Collaborative Post¦ The cost of weddings is crazy these days and the average couple spends around £30,000. There are plenty of people that do it for less, and some that spend a lot more, but whatever kind of wedding you are having, it’s likely to be expensive. You don’t want to start your new life together in loads of debt, and a lot of couples would rather put the money towards buying a house, so you need to find ways to save money wherever you can.
But you have to remember that your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life, so you don’t want to make too many compromises. You still want the day to be perfect, and that means you have to be careful about how you try to save money. There are some things that you can easily do on the cheap and it won’t make a big impact on your day. But certain things will cost money and if you go for the cheap options, you will end up making some big compromises. These are some of the things that you should never cheap out on when planning your wedding.
The Venue
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The first thing that you need to decide on is the venue – take a look at Venuefinder. It’s usually the biggest cost when planning a wedding, and if you want to keep costs down, finding a cheaper venue is the best way to do it. However, it’s not always a good idea to go for the cheapest venue you can find. A lot of the cheaper venues will just give you the space and nothing else. That means that you will have to pay extra for things like table and chair rental, so it may not actually be that much cheaper overall. Venues that do a lot of weddings and charge a slightly higher rate will usually be better at organising things on the day and you will get a lot of added extras that make the wedding that little bit better. The venue has a big impact on the wedding as a whole, so make sure that you have a good amount of money set aside in your budget for it.
Wedding Dress Alterations
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The dress is one of the most important parts of the whole wedding and it’s important that you choose carefully from a reputable shop . You can find one by searching for wedding dresses Sydney (or your local area) and reading reviews. A lot of people think that you have to spend loads of money to get a good dress but that isn’t the case, especially if you are not going for a traditional white dress. But whether you’re getting a cheaper dress or an expensive one, you should never cheap out on the wedding dress alterations. You’re going to be wearing the dress all day long and you’ll be on your feet for hours, so you need to make sure that you are comfortable and you look good. If the dress isn’t altered properly, it won’t fit right, so make sure that you pay the money for a professional job and don’t just take it to the cheapest place you can find.
Shoes
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A badly altered dress will make you uncomfortable, but badly fitting shoes are even worse. It’s going to be a long day and you will be on your feet for most of it. If you have tight, uncomfortable shoes, your feet will be in agony by the end of it. You don’t need to go over the top and buy a pair of expensive designer shoes, unless that’s what you want, but you do need to look for quality. It’s a good idea to get your feet measured up beforehand so you can be sure to get the size spot on.
Makeup
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There are a lot of people out there that want to be makeup artists and with things like Instagram, it’s easier than ever for people to act like they are. But just because somebody posts some makeup tutorials on social media, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a brilliant makeup artist. You might be able to get somebody like that to come in and do your makeup for a discounted rate, but they won’t do a good job. A lot of people also try to do their own makeup or get a friend or family member to do it. But on your wedding day, you want something a bit more special than your normal day to day makeup, and you also need something that will stay in place all day long. It’s best to find a professional makeup artist that has experience doing weddings, and pay them to do it for you.
If you are planning to get a spray tan before your wedding to give yourself a bit of a glow, you need to make sure that you don’t go for the cheap option. The automated machines might cost less but you won’t usually get a very even spray tan and everybody will be able to tell. Doing it yourself with a home kit is a risk because it’s harder than you think and you don’t really know what you’re doing. It’s best to go to a professional salon and have it done properly. Otherwise, you’ll cringe every time you look back at the photos.
Photography
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Photography is another one of those things that a lot of people claim to do, but only a few people can actually do it well. Just because you have a friend that likes taking photos and putting them up on social media, and they’ve bought a fancy camera, that doesn’t make them a photographer. It’s a skill that takes a lot of training and practice, and there’s a big difference between taking a photo and taking a professional photo. Your wedding pictures will be a reminder of your big day and you can look back at them in the future, but you will regret not paying for a real photographer if all of the photos are terrible quality. You need to hire a professional wedding photographer like Vittore Buzzi instead of an amateur with an expensive camera. People can still take their own photos on the day, but don’t rely on somebody that isn’t a professional to get the official wedding photos.
Food
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Your guests are in for a long day as well, so it’s important that you feed them. The food at weddings is expensive and a lot of people decide that they’ll save some money by giving smaller portions and skipping the food later on. But people are going to get hungry if you do that, and when people are drinking a lot, they need plenty to eat. Often, people find that they struggle to cover the cost of the food because they have simply invited too many people. It’s much better to cut back on the guest list a little so you can afford to give everybody a proper meal.
It’s also a good idea to give people something to eat after the ceremony while all of the photographs are being taken. This can be a bit of a dull period for your guests and there’s a lot of waiting around. People are likely to be a bit hungry, so some small canapes are a great idea.
Where Can You Save?
It might seem like you can’t save on any of the aspects of your wedding, but that isn’t the case. There are a lot of things that people really don’t care about that much, and they can be cut entirely or you can just go for the cheapest option.
Invitations are one thing that people waste a lot of money on. Most people keep their appointments on a calendar in their phone these days anyway, so having a paper invitation isn’t really necessary anymore. People spend a lot of money on very intricate invitations which are only going to get lost or thrown away anyway. That’s why you should go for the cheaper option or even consider an electronic invite instead.
Wedding favours are another thing that can quickly get very expensive, and most people wouldn’t miss them if they weren’t there. A lot of the time, they get left on the table at the end of the night anyway, so why not just skip them?
If you have tried making savings everywhere you can but the budget is still stressed, it’s likely that you are just inviting too many people. If you really want to save money and still have the wedding of your dreams, you just have to be realistic about the size of wedding that you can afford. People often feel a lot of pressure to invite people when they are drawing up the guest list and then people want plus ones as well. Things soon get out of control and before you know it, the guest list is way longer than you initially planned. It’s best to be ruthless and only invite people that you really want at your wedding, not people that you feel like you should invite.
There are plenty of things that you can save on, and cutting back on guests will make it more affordable. But make sure that you don’t cheap out on the important things.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
Cover photo by Jeremy Wong from Pexels