When it comes to your wedding, it seems like everyone has an opinion! Here are my top five tips for saving on your wedding!
START with a budget! Then RESEARCH! Determine what is important to you and spend your money there.
When you get engaged, you'll immediately want to look at wedding
venues, wedding dresses, and start adding to your Pinterest board and
while you will need to do all of those things, the FIRST thing you need to
do is establish a budget. Figure out what you have to work with,
comfortably, and THEN start your search. You don't want to fall in love with
a $5,000 venue if your budget is only going to be $2,000.
Pencil in some contingency money and then put that money out of mind.
Pretend you don't have it until you absolutely need it, because you will
need it for something and you don't want to push yourself over budget
and add to your stress.
Determine what is important to you and use those wants/needs to create
your budget. For our wedding photography and videography were both
very important to me. I spoke with over 15 videographers before booking
our vendor because I had specific requests and want to capture the
reactions, the laughs and the special moments we have planned. That
means we will likely make cuts elsewhere to afford the best videographer I
could find.
2. Plan to have a longer engagement and give yourself TIME to SAVE.
Our engagement will be roughly 28 months and while we would have
gotten married in October 2022 if our venue wasn't already booked, I am
SO glad we ended up with extra time. #1 because the time itself is so
helpful and #2 because it is giving us time to spread out the cost of our
wedding and not feel so overwhelmed. There's nothing wrong with a long
engagement, if it works for you.
3. You don't HAVE to...
I see SO many posts in wedding groups online "Do I have to [xyz]...".
Unpopular opinion - you don't HAVE to do anything! It is YOUR and your
fiance's wedding day and no friend, family member, vendor, etc. should be
telling you that you HAVE to do something. You don't HAVE to give out
favors, you don't HAVE to invite friends you haven't spoken to in years, you
don't HAVE to invite every coworker you don't even hang out with outside
of work.
4. Lock in prices, but be sure to read clauses referencing inflation or price adjustments.
The rental rate for our venue has increased by $600 since we booked it 12
months ago. While the venue should be the first thing you book, if we had
waited because we had a long engagement, we'd be spending another
$600. Where possible, lock in prices now and be sure to read all of your
contracts to ensure there are no hidden price hikes written in, before your
sign. While the cost of business is certainly increasing for vendors, it is hard
to budget for a potential hike when you have no idea how much that
could be. If an inflation clause exists for 5%, budget that contract at 105%
so you're extra safe!
5. Without spending money you don't have, maximize credit card rewards!
While not all vendors will accept credit cards, and carrying a balance when
you have the cash isn't the best idea, I absolutely encourage you to utilize a
credit card to gain the rewards and then pay off your balance! Strategically
using the right cards on the right purchases, during increased cash back
periods, I've created over $1,000 in rewards for myself already! That money
could be used on other wedding purchases or saved for your honeymoon!
If you don't have a card and are considering getting one, be sure to
research the best option for you! Cash back, miles, hotel points, etc. Get the
card that gives the best rewards with the greatest benefit for YOU!
