The Best General Money-Saving Wedding Tips

Posted on: January 01, 2009

Okay Ladies, trust us on these.  Here are a few simple premises to keep in mind in your bridal negotiations and decisions that are sure to help you out with your finances.

#1 Believe that true bargains do exist!

This would have to be the most important premise to remember when planning your big day and saving money while doing so.  There’s that saying:  “You get what you pay for.”  This usually refers to not paying a lot for something but regretting it afterwards because it was a bad product or service.  This isn't always true because sometimes you don't pay a lot and you get something great!  When you think in terms of being creative, resourceful and focusing on getting a “true” bargain, you will.  Your thoughts and your focus will manifest your reality so if you’re determined, your results will be what you want them to be.  True bargains do exist – read our articles on this website to get inspired.

# 2 Balance when Splurging

When planning your big day on a budget, nobody is asking you not to splurge.  It’s your big day and you should have special things that will be memorable and meaningful to you.  What we're suggesting, however, is that you don’t splurge on everything - this is the surest way to break the bank.  Yes, you are worth it but for every decision you make in your wedding planning, there will be a price tag attached.  The size of the price tag is entirely in your hands so keep balance in mind when going all out for the big day.  One way to do this is to ask yourself ahead of time what aspects of the wedding are most meaningful to you.  For example, if you love music and you feel a live band would make your day all the more special then look into a live band instead of a deejay.  The balance part comes when you ask yourself what aspect of the wedding is not as meaningful.  Perhaps you aren’t into getting a big stretch limo or a fancy videographer.  You may want to consider cutting back in these areas to offset what you spent on the live band.

# 3 Get numerous quotes

All we can say is if you go with the first vendor you contact, you will more than likely pay too much.  When looking for the right vendor, it’s always a good idea to take a little time and ask just a couple of others for a quote.  We can probably come up with numerous examples when it comes to this premise but one that comes to mind is the pricing of shuttle buses.  We called 2 places that would rent out a shuttle bus including driver to get wedding guests from point A to point B.  Their quotes were $1200 and $1400.  When we called a 3rd bus company, we were quoted $500.  When the day came, this company’s customer service was excellent and the bus was immaculate – it was a perfect experience and a great bargain.  If we would have gone with one of the first two places we called, we would have paid between $700 and $900 too much because we wouldn't have known that something better was out there.

# 4 Get Creative

It could be that you’re someone who enjoys crafting and after you got some pricing, you found that making your guests’ favors, for example, would cost significantly less than buying them. Well, if you have the time, then that’s what you should do. Have a look at our DIY Section for some great ideas.

# 5 Practice the Art of Negotiation

Be aware of ways that you could get something extra thrown in.  For example, if you splurged on an open bar and gourmet meal for your guests at a fancy hotel, you should keep in mind that you are giving that hotel a lot of money.  Believe us, because an event is called a “wedding” and not a “business meeting”, for example, hotels and other vendors feel they can charge a premium for the same products and/or service that they would supply to a “non-wedding” event.  This unfortunate reality could actually be good for you because this is your leverage when negotiating.  Ask if they can throw in something for “free”.  Mention that you are spending a lot of money at their establishment – could they give you a free hotel room or two for the night?  That old saying: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get” is so true.  Sometimes all you have to do is ask but always phrase it in such a way that you are giving them something (your money) so they should give you something back.

# 6 Craigslist, Ebay and other unconventional wedding resources

Craigslist.org is sort of a big bulletin board of things people are selling and things people want.  It’s broken down into listings by city so it’s easy to find local resources.  Our money-saving suggestion is to check out Craigslist for musicians, DJ’s, photographers, bakers, florists, makeup artists – whatever service you feel you need for your day.  Why would this save money?  Because for one thing, the more quotes you get, the better.  And for another, on Craigslist, you may be more likely to find people trying to break into the wedding industry and are willing to charge less in exchange for some real-life experience.

Ebay.com, like Craigslist, is also an on-line resource for buying and selling.  The main difference is Ebay has an auction format (although there is sometimes an option to just buy the item without having to bid on it) and Ebay items will normally be shipped to you because the seller you find may not necessarily be in your local area.  The other difference is Ebay, doesn't normally deal in services.  But if you're in the market for:  veil, shoes, handbag, money box, guest book, décor, wedding bands, etc.  You could save yourself a bit of money by checking for what you need on Ebay.

In terms of other unconventional wedding resources, try looking for musicians in the music department at your local college.  Try to see if you can rent what you need for your wedding instead of buying.  Look into a pre-owned wedding dress either on Ebay or Preownedweddingdresses.com. And always think out of the box when shopping - just because something isn't specifically made to be a "wedding" item doesn't mean you can't use it at your wedding!

# 7 Use Your Personal Resources

Do you know a florist, baker, photographer or make up artist? Maybe your friend from high school plays the violin beautifully?  Or your work colleague is also a good seamstress?  Or your aunt is a travel agent?  Before you go around asking strangers for quotes, think of who you know first and find out how they can help you.  Even if you don’t know anyone directly, get talking to your circle of friends and family – you might come up with some great referrals.

# 8 Recycle

Know any married people?  Well, they are likely to have wedding stuff that they're not going to be using anytime soon…Maybe ask you friend or family member if you could borrow their ring bearer pillow or veil.  We actually know a couple of sisters who used the same wedding dress.  Borrowing something for the wedding doesn’t just mean having  something borrowed to wear down the aisle.

# 9 Manage Your Time

You’ve heard it all before Ladies - time is money!  When planning the big day, you're more likely to keep with your budget if you allow for enough time to source vendors so that you wind up with the best deal.  If you’re scrambling at the last minute, you’re more likely to settle for something that’s priced too high just so you’re not caught without.  Please have a look at our Planning Section and try to stick with reasonable time lines when securing the different components of your wedding.