Eight tips to plan your dream wedding on budget

Planning one’s dream wedding requires a lot of stress and money. But considering the current situation of things, it won’t be nice to go into debt just because you’re getting married.

Below are tips for having a memorable wedding on a budget.

• Plan and prioritise

As you already know, if you fail to plan you’re planning to fail. So, first thing, you and your partner should plan and have a budget talk.

How much do you both have for the wedding? How much are you willing to spend? This will guide you on how to spend.

After establishing the amount you intend to spend, list out your priorities. Have a list of the things you and your partner feel must be available on your wedding day — things you won’t want to compromise on or cut off.

Having a budget and priority list is a good step to having your memorable day on a budget.

• Marry on a weekday

It might sound weird but it isn’t. After all, no law states that Saturdays are the only day to get married. So, having your wedding on a Friday, Wednesday or any other day of the week will help you cut costs on a lot of things like guests, food items, and venue.

Wondering how? People that will attend your wedding on a weekday will definitely be the ones who are really important to you. Also, prices for venues will be reduced because it is not on the normal party day.

• Your wedding dress

This tends to be part of the things you won’t want to cut off at all. It’s your day so it’s necessary you look good.

However, you can also go by your budget when getting your wedding dress.

For instance, instead of sewing or buying a new wedding dress, you can choose to rent or better still get your dress when your vendor is on a promo sale.

• Keep it small and intimate

This might sound difficult because weddings tend to be for family and friends’ gatherings. However, a small guest list means a less costly wedding.

Invite only people that you won’t want to have your wedding without them — people that are really close to you.

Cutting down your guest list is very important because it mostly determines your wedding cost ranging from the foods to the drinks and venue.

• Send e-vites

Yes, electronic invitations. This is an alternative to physical invitations which will cost you money. So, to cut off the printing cost, you can go modern by sending e-vites to your guests.

Since you already cut down your guest list it will be easy to send the invites. They will also understand because they’re your closest people.

• Get a venue in your budget

There are many low-cost venues you can have your wedding. Try to get a venue that will occupy your guests and make sure it’s the one you won’t be spending more than your budget.

However, if you have access to a family compound or backyard then that saves a fortune. You won’t have to spend more on the venue. Your cost will just be for the tent, tables, and chairs. Then, you can have your beautiful backyard/compound wedding.

• Utilise your friends’ talents

Having vendors plan your wedding tends to be expensive so you can ask your friends to help you out. To help reduce costs, you can ask your friends to help you out according to their talents.

Even if you’re to pay, you won’t pay as much as you will pay a vendor. You can also practice some do-it-yourself (DIY) in regards to the venue decor and some other things you’re good at.

• Make your food budget according to your guest list

Your food budget should be based on your guest list. Since you already cut down your guest list, the cost for making food will be reduced as also the service charge of the caterer.

You may want to go a step further by doing the cooking yourself, considering the small size of your guests, to save money.

This doesn’t literally mean you have to cook all of the dishes yourself, you can seek the help of your family members who are good at cooking.

Remember, your marriage is about your love and your partnership. So you should not go overboard to satisfy people. There is no award for the best wedding of the year.