Five Top Tips on How to Plan a Wedding on a Budget

Inspiration – 31.08.16

Ah, the wedding budget. It certainly isn’t the most romantic element of planning your wedding, but it is an essential consideration. Rest assured that everyone has a budget and no matter what it is, you can plan the wedding of your dreams. Let’s take a look at a few simple ways to keep control of that spend.

1. Set your date wisely

Putting some thought into the date of your wedding can save more than a few pennies. Firstly, the date. Summer Saturdays are a popular choice for weddings and prices often reflect the high demand. If you choose a Saturday in July, for example, you should expect to pay the ‘premium’ venue price, and this may be the same for other suppliers. Choosing a different day of the week, or marrying out of season, can mean you pay less without changing any other element of your day. Check out our wedding venue offers.

2. Keep it simple

As with all things in life, simple and elegant is often the best way to go. The wedding cake is a perfect example. A cake adorned with sugar flowers and elaborate icing will take the cake designer a significant amount of time and… time is money! On the other hand, a stylish cake with simple ribbon or fresh flowers will cost significantly less. The same goes for floral arrangements where intricate wiring can be expensive, while that ‘just picked from the garden’ look is less costly.

And, with décor, often less is more and all you need are some beautiful flowers and clever lighting. Let your lovely venue shine through!

3. Work your guest list

For most, the largest proportion of your wedding budget will be spent on catering – feeding and watering all your lovely guests. While you might be tempted to keep your guest list down a little to cut costs, you don’t necessarily have to. Caterers often run offers to help you stretch your budget. And, if you follow point one, you’ll often see a benefit to your catering costs too.

4. Get creative

Now we’re not suggesting you go all out with sticky back plastic and glitter, but finding your inner artist can really save some money when planning your wedding. If you’re feeling adventurous, you might decide to make your own stationery, perhaps bake cookies for favours or create pretty tea light holders for your tables.

Sometimes being creative is also about thinking outside the box. Consider how you might use items more than once – perhaps re-using your ceremony flowers at your reception venue or writing names on favours so that they also become place cards.

5. Plan your wedding, your way

All too often, we are persuaded in to thinking we need absolutely every beautiful item we see relating to weddings, from table decorations to menu cards and from floral pew ends to string quartets. You might even be considering two wedding dresses – one for the day and another to change in to for the evening!

While all these wonders are available to you, it’s not essential to splash the cash on every detail.  Decide what is important to you and set your budget accordingly. You might, for example, want to choose some fabulous flowers, but also decide to save money by having a DJ instead of a live band. Plan your budget, and spend it where it matters to you. And, once you’ve chosen… stop looking! There will always be another pair of amazing shoes… but you only need one!

Looking for more inspiration? View our other wedding ideas in the Mythe Barn wedding blog.