I may be very early on in my wedding planning stages, but I am already starting to think about how to cut costs. Here are some of the things I’m doing to save money in the long run.

Skip the Traditional ‘Venue’

Instead of having our wedding at a ‘wedding venue’, we are having it on a friend’s country property. This allows us to avoid the venue fee and associated costs, while also allowing us to set up in advance, take down the day after instead of immediately after the reception, and we also get our choice of date because we don’t have other weddings to compete with.

Use Your Contacts

When I used to model, I established several contacts ranging from hair and makeup artists to photographers. When building your portfolio, you tend to do a lot of work for free, so I’m calling up on those favors for my wedding and saving money because I have close relationships with the people I’m working with! If you have friends or family with a particular skill, utilize it!

DIY Decor

I’ve always been thrifty and through my pursuit of frugality, I’ve found many ways to save money and avoid paying full price for just about anything. My plan for decor is to repurchase decor from past weddings through online Buy and Sell pages, source wholesale items, and purchase rustic decor like frames and wine barrels from non wedding-related vendors. As soon as you slap the word ‘wedding’ on anything, it triples in price.

Florals

Faux flowers and greenery is one option when it comes to saving on florals, but if you’re set on real blooms, you can get them for a fraction of the price if you aren’t picky about the specific kind of flower. Flowers are expensive because only certain species are available at certain times of year. Instead of going to a florist, consider going to the farmer’s market and grabbing some florals to make up your buckets, bouquets, or centre pieces!

With that being said, there are some areas you shouldn’t skimp on. If you are set on having photography and videography services, ensure you utilize professional companies if you want the best results instead of using a student with limited experience and no portfolio for you to review.

How else did you cut costs for your wedding? Let me know with a comment below!

Happy planning!