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AWARD WINNING SPECIALISTS - WEDDINGS - PRIVATE EVENTS - HIGH OUTPUT CORPORATE MULTI SHIFT CATERING
Weddings are expensive!
Your Wedding Day may turn out to be one of the most expensive events in your life but there are many ways in which you can keep the costs down if you think about it.
Some things of course cannot be done cheaply, you’ll always have to pay for the cost of the ceremony and the officiant for example but there are a number of areas where you can cut the costs.
Here are some tips to help you keep reduce the costs of your Wedding and help you stay within your budget.
The Wedding Date
• Choose An Out Of Season Wedding Date
The Wedding Season in the UK normally runs between April and September with the months of June, July and August being the high peak season.
By choosing a date in a lower season you are guaranteed to find cheaper venue who are likely to have an out of season rate.
There are many advantages to holding an out of season wedding, this would avoid the problem of guests not being able to attend due to summer holidays being booked for example and you could have a themed wedding in line with the time of year such as a Spring, Winter or Christmas Wedding.
• Choose a midweek booking
Another way to ensure you can keep the venue costs down is by choosing a weekday instead of the weekend, venues have mid-week rates which are lower than those at weekends.
Having a mid-week wedding is becoming more of a trend for weddings and the savings may also extend to any suppliers that you employ as well.
Wedding Venue
• Host the wedding reception at home
If you have the space in your garden for a marquee or have a large house with indoor space then hosting your wedding at home can be a super cheap decision, there is lots to organise but with a bit of effort and planning you could get that sorted in no time.
You will be able to have whatever you want on your special day with no venue owner to tell you no and it would make your day extra personal and special.
• Use A Local Pub, Church Or Village Hall To Hold Your Reception And Evening Do
You might have that massive country house in mind as your ideal venue but there are so many alternatives to where you can hold your reception and evening do.
Places to think about should include local Pubs, Restaurants, Village Halls, Local Schools and Social Clubs.
Whist these might not be the normal places to hold a reception and might not have all the facilities and services available that you want on your special day they are guaranteed to be a way lot cheaper than bigger venues, the upside of course is that there probably won’t be any limitations on what suppliers you bring on site where you might be restricted with this at typical wedding venues.
• Keep The Wedding Venue Local
Choosing a more local venue will obviously help keep your transport costs down but this will also extend to accommodation for yourself and your guests, as discussed above there will be savings to be made by choosing more local smaller venues too.
• Hold The Ceremony In The Same Place As The Reception
Holding your wedding ceremony and reception in the same place is bound to save costs with the venue but you will also see savings on other areas such as transportation as you will not need to move between the venues.
Wedding decorations would not need to be covered in more than one venue and wedding suppliers will not charge any transportation costs between sites either.
• Find A House That You Can Rent For A Weekend To Get Married
Here is a real thinking out the box idea that you might not have through of!
Rather than hire a standard wedding venue see if you can hire a house for a weekend and hold your wedding there.
There may be some restrictions to doing this and it might be difficult to find someone happy to let you hold your wedding there, but you could find yourself somewhere quite different and spectacular.
Food & Drinks
• Provide Your Own Alcohol Or Buy When On Special Offer
Rather than put on a free bar why not buy your own drinks to provide to your guests?
You could go to a wholesaler where you could buy everything in bulk, you could approach a specialist supplier to see if they would give you a deal or you might want to keep an eye out for any special offers, Supermarkets of course are a pretty good example for this.
• Do Your Own Catering
The food at a wedding is undoubtedly a huge part of the budget and you could save yourself literally thousands by doing the catering yourself or asking friends and family to help out!
There are deals to be found at supermarkets and wholesalers from which you can make your own buffet, or you could buy platters instead so the buffet is already done.
• Ask Guests To Bring Their Own Drink
This would be a great idea if you were having your wedding at a local venue without a bar or at home.
Your guests might be happy to bring their own drinks, it would work out cheaper for them rather than having to pay at a cash bar and at least they will be able to drink what they want on the night!
Wedding Transport
• Ask A Friend With A Posh Car To Drive You To The Venue
Why pay out for the hire of expensive cars to take you to the Wedding venue when you are probably only going to be paying for a short period of time?
Surely you have a friend or family member with a posh car that you can encourage to give you a lift instead?
Wedding Guests
• Have A Small Intimate Wedding For Less People
A great way of keeping the overall costs is simply to keep the number of guests to a minimum, opt for a simple low-key wedding and you’ll see your wedding costs reduce dramatically!
• Cut Down On The Number In The Wedding Party
I know this one might be a little controversial but traditionally having bridesmaids, groomsmen and ushers just pushes your costs up, not only are there expectations to pay or contribute to their attire there is also the gifts that should be buying them.
• Give Guests Homemade Favours Or None At All
You might want to choose to scrap the idea of wedding favours completely or you could make these yourself.
There are a range of ideas to be found on places like Etsy and Pinterest to give you ideas of what you could make to keep the costs down.
Wedding Attire
• Make Your Own Wedding Dress Or Borrow One From Someone Else
You might be lucky enough to be able to make clothes yourself or you know someone else that can.
Making your own wedding dress would save you money as would altering a family heirloom instead of buying new.
You could also look at making the outfits for the rest of the wedding party to really keep the costs down.
• Buy A Second-hand Wedding Dress
Second hand, preloved or used goods are a smart choice all round so why not for your Wedding Dress?
Alright this might take a bit of research, you might have to go to a few charity shops and spend some time looking at what’s on offer on Ebay but there are specialist shops that sell second-hand wedding dresses including charity shops that Oxfam.
• Hire The Wedding Outfits
It goes without saying that hiring outfits rather than buying is a cheaper option, this way you would be able to wear something more expensive than you could otherwise afford.
There is a trend with more sustainable trends now and there are number of businesses and designers that are happy to hire out their creations.
• Keep The Cost Of The Rings Down By Purchasing On The High Street
Another clever way to keep the costs down on the Wedding attire is to look at buying your wedding rings from a high street retailer rather than a specialist shop.
Jewellery retailers such as Pandora, Argos and HM Samuel will be much cheaper than an independent jewellery specialist.
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Wedding Stationery
· Make Your Own Invitations
Guaranteed to add that personal touch making your own invites is sure to cost you less than ordering expensive personalised ones from a Wedding stationer.
There are lots of ideas to be found in the aisle of craft shops such as The Range and you could easily find ideas and templates on the internet by doing a small bit of research.
· Use Text Messages And Emails Rather Than Stationary
Using technology rather than physical stationary will be a much cheaper option for any wedding.
Send your invitations via a text message or by email rather than using traditional invites that are posted to your guests, these may take a bit more time to put together but you will save money on buying the actual invitations, the postage costs and you won’t have the hassle of giving the invitations out either as it will all be done electronically.
Wedding Decorations
· Use Cheaper Alternatives For Decorations
Wedding decorations can be expensive particularly if you have a Wedding Stylist.
Choosing items that do not need to cost the earth like baubles, leaves, foliage, pinecones, pebbles, sand and stones will keep the expense down. These would also help to give a more natural and simpler look and your individual flair will be different to anything your guests would have seen before.
· Rent Out Wedding Decorations
Renting wedding decorations rather than buying these will also save you money on your budget.
There are wedding stylists who rent out Wedding items and you could find local individuals who have a number of items they rent out on a part time basis that work out quite cheaper than buying these.
Things like chairs, tables, tablecloths, chair bows and sashes, wedding post boxes, candelabras, candy floss machines, chocolate fountains and centrepieces are a good idea for wedding items to rent or hire out.
· Make Your Own Bouquet Or Buy Flowers From A Flower Wholesaler
You might be surprised with how much money you can save if you arrange your own flowers, there are a number of flower wholesalers where you should be able to buy flowers quite cheaply or you might choose to make a deal with a local florist for the flowers only and arrange these yourself.
Another alternative here is using artificial flowers rather than the real thing.
Wedding Suppliers
· Ask A Friend To Take Your Photos
There is no doubt a photographer will take some stunning photos but who really looks through lots of photos these days, the days of the wedding albums are behind us, and people normally only really want a few shots to put onto a canvas and hang on their wall!
If you have a friend who is interested in photography why not ask for this help, you could pay them to take your photos for the day, just make sure you are sure you pick someone who can trust who will forget about their role on your special day!
· Use A Local College
A local collage is a great place to find students that might be interested in being one of your wedding suppliers this might be something you wish to pay for at a much cheaper rate than elsewhere or they may offer a few freebies.
You could find yourselves caterers, hairdressers, nail and beauty technicians, photographers and dressmakers, students who would welcome the opportunity to cover a wedding and add to their portfolio.
· Do Your Own Hair And Makeup Or Ask A Friend
You might decide that you are not too bothered about having a full makeover on the wedding day.
You could be quite proficient with hair and make up and happy to do this all yourself or you might have a kind friend happy to do this is all for no charge at all.
· Do A Deal With A Local New Formed Business
Doing a bit of research on wedding suppliers will pay dividends, there may be some up and coming new local businesses that would be happy to offer a reduction on their services, so they get their foot in the door to the industry like a newly formed band looking for social media exposure to get their business off the ground.
· Choose Cheaper Alternatives For The Wedding Cake
The cost of a Wedding Cake can run into hundreds of pounds, and this is one thing that would be easy to reduce the cost on.
You may be quite good at baking a cake and happy to make your own, you might have a friend or family members that can knock up a great cake and happy to offer their services as a wedding present or for free.
You could also buy a cake from a local baker and put the icing and decorations on yourself, or you could buy something ready prepared from a local supermarket.
Wedding Entertainment
· Use pre-selected downloaded songs rather than have a DJ or band
If your budget cannot stretch to having a DJ or you are having a much smaller affair you could just have a personal playlist playing the background, this would also ensure that you only have the songs you want on your day too!
Wedding Budget
· Only spend money on what you really want
Try and list your wedding wishes in order of priority think about those things you really want above others and prioritise these, with a bit of thought you could eliminate a number of things and the cost of these too.
· Keep track of your budget at all times
If you don’t keep track of your budget you will end up spending lots of money on lots of things, there is a lot to manage so you need to keep an eye on things.
Get yourself a Wedding budget planner, put together a spreadsheet or just keep a manual list of your expenditure.
Keeping an up-to-date figure of the overall spend will soon stop you in your tracks if you start going over budget.
· Use cashback sites and supermarket coupons
When you are buying items for the wedding, use cashback websites wherever you are able to.
You might not get a huge amount of money off initially with the cashback, but it could contribute to a larger amount later on after the wedding day.
Go through all those supermarket coupons we sometimes ignore and ask your friends and family if they can give up theirs for the cause.
Honeymoon
· Choose A Cheap Honeymoon Destination
A honeymoon does not need to be an extravagant affair and it does not need to be abroad either.
There are so many deals for staycations particularly since we have got through the Covid pandemic and there are some travel destination gems to be found with a bit of research.
Others
· Recycle Where You Can
You could be reusing items that someone has given or lent to you, you might be buying second-hand, or you could choose to sell on the items that you have bought for the wedding day.
However you integrate recycling into your day it will save you money and it goes without saying that it will help the environment too!
· Take Out Wedding Insurance
Not one to save you money straight out but taking out wedding insurance will help if there are cancellations by either you or one of your suppliers.
