Congratulations on your engagement! If you’re anything like me, you absolutely love a bargain and hate overpaying for anything. Even if it IS your wedding day. There are a few things you can do to drastically cut the costs without cutting out the elegance you’ve imagined for this most important of days, so here are some tips to help you keep your dreams (and dollars) in perspective.

The Dress

I dreamed about what my wedding dress would look like growing up. I imagined an enormous flowing ball gown glistening in stones, pearls, and silk with a long train and elaborate veil. But guess what? When the time came for me to actually try on wedding dresses, that exact style looked horrendous on me. I looked much bigger than I actually was, and it was a heavy outfit so I struggled to dance, eat, and truly enjoy my wedding day. And even worse, I spent a small fortune on an outfit that not only didn’t flatter me, but I only wore it once.

In retrospect, I wish I had taken up my friends and family members that made offers of hand-me-down gowns (some of which probably would’ve looked much better on me). There’s also a lot more options out there for brides than at the time I was dress shopping, so don’t be afraid to thrift it or get creative with ordering different styles online. I’ve heard several brides mention having great luck on Amazon, of all places. So if you’re willing to get a little creative, or you don’t mind a hand-me-down that’s in great condition, I highly recommend giving them a try before purchasing brand new.

Consider Catering It Yourself

This might sound like an overwhelming task, but since this is often the largest chunk of every wedding budget, it’s worth it if you’re open to rolling up your sleeves and doing a lot of prep work yourself. Make sure you meticulously plan out your menu and make sure you have some people who are willing to help you out with slicing, prepping, cooking, setting up, and possibly serving if you don’t want to do a buffet. If it’s a smaller wedding, you’ll probably have much better luck pulling this off. But it’s an amazing way to trim thousands and thousands off your budget. Just be mindful of food safety procedures and be mindful of allergies to ensure you don’t harm any guests.

Photographers

I know, it seems counterintuitive for a photographer to tell you to save some money in this area, but it’s very possible. Ask your photographer if they can lower their fee for a smaller set of photos. My packages start at $499 but this doesn’t mean I haven’t had some shorter ceremonies that only cost a few hundred dollars. In some cases, if all you want are photos of the ceremony and some simple family photos, your photographer might be willing to work with you.

One thing you should not do is ask your photographer if they can just send over everything unedited as a means of saving money. Some photographers may do this, but my personal policy is to never provide an unfinished product to anyone. It’s our job to provide edited photos, and it’s our brand and reputation on the line if they are edited in an unfavorable way by someone else. So let us handle that part and instead consider trimming the amount of time you need a photographer for the day.

Limit Your Guest List

This is a no-brainer if you want to cut costs. Do you really need to invite everyone on your list right now? There are a lot of brides out there who feel social pressure to invite people in their extended circles, or send reciprocal invites to people who might have invited them in the past, but I am somewhat opposed to this. I don’t suggest snubbing people purely for the purpose of saving a buck, but my philosophy is if I’m paying for something, it’s going to be however I want it to be. So don’t be afraid to trim anyone off the list that you haven’t seen or spoken to in a long time. And if you’re getting pressure from family members to invite certain people that you hardly know, don’t hesitate to ask them to pay for the additional guests.

Consider Destinations

I used to associate destination weddings with enormous costs, so it caught me completely by surprise to hear that some people have deliberately hosted destination weddings as a way to limit their guest list simply by default of who’s not willing to travel that far for you. And if you select a destination that’s overseas and not quite as touristy as say, Hawaii, you’ll quickly discover that a lot of people outside of family and your very closest friends will probably send you well wishes from afar instead.

Ask Your Friends

I am by no means suggesting you ask your friends to do anything for free. Please never ask your baker friends to give you a free cake, or your photographer friend to give you an entire wedding’s worth of photos as a gift. As someone who has had friends ask for my services for free, it is genuinely hurtful. Instead, ask if they’d be willing to provide you with their services with a family discount or special rate, and see what they offer. Most of them will probably give you a good deal, and some will also do it for free as a gift. But let them offer that, don’t ask for it.

Buy Wholesale

See if you can find your supplies at wholesale prices before paying top dollar for certain vendors. Things like flowers, alcohol, and food can be much more affordable when you go straight to wholesale providers.

Skip Save the Dates

Save the dates are fine, especially if you’re hosting a wedding that’s going to require advanced planning of travel, hotels, and saving up for your guests. But you could save half by not sending out save the date cards and consider printing your invites at home. Invites can be purchased online or in craft stores and printed at home. So all you need to worry about is postage.

If you feel like a save-the-date is necessary for some of your guests, then consider less formal alternatives such as phone calls or emails.

Moissa-what?

It’s likely if you’re already engaged you probably already have your ring, but if you’re in the process of ring shopping for the engagement or sparkling wedding bands and you’re in love with diamonds… just here me out.

If you asked me six months ago how I felt about using anything other than a diamond for an engagement ring, I probably would’ve said you were just trying to be cheap, or that other stones weren’t as romantic as diamonds. But I’m wholly converted now and encourage anyone else to do the same. Moissanite stones have become an increasingly popular alternative to diamonds for a multitude of reasons, but clearly the cost is the biggest appeal. Moissanite is lab created (the only way to get it naturally is through a shooting star, or so I’ve heard). It’s only slightly less hard than actual diamonds, and sparkles just as much as diamonds do (if not more). And the best part is you can get a much larger sparkler for a lot less money. I’ve seen several rings that were absolutely stunning… all moissanite. Don’t buy into the DeBeers hype. Their concern isn’t with romance, it’s with profit.

Get Creative With Venues

If you can’t host at home but you’re looking for a lower budget venue, consider looking at non-traditional venues for your wedding. Wedding venues typically mark up everything because they know most couples will pay out of convenience. But it’s not always cost-effective. Looking for a non-traditional idea? Try renting a summer camp that’s not being used at the moment. The infrastructure is already there for everyone to be comfortable, and it’s going to be much less expensive than renting out a ballroom.

Still can’t trim your budget? Charge responsibly.

If nothing suggested works for your wedding, there is one last option that I will suggest, but only with very financially responsible couples. Consider a zero-interest credit card that will cover your expenses that you can pay off in a certain period of time, and budget for it. Figure out how much you can afford to pay each month for however long the terms of your card allow you to go interest-free, and charge accordingly.