ray – I’d venture to say too many brides get caught up in the Cinderella-fantasy wedding and spend way too much on one event. We were very fortunate that we did get some help AND had simplistic ideas!