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Meta Description: Planning a wedding on a budget doesn’t have to be difficult. All you need are these 5 wedding rules to plan by.
Planning a wedding on a budget can be a little difficult, but not impossible if you follow our expert advice. A few key decisions are all that’s needed to keep your wallet intact while still achieving an event to remember. With our help and enough time to properly plan, you’ll have everything under control.
Priority Rules
The act of writing down your desires in priority order is essential to planning a wedding on a budget. This helps you realize what you’re willing to compromise on and identifying what you absolutely cannot go without.
For example, if you’ve placed decor at the bottom of your list and your wedding gown at the top, it be an easy decision to skip on the extra rope lighting so that you can afford that vintage veil without going over budget.
This process also helps you organize your budget. Many brides make the mistake of setting an overall budget and then start spending, only to discover that there are a bunch of extra expenses not accounted for. Itemizing all of your wedding purchase plans into categories is a simple way to avoid expensive surprises.
Size Matters
Many brides worry that cheap wedding ideas will make their wedding feel, well, cheap. This doesn’t have to be the case at all. You can still enjoy a lavish wedding experience while cutting costs.
Instead of skimping on quality, the better approach is to cut down on guests. The size of your guest list is by far the largest wedding expense. Every single addition to your guest list impacts venue, food, drink, favors, transportation, accommodation and many other costs.
An intimate wedding with your closest friends and family members allows you to afford a much higher per-plate rate without spending extravagant sums of money.
A smaller guest list give you a lot of venue options for a wedding on a small budget. Large groups of people require much more space and support staff. A small list allows brides to rent out a local restaurant, rustic barn, or other unusual yet beautiful locals.
Timing Is Everything
If you are planning a wedding on a budget, you’ll want to be aware of “premium season”. Certain times of year are extremely popular for couples. You will find that venues are booked very quickly, often at inflated prices. The same can be said for vendors as supply and demand drive up costs.
The time of year also affects wedding flowers. Brides that have a particular bloom in mind for their big day may find that they are outside of their natural lifecycle, making accessibility difficult and expensive.
The solution to this is to do a little research in advance and plan your wedding during the offseasons. Pricing will be much more flexible and it’s possible to find bundle offers for even greater savings.
Time Is On Your Side
Speaking of time, one of the easiest ways to cut down on wedding costs is giving yourself plenty of time to hunt down deals. It’s extremely tough to find the wedding gown of your dreams at a discount in an afternoon. However, if you give yourself 12 months or more you’ll be able to keep an eye on pricing and jump at opportunities as they come.
This also gives you more time to compare and negotiate pricing, bundle deals, and thoughtful scheduling. Booking your photographer for a half day, for example, means that you are only paying for what you get.
When it comes to planning a wedding on a budget you don’t necessarily have to compromise. The wedding of your dreams on a tight budget often boils down to how much time you invest into planning.
Assemble
If you want to pinch every penny, engage your closest friends and family members. Many of them are more than happy to help out with DIY decor.
Beyond saving on centerpieces and favors, you can encourage your guests to provide services in lieu of gifts. Members of your guest list are likely to have the skills needed to supply your wedding with music, photography, catering, transportation, furniture and a lot of other things that quickly add up costs.
Author: Valeriya Istomina is a Wedding Forward expert on wedding budgets, etiquettes, ceremonies, and music. If you need tips for wedding planning, she will guide you all the way. She collects analytics and surveys, talks to experts; creates checklists, templates, and gives her take on wedding planning. Her other passions are yoga, photography, and reading
