1. Avoid guest list bloat.
Although you might be tempted to throw everyone you know on your guest list, that isn’t always a great idea. With each addition you make, you’re adding additional costs while also making your wedding less intimate.
To a degree, this was a trap we fell into with our own wedding – our guest list grew and grew to the point where we invited people that we didn’t know well simply because we felt obligated.
To save as much as you can, try inviting fewer people and making the event more intimate. Start by whittling your list down by 20%, then another 20%. Then see if you’re happy with it.
2. Ask for wedding help instead of wedding gifts.
We were lucky that several of our friends and family had musical talent, so they were able to provide musical accompaniment for our ceremony. We also have a close friend who’s an extremely skilled amateur photographer, and he was willing to photograph our ceremony as our wedding gift. Then, after the ceremony, he provided high-quality digital images of everything.
Asking family and friends to offer help or services that align with their talents in lieu of a gift is a great way to keep your wedding on a budget.
3. Hold the ceremony at home, or outdoors.
Renting a building or function hall for your ceremony and reception can be very expensive. Instead, consider using your own home (or the home of a uncle) for your ceremony, or perhaps a public discounted hall with a beautiful view or that uncles cheap beach house in ECR
In each case, you can also have your reception outdoors, creating a picturesque, memorable ceremony while eliminating the cost of renting a venue.
If you go the outdoor route, however, it’s best to have a back-up plan in case of bad weather; you don’t want to get married in a downpour that leaves all your friends and family soaked. That might mean renting a sturdy tent if rain is forecast, or a few industrial fans if it’s an extremely hot day — or simply stuffing everyone inside the house to wait out a storm.
4. Do the catering yourself, or hire a family-owned restaurant.
For our wedding, we handled our own food preparation and catering with a lot of help from my wife’s family. This drastically reduced the food costs for the ceremony.
If this isn’t your forte, look around your community for a family-owned restaurant and ask the owners directly to cater your wedding. Family-owned restaurants are always the first place to check – they will almost always go the extra mile to make your wedding special and are generally more understanding of your particular budget needs.
5. Get creative with the Decor.
If you know someone in your circle who owns a nursery, you could reduce your floral cost-give all your guests a sapling as a return gift-make it an eco friendly statement.
Another wedding decor idea – go with artificial flowers instead. It’s likely that no one will even notice, and you could save a bundle by making the arrangements yourself well ahead of time.
6. Skip the gifts.
While it’s considered customary to give gifts in some circles, it isn’t always necessary. Instead of buying gifts they may not even want or enjoy, consider writing them a special note to say “thanks” instead. If your friends know that you’re trying to have a frugal wedding, they will understand.
7. Make your own invitations.
With a quality home printer and some time, you can make very classy invitations on your own. No pictures or anything – just a very classic font and simple text. It looked stylish and didn’t cost us much at a
Online Printing Sites also offer cheap wedding invitations you can order from the comfort of your home. Their options aren’t too fancy, but they’ll certainly do the trick. You can even hire a freelance graphic designer to whip up a custom invitation for you
8. Borrow stereo equipment or use yours from home.
Rather than hiring a DJ, just use your own home stereo equipment, or equipment you borrow from a friend. Put speakers around the dance floor area – there’s no need to spread them around the entire reception room. Create a playlist on your iPod that features a few hours’ worth of your favorite songs – or see if you have a friend who might want to make a playlist for you. Choosing your own songs is a great way to personalize your entire experience.
9. Stock the bar yourself.
Alcohol is a big expense when it comes to a lot of weddings, and it’s also a big variable you can play around with to cut costs. Instead of opting for a full open bar, for instance, you can save money offering just beer and wine,
If you do rent a function hall, ask if they’ll let you supply your own alcohol instead of using the venue’s, which can be a big money-saver. Look for a discount liquor store in your area, and stock up on the basic hard liquor and a few types of beer at the very least. If you want to offer a full bar, pick up the standard liquors like vodka, gin, rum, and whiskey, plus a few mixers and soft drinks like sodas and juice.
10. Advertise and display your vendor cards in exchange for reduced rates.
If you’re hiring people to provide services for your reception (musicians, a DJ, florists, caterers, photographers, etc.), offer to advertise for them in exchange for reduced rates.
At the reception, put a small card by each person’s place setting that lists the businesses responsible for each service at the wedding, along with their contact information. Since this tends to be very effective advertising, many businesses will happily provide services at reduced rates in exchange for this opportunity.
11. Contact the local college
Do you know a friend who is a DJ who can play at your wedding for free
My niece got in her friend ( A top DJ) from UK to Bangalore To play for free
At her wedding in return for just been a part of an great indian wedding experience-he even brought in his own equipment-how cool is that.
Do you know a friends cousin who is just starting out as a beautician who can do your bridal make up almost for free
If you’d like live musical accompaniment for the ceremony (and perhaps for the reception), one place to look for lower-cost musicians is your local university’s music department.
Contact them and ask if there are any students who are studying a particular instrument or vocal work and see if they’re available to provide music for a wedding. It can help them develop their resume and save you on this typically pricey part of your wedding.
This goes for photographers as well — if there’s an art school or photography program at your local college, see if there are any talented students or recent grads who would be willing to photograph your wedding at a discount for the portfolio-building experience and exposure they’d receive.
12. Price shop for decorations – and consider buying used.
Meanwhile, you can also consider buying used centerpieces and decorations on an online site Recent couples often sell their decorations- do you know anybody and you can save a bundle of money — and effort going that route.
13. Buy dresses off the rack – and on sale.
Instead, head to a few stores with dresses on sale and see if you can all find something “off the rack.”There will always be a store which is having a clearance sale with 70 % off –spread the word around to your friends somebody will definitely let you know about a sale in a store which is changing location and hence offloading all their stocks.
Tip-We recently picked up some amazing western gowns for our nieces wedding reception at a clearance sale and saved a fortune.
Tip-do you know a cousin in kancheepuram whose got access to the source of silk saree manufacturers who can get them at factory rates.
This works best if your colors are chosen ahead of time and if the store you’re shopping at carries plenty of sizes. To minimize spats within your wedding party, you can also shop ahead of time and only have them try on dresses you already approve of.
Another budget wedding idea: Instead of buying new dresses, have every girl wear a particular color dress they already own.
14. Rent wedding attire as a group, or simply wear matching outfits.
Unless you have a specific reason for owning a suit (and few people do), you should rent one. It’s often useful to rent the suits as a group through the same business, as you’ll often get a group rate.
You can have all your friends wear a black suit from home or other matching formalwear / matching Sarees.
There are shops in Mylapore in Chennai for instance where you can rent
Wedding jewellery and wedding attire .
15. Plan a simple out of the box experiential honeymoon, not an ostentatious one.
A huge, over-the-top honeymoon might sound fun, but it’s far, far cheaper to look for other options
Air B & B Offers amazing options on trips abroad instead of the 5 star resort offering you more privacy and a differential memorable experience.
Do you have an aunt whose got a home stay in spain-Idea Starter
Bonus idea: If you’re set on a more distant honeymoon, try paying for most of your wedding expenses with a credit card that offers great travel rewards which could help cover the cost of your flight (but pay off the balance before it accrues any interest).
16. Involve your closest friends and family in the preparations.
As you’re brainstorming cheap wedding ideas, you should get your closest friends and family involved with the details. Quite often, they’ll have surprisingly good ideas that can save you money and effort.
For example, they might know a vendor that would offer you a deal, or have something you could borrow for your special day. Good friends and family are always there to help, and they’ll be especially happy to contribute to such a joyful occasion — so you might as well take advantage of their generosity.
17. Plan, plan, plan.
When you’re trying to have a wedding on a budget, it’s important to plan ahead. List everything you can think of and walk through these items step by step.
The earlier you get started – and the more things you think about early on – the less “last-minute stress” you’ll have, and the more time you’ll have to find sales and discounts and research other good ideas.
18. Look for affordable comfortable serviced apartments close to wedding venues instead of expensive hotels for your out -of -station guests.
19. Don’t stress.
Don’t fret about it. Just assume something little is going to go a little bit haywire and avoid the urge to throw money at the problem. Most likely, no one will even notice the little issue, and quite often someone in your wedding party (or someone helping out) will come up with a pretty good solution to fix things.
Good luck (and congratulations)! and an amazing happy warm life ahead from Wedding Aaha
