Your wedding can be one of the best days of your life. It’s a great chance to gather together with all of your friends and family to celebrate the love between you and your partner. After months of planning for your big day it can be wonderful to finally enjoy the fruits of your labour with a beautiful day that is all about the two of you. The biggest problem can sometimes be the budget and high costs of what you want. Having a huge and extravagant wedding is pricey and as such it can be good to save that money where you can. It might seem like a great idea to go all out but you’ll be spending the rest of your lives together and there are much bigger costs down the line. With that in mind, saving money on your big day is something many couples will try and do. Here are some great tip & tricks to try out.

Wedding gifts 

These days, most couples tend to live with each other for a while before deciding to get married. That means that they usually have most of the things that people might get them for a wedding gift. Traditionally the wedding gifts would have been things for the couple in their new home together but if you already have a china set and pots and pans, there isn’t much point in asking for any as a present from Aunty Sue. 

Still, your guests will want to show you how much you mean to them by getting you something for you as a couple. This can be a great way of also saving money on the entire wedding experience. One of the biggest costs is going to be your honeymoon. Just remember that whilst the wedding day is a time to celebrate, your honeymoon will be a time for the two of you to get away together and have some much needed time off. If you want that time off to be somewhere exotic then you need funds to make it happen. 

A great way to combine the two things is by asking your guests to contribute to your honeymoon fund as a gift. People might still get you something physical but most people are happy to do it. A nice poem or note inside the invitations is always well received as a way of asking and people are generally more than happy. You can either book beforehand and use the gifts received as a way of balancing the books, or wait to see how generous your guests are and use it to help you decide where to go. You might find yourself very surprised. 

Dates 

Everyone wants to have the perfect summer wedding, or a beautiful winter marriage, and that popularity is always reflected in the cost. There are plenty of good days outside of the prime summer and winter months that will still give you a day to remember and it always helps on bringing the price of the venue hire down. Not only that, but with many people being self-employed or on zero-hour contracts these days, you could always consider getting hitched in the middle of the week rather than the weekend. 

The art of the deal 

It might seem crass to haggle over the price of your special day, but there’s no reason that you can’t try and get the best deal. Saving money on your big day is sometimes about being bold. Some suppliers are always willing to negotiate the price if you are polite and tactful about it. It’s also worth shopping around to see what else might be available.

Pictures and videos 

Sometimes the wedding day can go so fast you won’t have time to take it all in. That’s why it’s great to have pictures and videos that you can keep for the rest of your lives together. It’s a great way to look back on the big day and remember the good times. The only problem is that photographers and videographers can be expensive. 

There are plenty of places online where you can choose an amateur photographer that will do an amazing job to bulk up their own portfolio, without charging you the cost of a professional. Also feel free to put your guests to work on the matter. These days almost everyone carries around a smart phone, meaning they can be your amateur photographers and videographers. Most modern phones have excellent camera quality and there are apps out there that will allow your guests to upload any photos or videos that they took so that you can collate them into your own album.  

Time to drink 

Alcohol can be expensive, especially if you purchase it directly from the venue you are hiring. Many venues will let you provide your own drinks and charge you corkage per bottle. If that isn’t too expensive then contacting local suppliers, or even hiring a van and driving to France on a booze cruise, might significantly bring the cost down. Also, don’t be afraid to have a cash bar as well. Many people might enjoy a free bar at a wedding, and certainly it’s always good to provide some drinks to your guests, but after the speeches and food are done, then there’s nothing wrong with expecting your guests to enjoy themselves on their own budgets thereafter. 

Flowers 

Flowers are a staple of any wedding but the cost of getting real ones can be astronomical. It’s also really sad having to throw away all the dead posies only days after your special day. The cost can be reduced by getting silk flowers instead. Not only that but you can sell them on after and you can keep your favourites which will then last forever. 

As you can see there are plenty of ways that you can save on your big day, and mostly your guests won’t even notice you’ve done it. We’re all used to hearing how expensive weddings can be, and they are, but never be ashamed of cutting costs where you can. At the end of the day, it’s all about celebrating your love for each other, not about the money you’ve spent on it.