Money-saving tips! We’ve rounded up our top 30 wedding hacks that will save you money on your wedding!

Last Updated: June 23, 2021

1. “Off-season” is the way to go
2. Consider a weekday wedding
3. “In-season” for flowers and menu choices
4. Non-traditional venue
5. Stick to one place
6. Choose an already beautiful venue
7. Choose your guests wisely
8. Consider “all-inclusive”
9. Find non-exclusive venues
10. Go Paperless
11. Print flat
12. Standard Cardstock
13. Work with a wedding consultant and/or coordinator
14. DIY wisely
15. Rent and Return
16. Something Borrowed
17. Cocktail versus full dinner
18. Minimalist Bar
19. Consider a brunch wedding
20. Petite Cake
21. Serve Assorted Desserts
22. Skip the limo
23. Repurpose your flowers
24. Use fresh florals wisely / Consider dried flowers
25. Consider non-floral decor
26. Get the same effect using different materials
27. Accept help and contribution
28. DIY your photobooth
29. Drop it like it’s hot
30. Keep an eye out on sales

Let’s go over these points in detail!

1. “Off-season” is the way to go

When selecting your date (and venue!), consider months like November to March. These months are the typical wedding off-season. If you have a limited budget, you can save money by hosting your wedding during this time frame. Think about the celebration in January, and you can expect discounts.

2. Consider a weekday wedding

As Saturday is the most popular day for a wedding, it is a costly day to get married. You can save money by planning your wedding on Friday (or any weekday!). A Sunday or a weekday wedding is even better as there will be more savings that you can explore.

3. “In-season” for flowers and menu choices

Go seasonal and local. You can get the meal and blossoms at the normal price if you buy what is in season. In addition to it, if they are locally grown, there will be no need to ship them from another place. This way, you do not only save your pocket but also lessen your carbon footprint. Win-Win!

Choosing one variety instead of multiple varieties is also a great way to save money! Hydrangeas are one of our favorites that are full and gorgeous, perfect for centerpieces!

If you are planning to DIY your wedding flowers, here are some tips to help you decide!

Also, consider serving “in season” and hearty food menu options!

4. Non-traditional venue

A restaurant, brewery, vacation house, golf clubs, and estates are some of the options you can consider as a wedding venue. Selecting a place that does not usually cater to weddings can help you save your pocket and give your wedding a unique feel.

Usually, restaurants do not charge a rental fee, and you only pay for the food (which comes with a minimum spend). So select one with beautiful décor, ambiance, or even scenery. You will be surprised by the savings that come along with it. Make sure the place is equipped enough to handle all the guests. This is perfect for a more intimate, lower guest count.

5. Stick to one place

You can save the logistics and extra expenses for transport by holding your ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception in one location – if you can also include your accommodations in one place, you will be saving a lot on transportation.

6. Choose an already beautiful venue

Another major thing to consider when looking for ways to save money is choosing a wedding place that does not need a ton of decoration to save your rentals and decorative expenditures. Outdoor places with lovely views will make your wedding scenery rich and won’t require many decorations. Also choosing a venue with a lot of in-house furniture and areas that you can maximize, like photos and cocktail hour. You don’t need to spend a lot on decorations is a great wedding hack that will save you money.

7. Choose your guests wisely

The smaller the list of invitees, the lesser the budget is. Keep your guest list shorter. Invite only close friends and relatives. A small wedding can save you on every item of your event. Plus, you can fully enjoy the moments with your loved ones you can’t in case of a big event.

8. Consider “all-inclusive”

Yes, to “all-inclusive” packages. Venues having these packages provide several facilities and services other than renting their event space/s. These might include on-site coordination, meal, liquor, staff, cake, rentals, accommodations, and much more.

9. Find non-exclusive venues

A venue that doesn’t limit you to hire their preferred vendors only will be a great advantage to you. In this way, you can hire your own caterers, DJ, a photographer you search for at the lowest cost. Or even execute your DIY projects freely.

10. Go Paperless

Instead of spending your money on sending invitation cards, you can send electronic invitations for free or use wedding websites to manage your guest list. It will help you save on stationery and postage expenses. 

If you want to mail something to your guests, you can still mail them the save-the-date and reference website you have created. This is not just a wedding hack to save you money but also helps save paper!

11. Print flat

If you still want to send printed wedding invitations, select flat or digital printing. It is a much affordable option than letterpress, offset printing approach, or thermography. 

12. Standard Cardstock

Adding to the previous printing point, consider a standard card stock, and try and fit all your wedding invitation details in one card instead of multiple cards in one invitation set.

13. Work with a wedding consultant and/or coordinator

You might be considered letting go of a planner to save some money, but if you want to have a champagne-dreams-on-a-beer-budget wedding, then speak to a consultant and work with a coordinator is your best bet.

A skilled planner will handle all the little jobs. Also, with their wide vendor network, they can help you to save your expenditures. The most important thing to mention is that the creative input that a consultant/designer can provide will help you develop a more budget-friendly approach to achieve your dream wedding.

14. DIY wisely

By designing and printing your invitation cards from websites like Vistaprint and Minted, purchasing your own wedding cake, or making your décor, you cannot only save money but also amaze your guests by showing them your skills and adding a personal touch that your guests can see and feel everywhere they look at your wedding.

You can even go as far as designing or making your own centerpieces. We rounded up quick and easy dried flower arrangements here that you can use and then re-use at home or give away!

Choose your DIY projects wisely. Consider the time and effort and possibly stress involved and check if that is worth saving for you.

15. Rent and Return

Consider renting your wedding dress! You can also rent bridesmaids’ dresses! Also, rent decor for your wedding to save $$ and reduce the number of things that will be thrown away after your wedding!

16. Something Borrowed

Another wedding hack to save you money is to check on your newly married friends. If you have newly married friends, they will probably have a mass of décor, or even a veil or wedding accessories. They would be happy to lend you or sell you at a low price. You will need something to borrow for your wedding anyway, so try to borrow where you can to keep expenses down.

17. Cocktail versus full dinner

A cocktail-style reception is usually lighter on the pocket than a more formal, plated dinner. It will also save the cost of serving everyone. Just because you are serving cocktail food doesn’t necessarily mean that you are starving your guests. If you time your event accordingly and serve heavy appetizers or consider food stations, your guests will still be satisfied and well-fed.

18. Minimalist Bar

Instead of hosting a fully-stocked, top-shelf open bar for your invitees, only go minimal with beer and wine. It is more budget-friendly. If you’d like to incorporate your own signature drink, that will be great as well!

19. Consider a brunch wedding

Who does not like brunch? It will not only save your food cost, but your venue rental for a daytime event will also be less. 

Worried you won’t get to party during brunch? Well, you actually can. Here are some ways to get the party lit!

20. Petite Cake

Consider having a one-tier cake – for photos only. Order a plan slab sheet cake from your favorite bakery and get that served instead. Something your guests don’t need to see. This can be done behind the scenes by the kitchen staff! It will surely save you money.

Here are more tips on how you can DIY your wedding cake!

21. Serve Assorted Desserts

To add to the previous point, if you are not all for the slab sheet cake, consider a cute dessert buffet that includes cupcakes, brownies, candies, etc. Your invitees will surely love the varieties of store-bought (again, don’t let your guests know!) desserts instead of relying on the cake only or from the catering/venue. This will provide more variety for your guests and save you more money.

.

GET YOUR FREE WEDDING PLANNING KIT

22. Skip the limo

Using a limousine for your wedding transportation can be quite pricey. Instead, have a close friend or family member drive you or consider taking an Uber Premier.

PRO TIP: If you have booked accommodations at a nearby hotel, they can also rent you or provide you their shuttle service!

23. Repurpose your flowers

Let your flowers do double-duty by utilizing your ceremony decor and flowers at the reception. Aisle decor can be re-used as centerpieces when designed and placed accordingly. Re-use your ceremony backdrop as a sweetheart table backdrop at the reception; this is where a consultant will help you design products that can easily be transported and moved from ceremony to reception.

24. Use fresh florals wisely / Consider dried flowers

Fresh flowers may look gorgeous, but they are costly in the pocket. You can make your event beautiful in many other ways. For centerpieces, you can opt some candles (rent flameless pillar candles!) and dried flowers. It will help you to save money. 

Here are other DIY wedding centerpiece ideas that are super easy and affordable to pull off!

25. Consider non-floral decor

Why not consider large balloon arrangements? A stylish balloon arch would look spectacular as your ceremony backdrop. Move this to the reception as a backdrop for your sweetheart table!

For centerpieces, consider larger single balloons that look like clouds and add rented flameless candles to the tables to add that romantic effect!

26. Get the same effect using different materials

There are many creative ways to approach decor designing without adding expensive factors. For example, instead of bar lights, little well-placed threads of Christmas lights can create the same effect. You can hang globe paper lanterns (stylishly) instead of a costly chandelier.

Attaining the appearance you want while keeping your budget in check needs a little imagination! There are many rental options that you can explore to achieve the effect that you’d like without spending more than you plan to.

Speaking to a wedding consultant/designer will help you look at your design goals and provide you with a budget-friendly alternative without sacrificing your goal altogether.

27. Accept help and contribution

Your loved ones must want to help you while planning a wedding. Let them help! If your aunt is good at baking, let them bake a wedding cake for you. If you have a friend that would like to help you in contacting vendors, accept that help. Set guidelines from the very beginning so that contributors will have a better idea of your vision.

Know that you will have to let go of some control, but if you have set your priorities, you can shift your focus on the things you want to control fully, and it will be easier for you to let go of some of the control on all other things.

28. DIY your photobooth

You can save a huge amount that you will otherwise spend on the photographer with a little creativity. You can pick a wall and have props or printouts (signs etc.) laid out on a table; set it up with a ring light with a phone holder so that your guests can enjoy a great selfie and group photo corner without the extra cost!

DIY Photo booth are usually super fun entertainment for your guests!

29. Drop it like it’s hot

Hiring a DJ can be a little expensive and might be more expensive than one would expect it to be (especially the outstanding ones!) However, if you have an intimate or micro wedding, you might have an easier time running the reception on a playlist you prepared. You can also assign a friend that can help you manage and keep an eye on this.

30. Keep an eye out on sales

Sales are the best part of the year for shopping. You can save a huge part of your money by buying bridesmaid’s gifts, dresses (anything fashion!), decoration pieces on eastern sales, black Friday sales, Christmas sales, etc.

Trunk shows are amazing, and they will help you save money! As long as you do your research ahead of time and try on your “top 5” wedding dresses, your “mission” to find those dresses will be much easier since you don’t need a lot of trying on and checking to do! You go in and get to it!

HERE ARE MORE CREATIVE WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR WEDDING!

There you are! Wedding hacks to save your money: Top 30 tips!