Everyone wants a beautiful wedding, but everyone also wants to cut as many costs as possible. Remember, there is life after the wedding and you do not want to begin your life in debt. Here are ten ways that you can consider to cut costs at your wedding.
1. Use your backyard as a venue
The venue is one of the most expensive things at weddings, contributing to almost half of the budget. You can cut this cost by using your backyard as a venue! If you do not have a backyard big enough to host a wedding, you can find someone who has a big backyard to use for a wedding. You’ll save a lot on the venue cost.
2. You don’t really need a Fruit cake!
Fruit cakes are popular at weddings. It’s a tradition that has always been there but you can change it. If you really want to save one for your firstborn, then you can have one tier of fruit cake and the rest in different variants. Do the math, you will realize you will save a lot.
3. Invite fewer guests
Your guests will determine how much you will pay for the wedding. It’s so not African to screen relatives but sometimes it has to be done because sometimes you’ll invite a third cousin whom you don’t even know. The less the guests, the more intimate the wedding is and the better the outcome.
4. Choose an off-season date
The most popular wedding months in Zimbabwe are April, May, August, September, and December. These months are the most expensive as all service providers are on demand. It is advisable to choose the off-peak months to cut costs. Service providers at this time are hungry for money so there are higher chances of negotiation. You can also wed during the week, it is far much cheaper than wedding on a weekend!
5. The smaller the bridal party, the lesser the costs
The bridal party contributes to the costs of the day, especially if you are covering their wedding regalia. If you have fewer people in the bridal party, there are fewer costs on the bouquets, on the bridal party’s special seats as well as on transportation. If possible, have a bridal party with a maximum of 10 people.
6. Hire instead of buying
There are a lot of items that can be hired instead of buying on the wedding day. Things like the bride’s dress, the getting ready robes, slopes, crowns, artificial flowers, sashes, etc. You save a lot more.
7. Maximize on digital invites
Invitations are important but not everyone has to get a hard copy wedding invite.Most people are close family members whom you can send just the digital copy and not necessarily the wedding card. It will save on the stationery costs.
8. Don’t provide transport
Transport is another cost that the bride and groom should not have to worry about. The people who really want to come to witness your day will find their way to their wedding. The only transport you should worry about is the transport for the bridal party and the parents of the bride and groom. The rest will surely find their way, thus the importance of inviting the closest family members.
9. Don’t hire a wedding planner
Wedding planners are very important, they help coordinate everything, but they might be very costly. If you can help it, have your close family and friends help you with the wedding planning. Give everyone a role to play and everything will come put perfect just as if you’d have hired a wedding planner.
10. DIY where you can
On your wedding day, you want to be spoiled and you want everyone to spoil you. The spoiling comes with a cost though. My sister saved $100 on her wedding day when she did both her hair and makeup by herself. It’s something you can consider.
Look at your wedding budget and look at what you can really do yourself and you’ll find yourself saving a lot of money!
