We all wish money was no object, especially when it comes to planning a wedding. Unfortunately, we live in the real world and money is an incredibly important factor and can’t be ignored. Fear not! Before the inner Bridezilla is released, read on for creative ways to have your (wedding) cake and eat it too by helping you with tips on how to save on your wedding budget.
Cheat Sheet: Wedding Budget Hacks – Brides Edition
- Lesson 1: There are more options for your dress than you realize
- Lesson 2: You are not bound by tradition
- Lesson 3: Alterations are expensive
- Lesson 4: Veils are just long pieces of see-through fabric
- Lesson 5: Don’t ask your bridal party to break the budget either
- Lesson 6: It’s all about your mindset
Lesson 1: There are more options for your dress than you realize
Say Yes to the Dress is one of my favorite shows, but it definitely sets the tone for how we think we should be shopping for a dress. After watching the show for several years, I fully expected that I needed to budget at least $2,000 to find a dress that was even remotely close to what I wanted.
I ended up wandering into a family-owned bridal boutique that happened to be having a clearance sale where all dresses were $500 off the rack. I found the most incredible dress for a fraction of the price!
You don’t need to be lucky like me either. There are companies, like StillWhite, where brides are selling their gently used gowns starting as low as $50! No, most gowns will not be $50, but you can find some incredible options for under $500. I strongly recommend trying dresses on at a boutique and then searching StillWhite or Poshmark to see if you can find the same dress for a fraction of the price.
Lesson 2: You are not bound by tradition
You don’t want to do a garter or giant bouquet? Then don’t do it! Look, at the end of the day, you just need to sign your marriage license. Everything else is up to you. Don’t feel the pressure to do something because tradition makes you feel like you need to do it.
As an example, it’s becoming increasingly common to not do a wedding cake because they are so expensive. So if you don’t want to do a cake, don’t do a cake. You’re in complete control over what you have at your wedding, and if you’re getting too much pressure from your family to do things a certain way, maybe that’s a good time for them to chip in 😉
Lesson 3: Alterations are expensive
When you buy an extremely expensive wedding gown, unfortunately, your next stop is at a very expensive alterations shop. Prices to alter my gown at the top to cover the ladies, the mid-section and the hips were quoted at a whopping $1200! And that doesn’t even include the bustle! Be prepared for your bustle to be a couple of hundred dollars, depending on the design of your gown.
My recommendation is to shop around for a talented tailor and a store that offers a flat fee once you hit a certain price point. Some shops will add fees for each section of the dress they adjust, while others will quote you at a flat fee, and that will likely be a better option if you require a lot of adjustments.
Also, make sure you budget for alterations as part of your dress budget, or you could quickly end up paying $5,000 before you know it.
Lesson 4: Veils are just long pieces of see-through fabric
All bridal boutiques probably hate me, but veils are not worth spending $800 on because you’re likely only going to wear it for 20 minutes through the ceremony. Seriously, check Poshmark, eBay, Etsy, or Craigslist to find an awesome deal for beautiful veils at a great price.
If you’re particularly handy, pop over to YouTube and you can find tutorials that will teach you how to create your own veil. This is a really great way to save on your wedding budget.
Lesson 5: Don’t ask your bridal party to break the budget either
This is an expensive day for you, but it’s also really expensive for everyone else attending or participating in your wedding. If you are cognizant of their budgets, that will go a long way for your guests and bridal party. Some ideas we are exploring are renting a huge Airbnb for the bridal party so everyone doesn’t have to get an expensive hotel room. You, of course, want to get a hotel block for your guests, but the Airbnb tends to be less expensive and creates a more fun experience for the group.
Don’t get me started on bridal gowns – there are a lot of options that will not force your bridesmaids to pay a ton for an ugly gown. Show flexibility on the actual dress – maybe everyone doesn’t need the exact same gown, but it needs to be the same general color or color family. Another great option is Rent the Runway so your bridesmaids can just rent a gown for a much cheaper price.
And for the bachelorette parties, it does not need to be a complete blowout. At the end of the day, spending quality time with the people you love is the most important part of the day. Everyone else has a lot of other commitments in their life, and it’s extremely hard to drop hundreds of dollars for just a day. It has no reflection on how much they care about you, but simply the life stage that you are in. A lot of people are in their 20s and maybe not making a really high salary yet, so be cognizant of not asking people to spend a ton of money, but maybe, find a centrally located Airbnb with a pool or plan a fun hiking trip.
Lesson 6: It’s all about your mindset
Don’t forget, the wedding industry is a $60 billion industry. There are thousands of vendors and companies that are spending millions of dollars to promote the idea that this is the biggest day of your life and no expense should be spared. That’s because that’s how they make money! Yes, it’s a special day, but it’s a single day and do you really think it’s going to be great to start your marriage off by paying down a lot of debt? No party is worth that stress.
There are so many exciting days that you have to look forward to, like having kids, buying a house, and retiring together. You don’t need to derail your long term goals with this one day.
Your wedding day is not about impressing other people or having the most extravagant day, because quite frankly, there are going to be a lot of other really exciting days in your life.
We value having the people we are close to come together and have a fun time partying, so the things we care about are full stomachs, an open bar, and amazing music. Anything falling outside of these core values are not that important.
Keep tabs on all of our wedding challenges and learnings as we near our October 2020 wedding at our Getting Married course page.
