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Top tips to save money and make the most of your wedding budget.

You’re engaged! Congratulations!

Getting engaged will probably one of the most exciting and daunting experiences of your life. I’m sure like most brides, you’ll want the wedding day of your dreams? But how will you achieve it on your budget? Don’t despair with a little creative thinking, it is possible to create your perfect day. You just need to think outside the box.

Here is a list of top tips to save money and make the best of your wedding budget.

The Venue

Be flexible – Getting Married on a Saturday, on special occasions such as New Years Eve, Valentines Day or a Bank holidays or between May and October are the most expensive times to get married. If you were to choose a Sunday or marry in the winter, you could half the price of the cost of your reception. Also suppliers are more willing to negotiate as this is a quite time for them.

Prioritise – Remember the more people you invite the more you will have to spend on invitations, tables, meals, decoration, favours, cake, and drinks. Do you really need or want to invite that people who you never see and probably won’t see again for years?

Hidden charges? – Suppliers and venues will inform you of extras that you might mistakenly believe to be part of your package. Always make sure that you are not being charged for these.

Venue decoration – What will the cost be to decorate your venue, this could have a great impact on your budget. If your venue is grand it will need little decoration, but if you’re getting married in a plain room, there might be quite a cost to make it look beautiful.

Meal vs Buffet – Why not get married a little later in the day and serve a cold buffet. Buffets are cheaper to produce and the hotel need less staff to serve it. Another idea would be for you to choose a meal that you want rather than what the hotel is offering. There is a very good chance that if you keep it simple, your choice of food will be cheaper and your guest will probably enjoy it more. To further cut costs why not use your cake as your desert.

The Toast - Do you really need to toast with champagne, when a great sparkling wine like Prosecco will do. It’s much cheaper and is a fantastic alternative. Another suggestion would be to let your guests toast your good health with the drinks that they have.

Free Booze – An absolute no, no, if you want to keep within your budget. If you feel you must provide free bar. Offer only beer, house wine and a signature cocktail made with none premium spirits.

DJ vs MP3 – Why not get your guest to send their favourite party tune to you when they RSVP. Then make a compilation of the tracks on an MP3 player to play at the wedding. Most venues will have a PA system in rooms they hire for receptions that should cut the cost of a DJ and will probably keep the dance floor filled.

DIY

Get Crafty – Are you or any of your family or friends talented. If so, why not make your own wedding stationary, favours, bridesmaid dresses, cake, flowers or centrepieces for the reception. If you’re willing to have a go, there are lots of terrific website, like Vidoejug.com or Youtube.com where you can learn a whole host of skills for your wedding.

Take Advantage – Can a friend or relative, who can, play an instrument or have a party piece that might be good entertainment. Ask them to participate in your wedding and let them know that their service would be the best gift they could give you for your wedding.

Bake your own cake – Or ask a talented friend or relative to make it for you. If you are not brave enough to bake one, why not buy a cake from your local supermarket. It will come already covered in white icing. The cakes come in various sizes so you could have a 3 tiers cake at a fraction of the price you would normally pay. Fancy cake stands, ribbon, and edible decorations can be purchased from your local cake craft shop.

Flower power – How about arranging your own flowers? There are lots of terrific website, like Vidoejug.com or You tube where you can learn lots of skills for your wedding another great tip would be to try and choose flowers that are in season, they’ll work out cheaper.

Need a ride? – Do you know of anyone or do your friends or relatives know someone who has a nice a car. See if they’ll let you use it as your wedding car. If they do ask for some kind of payment, it will probably be the cost for petrol, which is a lot less than a limo company would charge.

Money

Budget – Decide on a budget and stick to it. “It’s not how much you spend on your wedding that counts. It’s how well you spend that money”

Negotiate – Make sure you research everything and always get at least 2 quotes, then haggle. Be prepared however to walk away if you are not getting the deal you want. But be reasonable you cannot expect a business to work for nothing. Would you?

Cash is king – Remember borrowing can be quite costly. Ask yourself, can I afford to repay the debt and how quickly can I afford to pay it back. Who wants to go into their married life burdened with debt? Used carefully a credit card can be a help. Try and pay off any debt on the card each month

Loyalty schemes – If there was ever a time to take advantage of loyalty schemes, a wedding is it. Remember certain companies will give you 4 times the value if you use you redeem your points against travel and hotel breaks to name but a few.

Misc

Sale now on – Could you find the dress of your dreams in a sale. Bridal boutiques sell sample or ex display dresses at a fraction of the cost. Don’t forget however to budget for alteration and dry cleaning costs.

Beg and borrow - items from friend and relative to decorate your reception tables. Remember every thing does not have to be uniform.

Twice as nice – Think of ways to use thinks twice. Could you hold your wedding and reception at the same venue? This could save on the cost of transport. Could you use your church flower and bridesmaids bouquets as decoration at the reception? There are lots more thinks like this if you set your mind to it

Limit services – Do you really need your photographer to be present at the wedding all day. Hire them for a set number of hours and ask them to inform you when they only have half an hour to go.

Dress for less - Why not get your bridesmaid dresses from a high street store. They will workout much cheaper and you can embellish the dresses to your taste. You’ll find a whole host of embellishments at your local fabric store.

Be Studious – You’d be surprised at how many services you would be able to get from a local college to help you with your wedding. Tutors would be able to recommend their most talented students to provide, music, hair, makeup, nails, floristry and catering and you would pay a fraction of the cost that you would be charged by a supplier.

Bless – See if another couple are getting married on the same day and share the cost of your flowers. If you both agree on a neutral colour, both your floristry bill will be cut

Stay at home – Do you or a friend have a fantastic garden? Well why not get have your reception there. It will cut the cost of your wedding by thousands as there are no hotel service costs.

Buy don’t hire – It can work out much cheaper to do this, then get a good proportion of your money back when you sell them sell them on eBay. In fact buy some of your stuff on eBay then sell it on eBay and get your money back.

Delay your honeymoon – Who says you have to jet off straight on a honeymoon. Why not have a mini-moon (remember what we said before about loyalty schemes), then go on honeymoon when your ready. It also gives you more time to save.

This article was supplied by Patricia Browne of The Wedding Academy www.weddingacademy.co.uk