How to Save Money for a Wedding - Top 40 Ways

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Before we get into any of the actual wedding stuff, you can always save money for your wedding by easily setting aside a part of you and your partner's income from each paycheck until you do get married. Even a little bit adds up with time. To save even more, you can actually push back your wedding date too.
Step 2

Most importantly, you have to figure out what you and your life partner's wants and needs are. The needs are things that you both cannot live without for the wedding, and the wants are extra things that you can put on your "maybe" list. By writing these things down right from the start, you can easily see what you can omit without compromising exactly what you need. Basically, prioritize!
Step 3

Ask for financial help from your parents. In some traditions, parents are more than willing to help out in order to ensure the newlyweds will get off on the right foot. Also it's an important day for them too, so they may be gracious enough to provide you with some money to make it a special day for everyone.
Step 4

Cut down the guest list. Some of your vendors will charge a hefty dollar amount per person for your wedding, so the easiest way to save money for your is to minimize the guest list as much as possible. Do you really need your BFF from middle school in attendance who you haven't seen or spoke to for over 15 years?
Step 5

Plan your wedding date in a non-wedding season month. By doing so, vendors are more willing to give you discounts because their work is usually slow around that time. There is never any harm in asking if such discounts are available, and feel free to ask around. Prime wedding season occurs between July and October each year.
Step 6

Cut down the number of people in your bridal party. Not only do you have to give gifts to your bridal party, but you'll need to provide them with flowers or boutonnieres as well as an additional spot on the guest list for their dates. That's quite a bit of money dedicated to just a few number of people.
Step 7

You can save a lot of money by having your wedding on a day other than a Saturday. It's true that churches, reception halls and even vendors may be less expensive if done on Sunday or during the weekday.
Step 8

If possible, don't go for the fancy church wedding. Beautiful churches come with a price, and a small church or outdoor wedding can be just as beautiful.
Step 9

Save money by selecting musicians for your wedding ceremony that are teachers or even students from any local high schools or colleges. You'd be surprised by even some high school students can provide an amazing sound to your wedding, for just a few dollars. Be sure to listen to them beforehand to make sure they fit your requirements.
Step 10

You don't have to buy the most expensive wedding bands. They are a symbol of your love and life long dedication to one another, and the price of them does not affect that. You can always upgrade sometime in the future too!
Step 11

If possible, have your ceremony presided over by a judge or justice of the peace. An average marriage application may only cost $30.00 and the judge only $100.00. Prices may vary between counties and states.
Step 12

Don't be afraid of having your wedding reception inside a hotel ballroom or even a hall at the local church or community center. You can easily save thousands of dollars, and you'd be surprised of how beautiful it can look with the right decor, which would total less than just a fancy ballroom on it's own.
Step 13

Save money by skipping the engagement party. Holding a party costs additional money for the venue and all of the supplies and food needed to entertain your guests. If you absolutely need to have an engagement party type of get together with friends and family, why not try an afternoon picnic at the local park?
Step 14

If your friends work for any companies that could be involved in your wedding, such as photography or catering companies, ask them to have try and get involved in your wedding. They are more than likely to give you a discount because of your connection with one of their employees. If you don't know anybody, ask any of your friends who have recently been married for a list of their vendors, and if you contact them saying you were referred by your friend, that may open up sound discount opportunities as well.
Step 15

If the video of your wedding day isn't a high priority for you and your partner, you can simply omit the use of one, and have one of your friends or family members video tape your wedding day instead. Chances are, this was already going to happen already, and you may be able to edit a nice video with different angles and views if multiple people are shooting film for you.
Step 16

You can skip sending "Save the Date" cards to your guest list. It's much easier to contact and connect with guests about your future wedding date, and they will be receiving a formal invitation shortly anyways, so why pay the extra money for photos, cards, magnets, envelopes and postage anyway?
Step 17

Design and make the invitations for the wedding yourself. Not only will it save you money, but it's really fun to sit down and work on such a project together. You can easily create your own by doing some quick photoshop work and having the local print and cut them for you. You can easily save over 50% by making them yourselves, instead of buying custom or even pre-made designs at a card shop. A quick tip: create the invitations using 8.5 x 11 inch card stock, which can be cut into the separate pieces of the invitation. It's MUCH cheaper to cut smaller pieces from an 8.5 x 11 inch card stock than buying individual pre-sized cards and printing on those.
Step 18

You can also save money on the return postage that is required in your invitations. Usually you'll insert a pre-paid envelope inside the invitation to send back to you so you know how many guests are invited and what they are eating. Instead, place a pre-stamped postcard with the guest and dinner options on it. You'll save $0.13 cents for each one, as well the money that would of been used for the envelope.
Step 19

Instead of doing a registry, you can kindly ask for money instead. This is becoming more and more common these days as the price of weddings skyrocket. Having everyone pitch in will definitely ease the cost of your wedding, giving you more money to save for your futures together. There are various ways of asking for money in the invitation itself, but a nice poem would suffice.
Step 20

Utilize your friends to help you do repetitive tasks. If you have 200 envelopes to stamp and address, 150 invitations to make, or a bunch of flowers to arrange, etc. your friends will gladly help you out with those things. You're easily saving yourself time and money, while at the same time getting even closer to your friends as you all have fun working together a few moments before your big day.
Step 21

For the guys, find a discount tuxedo rental place for yourself, your best man and your groomsmen. Remember that you'll only wear these once, and they will look just the same as the designer tuxedos you may want to buy or rent. Make sure you visit these places early, however, as they are more likely to get behind schedule than those other places. Also, make sure to ask if the groom's tux is free with the entire package, as this is often the case.
Step 22

For the beautiful bride to be, this may sound gross to you, but you can easily save hundreds of dollars by purchasing a used wedding dress, or even renting one. These places do exist, and remember that they are most likely to be clean and have been worn only a few times. This is just a suggestion.
Step 23

If that doesn't suit you, try shopping for your wedding dress during the holiday season. This is off-peak wedding season and you may be able to grab some nice deals from "last year's model". The same goes with your bridesmaid's dressed too.
Step 24

If you need some alterations done on your dresses or the dresses of your bridal party, you'd be amazed at some of the sewing talents that our friends' parents have. It doesn't hurt to ask if any of them have experience with alterations, and it's possible that you could get this done free of charge.
Step 25

This one is out of the ballpark, but you could possibly raise money for your wedding online through a blog or website. If you have a creative edge to it, a unique story, and can drive lots of traffic to this site, you're bound to get a lot of donations as your wedding day comes. (Especially if you did one of those live webcast weddings.)
Step 26

Don't go for an over the top for a perfect wedding cake. Traditionally, 2 or 3 tiers is perfectly normal and can be made beautifully at the local bakery by a cake artist. After the pictures and the traditional cutting of the cake, it just gets eaten and destroyed, so don't think you have to spend tons of money on a perfect wedding cake.
Step 27

Regarding the party favors, you don't have to spend so much to give a nice gift. You can easily make your own design, and with the help of your friends, have enough party favors for your guests that don't break the bank.
Step 28

Photos can be expensive, very expensive. Some people recommend just skipping the photographers, but I say you absolutely should not. They will provide you great shots, both staged and candid of your momentous and once in a lifetime occasion. To save money with the photographers, get quotes from various photographers in your area, but I recommend asking only for a BASIC package that includes only the negatives (usually in the form of a CD with the digital files on it). You can use your negatives to get custom prints that perfectly fits in line with the decor of your residence at a much cheaper rate.
Step 29

For your wedding bands, you don't have to go all out and buy the most expensive that you can get right away. Remember that the wedding band signifies your love and life long commitment to one another, and the price of it really does not matter. Plus, you can always upgrade later on down the road.
Step 30

On your big day, try and skip the fancy limos and borrow a fancy car from someone you know. How long are you going to be in the limo anyways?
Step 31

If you're going to use real flowers for your wedding, it's much cheaper to use flowers that are in season.
Step 32

Different florists have different rates. Do your research and find a florist that can fit your budget. Try visiting a smaller adjacent town to supply your flowers for you, as they would probably be very happy to have your business and possibly give you a discount for using them too. The flowers need to be picked up only once, so it's not a big deal if they are located a little further away than your local floral shop.
Step 33

At the wedding reception, you can save thousands if you do not have an open bar. If you must have alcohol there, go with a paid bar. With an open bar, you may be required to either pay a HUGE fee per total number of guests, or even worse have it on a "pay as you go" rate, which is bad because you'll never know exactly how much you pay until the night is over. If all of the Uncles decided to get wasted that night, your checkbook could get the worst hangover.
Step 34

Select a tasty but inexpensive caterer or meal. Ask for a discount, you'd be surprised of how many will offer you one just because you asked. Calculate the prices to see if a buffet or served dinner would be cheaper. Also, you'll have a lot of choices for food, so select the food that you like, but isn't overpriced for your budget. Everybody loves chicken, and it's usually one of the least expensive. Do you really need the New York Steak with Madagascar Pepper, Shallots and a Port Wine Glaze?
Step 35

In addition to the tip above about catering, did you know that some catering services have special children's plates available that are far cheaper than what you'd be paying for an adult. So if you know you're going to have young children attend your wedding, see if the caterer can accommodate and save some money.
Step 36

You can design your own centerpieces for a very low price by shopping for items at stores such as Ikea or wholesale store. Ikea has a TON of little decorative items that could easily be put together to create an elaborate and beautiful centerpiece for each of your dining tables. Wholesale stores sell things in bulk below the retail cost, and you have multiple tables so this works out.
Step 37

For the Emcee of your reception, try and find a friend who you know will be a good speaker and entertainer that you can trust will stay on your schedule. They will usually do this for free, and you can save on your entertainment costs by not having the DJ or Band leader be required to do any speaking.
Step 38

For the music portion of your wedding, you can save a few hundred dollars by hiring the right DJ at the right price. There are a lot of professional DJ companies that have really fancy equipment, tons of stage lights, fog machines, etc. but you can still have a great sound and sufficient stage lighting from a local DJ who has wedding experience for a lot cheaper. Usually, if you're in a college town, there are a few really good wedding DJs who are just younger people trying to pay off their tuition. Make sure you sit down with them and go over your playlist, as well as your basic idea for the style of music to be played before booking him or her. Also remember to ask about their experience.
Step 39

If you're having a slideshow, have one of your friends do it for you if they know how. They would probably have a lot of fun with it and be able to use it in their own portfolio too, if it somehow relates to their job. If you can't find a friend, do it yourself! It can be fun to select the pictures together and will probably bring back some memories as you create it, even with photos that you find that you won't end up showing to everyone else.
Step 40

Have a Money Dance! In the Filipino tradition, there's a ceremonial dance called the Money Dance where guests of the reception pin bills of money onto the bride and groom in exchange for a short dance with each. It's a symbol of good luck to the newlyweds and it's also a nice way for the guests to get in a short congratulations to the happy couple.
Step 41

The most important thing of all is to have fun and make your hard earned money be well spent for you and your new husband or wife.