We all know that WE.. I mean, Priscilla is planning a wedding with her fiance! She's bee doing the best she can to save money for this wedding! And we figured, there are TONS of brides out there just like her so, we decided to bring in her trusty wedding planners Ashley and Meagan from Your Jubilee to give us 5 ways to save money on your wedding! Check them out below
1. Discuss the top 3 most important things about the wedding with your soon to be spouse and make a plan.
It's important to prioritize your spending and stick to a plan. Once you have established your top three most important things about your wedding day, base your venue, vendor and detail decisions on the things you identified at most important. Maybe you are a major foodie and want to present a culinary experience, or have your heart set on a specific photographer, or you want views of camelback- setting priorities and preplanning how you want to spend will help you narrow down your choices and establish a spending plan. Discussing how and where you want to spend will save more than just diving into the planning process without a pre-plan.
2. Off Season or Weekday Weddings
Arizona has gorgeous weather 9 months out of the year making it a premier wedding destination state. To cut down on your overall wedding cost consider getting married during off season. This may mean getting married during a warmer month, but you can also get married right before peak wedding season or right after peak wedding season. Peak season in Arizona is from October-November and February-April. If you are set on a peak season month, consider getting married on a Sunday or weekday like a Thursday or a Friday. Saturday wedding dates are in high demand and venues and vendors are more willing to negotiate or offer lower rates that work with your budget during off season or weekday dates.
3. Repurposing items from ceremony to reception
The Wedding ceremony is the most important part of your wedding day, but it is also usually the shortest part of the celebration. This space can eat up floral, decor and rental budgets and guests only get to see it all for about a half hour. This is why at Your Jubilee we love to repurpose the rentals, floral, and decor and give it new life in the reception space. Bridesmaids bouquets, aisle clusters, alter or aisle arrangements all can be repurposed within the reception as centerpieces, specialty table decor and more, resulting in huge savings. Your guests won't even notice the movement as they'll be happily enjoying cocktail hour while our team repurposes everything we can!
4. Creative food options
Your food and beverage can cause sticker shock during the wedding planning process. To save on food stray away from the traditional plated steak or chicken meal options. Instead opt for fun, interactive food stations such as a mashed potato bar, or taco stations, even food trucks can be a more cost effective option. Just because it is your wedding does not mean you have to do what is traditional. If you love pizza and tacos, then have pizza and tacos on your wedding day! There are beautiful ways this can be presented to your guest and you will actually enjoy the food you are eating on your wedding day!
5. Hire a planner
This may seem crazy, spending more money to hire a planner for your big day, but it can actually save you money, time, and stress. Hiring a planner, especially at the beginning of the wedding planning process, gives you the opportunity to set up, what we like to call a "Wedding Spending Plan" to keep you on track with your budget. Planners are usually offered a specialty rate from various vendors that is discounted due to the numerous referrals they give that we here at Your Jubilee pass onto our couples. This way you can have the perfect wedding day you envisioned and still stay on track with your wedding spending plan. Planners also can be your sounding board throughout the planning process to keep you on track with that really matters and remind you of your top 3 elements to ensure you are not spending money on things you do not really need. We also can save you a lot of time and stress throughout the process, but especially on your big day so you can relax, enjoy each special moment of the day, and know we have it handled.
Bonus tip: Evaluate your guest list. Guest count is the largest contributing factor to the overall cost of your wedding. Of course you want everyone to share in your day, but trimming your guest list can turn into major savings. We just ran an estimate for one of our clients and by trimming her guest list by 30 people she can save over $5000 on her food, beverage, gratuity and tax. That doesn't even include the savings on tables, chairs, place settings and centerpieces! Now she can get her dream venue without going over her spending plan.
There are so many more ways you can save money on your wedding, but these 5+ are definitely a great start!