Tips for Planning a Frugal Wedding
Last July, Hubby and I got married. Our wedding was fantastic and romantic… and cheap! I’ve been talking to a few ladies who are planning their weddings lately. I thought this would be a great time to share some of the ways we managed such a shoestring budget frugal wedding {and, of course, take a little walk down memory lane}!
My tips for planning a frugal wedding:
1. Be prepared to think outside the box! Get creative with your ideas. You’ll save lots of money by NOT buying things labeled “wedding”. This includes everything from decor to the venue. The moment you add the word wedding it seems like the price goes up tenfold. We saved by NOT buying “bridesmaid” dresses. My ladies bought any navy blue dress they wanted. Who needs some overpriced, never-wear-it-again dress hanging in their closet wasting space? That’s just silly.
2. Shop smart. We got most of our craft/DIY supplies at Hobby Lobby. They rotate sales every few weeks and also distribute a 40% one item coupon every single week {you can print the coupon off the website or just show the cashier the coupon on your smartphone}. We saved bunches by not-so-patiently waiting for sales!
I bought these candle holders at a garage sale, then my mom decorated approximately a million of them.
3. One woman’s wedding leftovers are another woman’s wedding treasures! We bought many items on local buy/sell/trade sites {Facebook has tons of local sites that are great for this}. After the wedding, we also sold a good bit of the décor on the buy/sell/trade sites {after keeping some pieces as keepsakes}. I also sold a lot of the décor items to a co-worker whose daughter had just gotten engaged.
4. If it doesn’t make you excited, don’t do it. You probably {DEFINITELY} don’t need to release white doves or have crystal-lined champagne flutes. Splurge for the things that are important to you and be frugal with the rest! We opted out of a sand or candle ceremony, but chose instead to have a tree watering. The idea was that we could plant the tree in our yard and have it as a constant reminder of our special day…. except I sort of accidentally killed the tree before we got it planted. Oops. On the other hand, our marriage has now outlasted a tree {perspective, y’all}. One thing I would HIGHLY recommend investing in is photography. There will be SO MANY THINGS you don’t get to experience at your wedding. Our wedding pictures helped us experience and re-live so many special moments!
5. Let people help you! If someone offered to help with the wedding, we said yes {generally speaking}. If there was something we needed and someone we thought was talented, we would ask them to help in lieu of a wedding gift. My matron of honor’s family is like my second family, and they are very musically talented. It was a no brainer for me to request that they do music at the ceremony and reception. The day was so much more precious because of the special contributions we received from friends and family. Walking down the aisle to the sound of that practically-family-member with her dad strumming along in the background? THAT was special. THAT was what made the wedding. We had our cake {just a small, 2 tier “us” cake} made by another friend who graciously agreed to help! We didn’t need one more item off our wedding registry… these gifts from people’s talents and hearts meant so much more!
Thanks for joining in my walk down memory lane! Our wedding day was so special – and we have been grateful to have started our marriage with responsible spending. Note: Most of the photos in this post were taken by my sister in law Erin {she was our wedding photographer}.
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