Top Tips to Save Money

With the average wedding now costing $30,000, many couples are now looking for ways to have a ‘celebrity’ stylish wedding, without the celebrity price tag. We’ve pulled together some top tips to help you create your dream wedding on a shoestring budget.

1. Wedding Venue Cost Saving Tip
Many community halls, golf and RSL clubs have suitable rooms available for a fraction of the price. The trick is to see past the existing décor and imagine it sprinkled with hundreds of fairy lights or candles – think of Ross’s wedding in London on the hit show Friends that Rachel ruined!

If you’ve found the wedding venue of your dreams, but it looks as if it will be out of your budget, don’t despair. Many venues offer significant discounts for mid-week or ‘out of season’ weddings which can run into thousands of dollars.

2. Food Budget Cost Saving Tip
There are lots of ways to cut back on your food budget, and still have a memorable day. Selecting a venue where you can bring in your own caterers is often a much better value than using the existing venue catering. You can even go as far as preparing all the food yourself, though be careful of taking too much.

If you don’t have a choice about which caterer you use, there are still ways that you can trim your spending costs. Try replacing the starter course with canapés, instead of having both. Or, replace dessert with your wedding cake – so often wedding cake gets forgotten about because guests have already had so much to eat.

A new idea that brides are buzzing about is the wedding ‘cheese’ cake. Literally, it is three slabs of cheese turned into a wedding cake for that special ‘cutting of the cake’ photograph and ceremony. Why not combine the two instead of having a separate cheese and cake course? Or serve this with crackers, chutney and pate for your evening guests?

3. Booze Budget Cost Saving Tip
The ideal in this instance is to use a venue where you can bring your own booze. I was lucky enough to be able to do this at our wedding and managed to pop across to Hunter Valley and buy 180 bottles of wine and 240 beers, for under $1,000. We had stacks left and our guests were restricted to beer, wine or soft drinks, but no one seemed to mind.

Another option is to come to an arrangement with the hotel regarding corkage. A friend got married in a hotel, which charged $20 per bottle of wine. She arranged a flat fee of $500 for all of her beer and wine opening. Although it seems like a lot, it meant that she could afford to supply beer and wine for her guests.

Let us know whether you have any other cost-saving ideas.