3. Make your own invitations. Once you’ve got your guest list sorted then you’ll know exactly how many invitations you’ll need. Or better yet, why not invite those tech savvy guests of yours via email? That way you’ll only need to send a few invitations to those without email and can save a small fortune making that handful yourself.
4. Hire a wedding planner. This may sound counter intuitive but a wedding planner can help you cut costs as well as stress. They’re effectively your one stop wedding shop when it comes to planning the day itself and they know the industry and their local market so can save you a lot of money in the long run.
5. Don’t overdo the flowers. Flowers add a lovely touch to any wedding day but don’t go over the top with your table decorations. One big table decoration for the ceremony can easily be transferred to the venue for the wedding breakfast and centrepieces for the guest tables can be simplified.
Why not float a few flowers in shallow bowls or glass cylinders filled halfway with water. Or even combine favours and centrepieces and fill a large bowl with sweets and chocolates or even something like biscuits or teabags if you want to theme your wedding tables!
6. While it is traditional to have a wedding breakfast, more and more couples are doing their day their way in order to cut costs. Why not have a buffet instead of a sit down meal or, for intimate gatherings, why not ask everyone to bring a dish with them as your gift? At least you know everyone will like something then!
7. Find a good field and hire a decent marquee for the reception. With the right venue decoration you can have the theme of your dreams without having to find a solid venue in the same style. That way you can also stock your own bar. Your caterers may be able to provide bar staff but if not, hire some local teenagers (that you know, or friend of a friend!) at a fraction of the price.
18 ways to make your wedding day cheaper without looking like a cheapskate!