Budget Wedding Planning: What to Skip for a More Affordable Big Day

Good morning, lovely dreamers, and welcome to another wedding tips and tricks post here on the DoB blog! Today’s focus: what to skip for a budget-friendly wedding.

Related:

‍How to Plan the Perfect Themed Wedding on a Small Budget in 10 Steps

How to Plan Your Dream Wedding as a Budget Bride

A Comprehensive Guide to DIY Wedding Photography: Capturing Your Big Day Yourself

When you don’t have a lot of money to throw around (or even if you do, but you think you shouldn’t blow it all on one day) and you still want your wedding to feel magical and special, making strategic choices becomes essential. 

Now it’s the perfect time to reflect and decide on what is truly important to you for one of the biggest days of your life.

By identifying areas where you can cut costs without sacrificing style or significance, you can create a beautiful and memorable wedding day that aligns with your financial goals. 

From trimming unnecessary expenses to finding creative alternatives, we'll guide you through the choices that will help you save money while still creating a magical wedding experience. 

First things first: Our wedding story

We’ve already shared a few ideas and tips here on the blog from our wedding, and the wedding planning experience, but we’ve only shared bits and pieces of our wedding’s story. I think now it’s the perfect time to tell it all.

You see, Andy and I have been together for almost 11 years now. He proposed when we celebrated our 3rd anniversary. I did not expect it, I never asked for it, so he really surprised me. 

At this point in time, we were going on the “traditional” ways of how a relationship evolves, so we decided to get married within the next 2 years.

This was our first attempt at getting married.

We made lists on top of lists for everything we needed and everyone we thought we wanted to invite. It started as a gigantic wedding with over 300 people! 

After a lot of talks, between us, our families, especially our fathers who wanted everyone they ever knew at our wedding, we finally managed to cut the guest list down to around 150 people. Still big, but somewhat manageable.

With a lot of financial help from our families, we managed to pay for the restaurant, and we had the funds to look for everything else a couple might want to include in their wedding:

• Invitations, programs, table menus and everything else that is printable
• The wedding cake, candy bar and other sweet treats to add to the wedding guests' gifts
• Flower arrangements and flower accessories for our wedding party and us
• Entertainment: DJ or Band, photo booths, master of ceremonies etc.

And everything else a traditional wedding from Transylvania might need. 

Even though we weren’t happy with 80% of the items on the list, we went on with it for our families. They were financially involved after all, so we didn’t want to be rude.

This also meant that instead of a simple, relaxed day wedding, we were organising a long exhausting overnight wedding. 

But for some reason still unknown, this wedding did not happen (and thank the Universe for that!)

2 months before our wedding, we get a call from the restaurant that they are selling the place, so we need to find another spot to have our wedding. 

We found out that the place in fact did not sell, they simply refused to have our wedding there. 

Maybe there was another couple paying more for their wedding? Perhaps they just didn’t like us? We will never know.

Now, if you don’t know, restaurants are usually booked 1 to 2 years in advance for an event such as a wedding. 

With 2 months left till the wedding, there was 0 to a very small chance of actually finding a good restaurant that can accommodate over 150 people, on the date of our wedding AND not cost a small fortune.

So we contacted every guest and announced that we were postponing our wedding. And that was the story of our first attempt at getting married.

The ones that came after that involved bad timing, my grandfather’s cancer diagnosis and passing, then my father’s cancer diagnosis and death only two years after my grandfather’s, moving to Spain, and then Scotland. 

Safe to say we were not in a very happy “let’s have a wedding” mood for quite some time there.

We also almost eloped while we were in Scotland as well. But we decided not to go through with it because our beloved mothers and grandmothers would have been too disappointed.

Fast forward to October 2019. 

We decided it was time to come back home, deal with some family problems for a couple of months, maybe get married, and then go back to Scotland. If we could, obviously. Given the whole Brexit situation.

The family stuff took longer to take care of than we would have wanted, and then, March 2020 came along. And we all know how that ended.

So we were stuck in Transylvania. Again.

After the shitstorm that was this pandemic, we said “Hey! Our 10-year anniversary is coming soon, the ‘Rona crisis is somewhat done, why not celebrate it with a wedding?”

And so, our final attempt at getting married happened. It was now, or we would basically drop the idea and just live like this forever. 

And let me tell you, this was not without its drama either.

From a couple of friends that took our “no children at our wedding” rule to mean that we hate kids and don’t want to be near them ever so they ripped apart a lifetime friendship… to the manager of the restaurant almost destroying our wedding 2 weeks prior, with his “great” idea of: “pick either the inside or the terrace to hold your wedding, it's too small,  so we want the restaurant open to the public"... to some MIL drama that was solved with sneak and sass… to me severely injuring my knee 3 weeks before my wedding… it was truly a challenge.

I should mention here that the restaurant is a very small one, so we couldn’t possibly fit everyone inside or outside without compromising the instant photo area and the dancefloor.

And when we first met with him to chat about the wedding I explicitly asked if I could rearrange the tables to fit our theme and guestlist, and he said yes. He also NEVER mentioned the “pick one” thing before. And we had the restaurant booked for MONTHS! 

Also, who wants complete strangers at their wedding?

That problem was not solved easily, but after some heated discussions between my now husband and that manager, he stepped down and we agreed to pay for more wedding menus than our number of guests and have the whole restaurant to ourselves.

So everyone was happy, even if that meant more money spent on our part. 

But going back to the beginning of our planning phase, the good part about having the wedding at this point was that now we could focus on having a small wedding, and only invite the closest of the close.

We invited mostly family (and only the ones we actually talk to not EVERYONE), and some friends. 

We decided to cut all the unnecessary expenses, focus on what mattered to us, and simply make it a day of fun, love and happiness. And it was fantastic! It was proof that you don’t need to spend a shitton of money to have the wedding you deserve.

But enough with the chit-chatting! Let’s get to it!

Planning a Wedding on a Budget? Here's What You Can Skip to Save Money

1. Guest List:

Trim down the guest list to include only close family members and friends, rather than inviting everyone you know.

Think about it this way: do you really want/need strangers at your wedding? Do you want to share those special moments with random people?

Our focus was the closest of the close. And it was the best choice we made.

2. Wedding Planner:

Plan and coordinate the wedding yourself or enlist the help of family and friends instead of hiring a professional wedding planner.

As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, there are a few free tools you can use to help you out, like the Wedding Planner template from Google Sheets (lifesaver) and the wonderful Jamie Wolfer on YouTube!

3. Expensive Floral Arrangements and accessories:

Choose seasonal and locally sourced flowers, and consider using greenery or potted plants as alternatives to expensive floral arrangements.

Or skip them completely. Why not?

4. Ceremony Decor:

Focus on natural surroundings or utilize the venue's existing decor, reducing the need for elaborate ceremony decorations.

Save on chair decorations or covers by utilizing the venue's existing seating or opting for simple chair ties or minimal decor that works with your theme.

You’ll only use them for like 15 to 30 minutes anyway. 

5. Extravagant Restaurant Decorations:

Simplify the decor by focusing on a few key elements and utilizing affordable options such as candles, string lights, and DIY centrepieces.

Our wedding decorations were some flowers we got from my grandmother’s neighbour from her garden, a few 3D printed pumpkins (DIYed by my husband), and we used the restaurant’s existing table decorations.

Also, as it is customary in Transylvania to give the bride flowers after the ceremony, we also used those around the restaurant.

We focused on simple, affordable and we let the location do the talking.

6. Custom Printed Wedding Invitations, Printed Wedding Programs, Printed Place Cards:  

Opt for ready-made invitation suites or printable templates that you can personalize and print yourself to save on customization costs.

You can also save on printing costs by skipping printed programs and opting for a large sign or chalkboard with the ceremony details.

Or simply do as we did: stick to digital. 

We created these beautiful invites, drink menus and wedding programs using Canva and shared them through social media. Everyone loved this idea, including the elders of our families!

7. Wedding Menu:

Simplify the menu by choosing fewer courses or opting for a buffet-style or family-style meal instead of a plated dinner.

Or why not make it a themed wedding with barbecues, DIY tacos or something else that you would love?

8. Open Bar:

Offer limited drink options such as a signature cocktail or a beer and wine bar instead of a full open bar.

We took the drinks menu from the restaurant and simply made it smaller, to fit our guests' likes and needs. 

9. Wedding Cake + Cake Decorations:

Skip intricate cake decorations and choose a simple design or decorate with fresh flowers or fruit instead.

Opt for a smaller wedding cake or consider alternative desserts like cupcakes, a dessert bar, or a DIY dessert station.

We went for individual naked red velvet cakes for our guests, and a larger one for just us, simply decorated. 

And the restaurant also gave us a small chocolate cake for dessert.

10. Live Band or DJ:

Live bands are incredibly expensive, so we would advise against going with one, unless you are part of one, or you have a family/friend that is part of one and they want to sing at your wedding for free or a very small fee.  

Consider creating a wedding playlist and have a trusted friend or family member act as the DJ, or even use a reliable music streaming service instead of a live band.

11. Wedding Videographer and Professional Photographer:

If hiring a professional videographer is beyond your budget, consider asking a talented friend or family member to capture video footage of the day.

The same thing goes for photography. Or, if you’re really ambitious why not DIY your own wedding photography like I did? (and I was the bride!)

12. Guestbook:

Instead of purchasing a traditional guestbook, opt for a creative and budget-friendly alternative such as a large photo frame with a mat for guests to sign.

Or use something you already have like we did. An empty photo album, a borrowed instant camera and simply asking the guests to write some words of wisdom and sign their names. 

13. Wedding Favours:

Skip or opt for affordable and DIY favours instead of expensive or elaborate ones.

I don’t know how these look on your side of the pond, but here in Transylvania they have: 

• a small bottle of traditional homemade alcohol, 
• a box of mini cakes or cake slices,
• plus something specific to the couple or the theme of the wedding (in our case some DIYed pumpkins 3D printed by my husband) 

14. Elaborate Transportation:

Skip renting luxury vehicles or a limousine and opt for practical and cost-effective transportation options like carpooling or using personal vehicles.

Because we had a small wedding and we got married and had the party in the same place, the beautiful fortress of Oradea, there was no need for extra transportation or anything fancy, so we just used the personal car.

15. Bridal Shower & Bachelor/ette parties:

Completely skip the bridal shower and only have a fun bachelorette with your gals. Or skip the bachelor/ette if you’re not into that. 

Yes, it’s important to celebrate the big step you’re about to make, but think of doing something simple and fun, like a barbecue party, or a simple guys/gals night in town! 

16. Rehearsal Dinner:

This might be a stupid question, but why do you need a rehearsal dinner? Out here in Transylvania, there is no such thing, so this sounds like a super strange custom for us.

If you’re on a tight budget why not skip it? There is no need to practice eating before eating, is there? 🙂

17. Expensive Wedding Rings:

Explore more affordable options such as simpler bands, alternative metals, or vintage rings that fit within your budget.

Initially, we wanted a pair of wedding bands that looked like one was carved from the other, but that design would have cost us much more, so we decided to go for a simple pair of 14K white gold instead.  

18. Expensive Wedding Attire:

Look for sales, sample sales, or consider renting a wedding dress or tuxedo instead of buying brand new.

Or if you’re having a themed wedding as we did, see if you can either DIY at least some parts of your attire or go for fun alternatives that are much more affordable.

After all, it’s your wedding, and your wedding dress and “suit” can be whatever you want it to be:

• A suit
• Full-body medieval armour
• A Super Mario Costume or…
• An inflatable T-Rex costume! 

19. Expensive Wedding Shoes & Other Accessories:

Choose affordable but stylish shoes or consider wearing comfortable shoes you already own that can be easily hidden under your dress.

I definitely wanted to be comfy because of my knee injury, so I went for my big black boots under the dress, and no one knew!

20. Professional Hair and Makeup:

Consider doing your own makeup or ask a friend who is skilled in makeup application to help you on your wedding day.

If you’re a person who usually does not wear much make-up, why go overboard at your wedding?

I did my own super simple wedding make-up and chose to get my lashes done for a more dramatic look, so there would be no need for more around my eyes and risk looking like I beat myself up with the make-up kit 🙂  

Today’s conclusion is: please prioritize what is most important to you as a couple while finding creative alternatives and cost-saving options for other aspects of your wedding.

Aaaaand that’s all for today, lovely dreamers! We hope you enjoyed our top 20 things to skip for your budget wedding. And if you did, please make sure to share it, pin it, tweet it!