While it is common that the majority of the wedding cost falls upon the bride’s family, today, couples are spending more of their own money, or both the bride’s and groom’s family are sharing the expenses.
With that being said, it is still daunting to figure out how you’re going to pay for your wedding. According to recent research for 2019, “in the U.S., the average cost of a wedding was $24,723” (ValuePenguin). We have put together some tips and options for you to help you with tackling this question!
Saving for Your Wedding
Saving for your wedding doesn’t have to be stressful; instead, there are a few simple tips that will make saving possible and easy.
- Get specific about how much you need to save.
Even if you’re not 100% sure on how much your wedding will cost, it’s good to start doing a little math to figure out how much you need to save. At this time, before booking anything, create three lists: must-haves, nice-to-haves, and no-ways. After creating your list, work on gathering quotes, and then you will formulate your savings goal.
- Separate Savings Account.
If your saving for any large item, it is best to create a separate savings account. For example, when buying a house, it is suggested to create a separate account for your savings towards a down payment. Likewise, creating an account for your wedding funds will help you keep track of how much you have saved, and stop you from spending those savings on other items.
- Find out where your money goes.
You can’t start saving if you don’t know where you’re spending. For a month or two, track each expenditure, no matter how small. Get an objective picture of where you’re spending your money and where you can save.
Cutting Wedding Costs
- Non-traditional Wedding Party Gifts.
Instead of gifting expensive presents, gift meaningful inexpensive presents. A cute and special option is a photo album filled with shots of you and the individual wedding party members.
- Have your Ceremony and Reception at one venue.
Having your entire wedding at one venue will cut transporting expenses and will help simplify your big day and makes everything less stressful. Along with this, one venue allows you to decorate once, not twice (which will save you money and time).
- Ask for DIY help.
DIY gifts, decorations, etc. will be a massive cost-saving, and remember, you have family and friends. Ask your Aunt to put together the wedding favors, ask your friend to do makeup or your cousins to assemble centerpieces. Leaning on family and friends will help with your budget and stress.
- Dessert bars.
Dessert bars are a fantastic way to cut costs. Bridal Guide provides numerous facts on the topic of desserts. Wedding cakes cost nearly $3-4 per piece; therefore, for a 150-guest wedding, cakes typically start at $450. Stepping away from the traditional wedding cake and looking at out-of-the-box options can cut costs significantly. Pies are becoming a trend, and costs can come in at nearly 15 percent less than traditional cakes. Another option is doughnuts. Doughnuts have started to be labeled as the ‘new cupcakes.’ They can be found at roughly $5 a dozen at most bakeries. For 150 doughnuts, that approximately costs $60-65 in total.
Hopefully, these tips have given you options and ideas on how you can cut costs at your wedding. The most important thing to remember is, don’t start off your wedding in debt. Money is the top relationship issue. Your wedding lasts one day, while your marriage lasts a lifetime.
Resources: ValuePenguin, WeddingWire