1. Get married midweek
It’s no secret that Saturdays take the cake for the most popular day of the week to get married. According to The Knot 2017 Real Weddings Study, 7 in 10 weddings take place on a Saturday. Saturday weddings remain popular for obvious reasons: They give out-of-town guests enough buffer time to travel to and from the wedding location, and provide everyone a chance to recuperate on Sunday.
But being a highly sought after day of the week does have its downsides. The easiest way to guarantee higher wedding vendor rates is to choose a Saturday during peak wedding season (typically between May and October, during which nearly 80 percent of couples say "I do").
If you want to save money on a wedding consider a Friday or a Sunday for a slightly reduced fee, or for even bigger savings choose to get married midweek.
2. Consider a winter wedding
80% of couples get married between May and October, with the summer months being much more expensive. As a cheaper alternative why not consider a winter wedding?
Think fairy lights sparkling, autumn leaves falling or a winter wonderland themed extravaganza.
You can even sprinkle some mistletoe in key spots around your venue. It will create some great photo opportunities and may promote romance among your guests as the day goes on.
3. Plan ahead.
Wedding suppliers often get booked up a year or two in advance, but by planning a wedding several years ahead you can often make savings.
Contacting suppliers such as photographers and wedding planners early may get you some early bird savings, as well as guaranteeing your first choice vendor is free for your bid day.
4. Choose an unlicensed venue
By using a celebrant for your wedding you increase your potential list of venues tenfold.
An unlicensed venue is often cheaper, and more willing to work with you to create something truly unique for your wedding.
5. Have your reception at your favourite pub or restaurant
Many pubs or restaurants nearby will happily hold your evening reception, and include good prices for food and drinks.
Some pubs now will even let you hold the ceremony there, maybe in a designated room or perhaps in a luscious beer garden filled with flowers?
My favourite local offers such a service, and I highly recommend it.
http://thebutlersarmspleasington.co.uk
6. Create your own photo booth and wedding hashtag
There are many cool photo booths available for hire, and often at great prices.
However these days everyone is a photographer and providing a few props and a cardboard frame for guests to take their own quirky style social media photos can be a cheaper and more creative option to a photo booth.
By using a unique wedding # you can easily find all your guests self taken photos in the days after the wedding.
7. Create DIY decorations
Save the date cards, invites, place cards....the stationary for a wedding can soon become an expense.
Enter The Creative Nib, a Lancashire based company who offer classes in creative calligraphy enabling you to create your own decorations and stationary at a much smaller cost, and with all the creative control.
Their workshops will teach you everything you need to know and even provide you with a starter kit to take get started on your home-made wedding favours.
You could even create a little something for your bridesmaids.
8. Rent your wedding dress
A wedding dress is often one of the most extravagant things a bride wants to splurge on but often brides are shocked when they see the cost of their dream gowns.
We all want to have the perfect dress for our wedding day and it’s not the time to be compromising on style. Rental boutiques are the perfect solution. It is actually really common across Europe to rent your wedding dress and it makes perfect sense — you will only ever wear it once and it gives you the chance to wear a beautiful designer dress without having to plant a money tree. Renting is a great option for bridesmaids too and will help that uber-popular friend from having her own real life 27 Dresses experience.
9. Elope
Many couples decide to elope and choose a small ceremony combined with their honeymoon.
If you don't wish to invite lots of family and friends and instead favour a simple beach ceremony then a wedding elopement can be a great way to massively cut the cost of your wedding day.
You can always have a huge party when arrive home.
10. Know what you don't need
Whilst it's great to save in places you can it's also important to choose the things you are willing to spend money on.
Wedding photo's are THE most important thing and something you will cherish forever, therefore scrimping on photographer, or choosing one that doesn't quite meet your expectations but offers a good deal is not a great decision.
The photographer should be you the one thing you choose entirely based on the quality of their work, price is irrelevant.
Wedding photo's last a lifetime. Every time you look at your fireplace filled with them you will re-live the magic of your perfect wedding day.
Looking for a photographer locally? Red Sweets Photography offer Full Wedding Day packages from £499! Bargain!!
