Engaged? Congratulations — on your last few moments of having money in your pocket, I mean! Sorry, that was harsh. Seriously, getting married is, of course, a wonderful thing. However, no-one can deny that it is easy to overspend when planning your wedding; you simply mention the word and zeros get added to prices. I’ve been through this recently and so wanted to share a few tips (other than: if you want to test your relationship, plan a wedding together!) to help you stay within budget and avoid entering married life with unnecessary debt.
1. Get wedding insurance
My wife was reluctant to get wedding insurance as it’s an additional expense (seemingly having forgotten the “no pet insurance saga”). We were lucky I insisted because our marquee company’s warehouse burnt down two months before the wedding, with all of the marquees inside. This was not fun, as you can imagine, but it would have been worse if we didn’t take out that insurance. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst and all that…
2. Spend money on the things people notice
Do you remember what was decorating the tables, or hanging from the ceiling, at the last wedding you went to? No, no-one does. I, however, am still moaning about the wedding I went to a few years ago where they ran out of booze and I was hungry all day. Spend your money on the important things which will make or break your guests’ day, such as food, drink and shelter (either from the sun or, if you’re in England, the rain). You don’t need the little touches which hardly anyone will appreciate but can really add up.
3. Go for a weekday
At most venues, weekday weddings are far cheaper than the usual Saturdays. Yes, it means people may have to take a day off, but most people would do this without question (and if they wouldn’t, then they probably shouldn’t be coming anyway). Fridays, especially, are a good idea as guests can then have a long weekend (and more time to recover). Plus, you feel quite smug when you’re living it up at a wedding when everyone else is at work.
4. Negotiate!
This is another area where my wife and I differed. Whereas she considered prices to be set in stone, and didn’t want to ruffle feathers by asking for discounts, I took the view that everything was negotiable. Again, guess who was right? It doesn’t happen often, I should add (largely in case she reads this…). We may not have knocked hundreds of pounds off any one thing, but even small discounts here and there really add up when you are ordering things in bulk. And, when it comes to planning a wedding, any saving at all really does help!
5. DIY
Why pay someone else to do something if you can do it better (or just as well)? There are so many wedding-related things which you can DIY and you may even have fun doing it (note I said “may” not “will”). Things like bunting, decorations, invitations and even photobooths are all easily doable yourself.
6. Search for cheaper ways of getting the same results
This may sound like an obvious one, but bear with me. It is not always apparent that slightly altering the way you do things can have a big impact on price. This struck me most with our wedding cake. Did you know that to get a “fancy” wedding cake (you know, one with multiple tiers and icing flowers stuck to it, that sort of thing) for over 100 guests can easily set you back nearly £1,000?! Clearly, we should all be making wedding cakes for a living. A little bit of research and we discovered that a mountain of cupcakes, which look and taste just as good (seriously, who doesn’t like cupcakes?), is a fraction of the cost. Similarly, while your guests may well enjoy a midnight taco truck, I’m betting that they would be just as happy with a bacon sandwich and, if you have supplied enough alcohol, probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anyway.
7. Get help
People like to feel important. You want to save money. Do you see where this is going? Enlist the help of your family and friends and everyone’s a winner. I bet your Auntie Mildred makes a mean Victoria sponge — get her cracking on those aforementioned cupcakes. Have a friend who can DJ? Put him in charge of the music and save hundreds of pounds. Get your arty friends on the decorations and so on. Not only will this save you a packet, but you will find that it means more to you if it has been a team effort with your nearest and dearest.
8. Beg, borrow and steal
Okay, maybe don’t steal, but begging and borrowing is definitely allowed. If you have any married friends then ask them for tips and whether they have anything left over from their wedding which you can use. People love to give advice and you will find that they’re also are only too willing to shift those 50 tealight holders which are taking up space in the attic. Even if you have friends at both weddings, no-one will realise they are being recycled because, as noted above, no-one notices these things anyway!
