This blog was written by our guest blogger, Jared!
A lot of time goes into planning a wedding and the stress alone is enough to make you pull your hair out! Needless to say, planning and saving up for a wedding can seem daunting, but with a little bit of organization and some creative thinking, it can be done! Here are five tips to help get you started.
- Figure out your budget. The first step in saving for a wedding is figuring out how much money you have to work with. Sit down and make a list of all the expenses you will have, including the cost of the venue, catering, dress, flowers, and more. This will give you a good idea of how much money you need to save each month.
- Start small. Don’t try to save up for the entire wedding all at once! Break it down into smaller goals and work towards them one at a time. When you save in increments, it makes the spending seem a lot less and makes the whole thing a lot less stressful.
- Consider making compromises. Saturday is the most expensive day to have a wedding due to it being the most popular day. Consider having a wedding on a Sunday. If you can bring out all your loved ones on a day besides Saturday, you would save lots of cash. Discuss with the managers of your dream wedding venue to see which days they’ll be available.
- 4. Do not invite people you’ll never see again. Many people feel because their wedding day is special to them that it’ll be special to everyone else. Unfortunately, this isn’t true. Do what you can to reduce your guest list to a smaller amount of people who sincerely want the best for you and not just a free party and meal. Limit your plus-ones and go from 500 to 150 people. A simple change like this will make your crowd a little more intimate while you save a great amount of money.
- Your wedding outfits will be worn only once. We know this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but you will only be wearing that dress once! Find sales by signing up for your favourite local bridal shops’ newsletters. This way you’ll always be informed about upcoming sales and discounts. Saving a few hundred on your wedding attire will allow you to be a little more lenient in other categories in your budget.
Always remember that the wedding will not determine the outcome of the marriage. However, starting your marriage off in the right financial direction will always propel you into a positive position. And if none of these money-saving options appeal to you, you could always skip the wedding and elope! Nothing saves more money than never spending it in the first place.