13 Tips To Reduce Your Wedding Budget

This is a special post from debtkid reader Kimberly. Great tips for setting at wedding budget! Just in time for me as I got engaged at the end of last year!

Congratulations, you’re engaged! Now that you are now a “we,” personal finance should become part of the conversation. You could be thrown into this immediately with the thoughts of a wedding. As weddings can be overwhelming, expensive and all-encompassing, this series will discuss the way that personal finance and weddings can co-exist.

Dig a little into planning, and you begin to wonder – how much will this party cost? The largest party most people throw is a Halloween bash of a couple hundred dollars. Weddings can range from a $50 Justice of the Peace affair to hundreds of thousands. For those who enjoy thinking about personal finance, a wedding can present a whole host of challenges to a budget beyond adding up numbers – family expectations, relationships, and differing financial perspectives. Many will decry any restraint in the celebration of a marriage – and the kool-aid is easy to drink. If you’re determined not to be driven crazy, a budget is a must-have tool.

First, imagine the wedding of your dreams – a snazzy swing band, 1941 Packard LeBaron, bungee jumping, lobster, or a hot air balloon ride. Then imagine the smallest wedding you will enjoy, and plan for it. Write down every guest that you could ever hope to invite to (childhood friends, co-workers, long lost cousins) avoid continually revising the list upwards. Figure out a location amenable to both sets of families. Dream about location – a rural location is easier on the wedding budget, but more expensive for the traveler. Do some internet research to reveal the costs; typical high cost items include save the date cards, invitations, dress, tuxedo rental, celebrant, church rental, church musician, reception venue, food, open bar, photographer, florist, centerpieces, bridal party gifts, party favors, hotel, getaway car, rehearsal dinner, honeymoon.

Next, figure out who is paying – which inevitably means going back to step two and revising the budget! If a parent offers to pay, thank them…and remember that nothing in life is free! But regardless of who pays, no one should take on debt for a wedding – few things can shackle a young marriage quicker than money woes. Therefore, simple life hacks to reduce the budget are:

Tips To Reduce Your Wedding Budget

• skip the wedding planner
• ask guests for help in lieu of a gift – hosting (large house/yard; club membership for a reduced rental fee), talent (photographer, hair stylist), getaway car (a convertible will do), honeymoon (vacation house)
• hold the ceremony in a park – free, manicured, and less flowers needed!
• wear a used or non-standard wedding dress
• plan the day for the off-season (fall and winter)
• dance to a DJ instead of a band
• create a center piece with peacock/ostrich feathers and branches (no florist!)
• email the save-the-date instead of sending a paper version
• hold the ceremony and reception at the same venue
• serve hors d’oeuvres instead of a meal
• eliminate party favors
• hold the reception at an orchard or old barn (not inhabited by animals!)
• serve ethnic food – tends to be cheaper

Like anything, planning is the key. Create your vision together, and talk about creating a budget with your fiancé. This is harder than creating a monthly budget because you do not have a history of costs from which to estimate. One way to handle this is to treat it like a construction project and pad the budget by 10%. And as described in Debt Kid, ING offers subaccounts so that you can track your saving. Good luck, hang on, and enjoy being the ringmaster.