The average total wedding cost today is around $33,391 (Business Insider). Note that it’s ‘average’ not ‘luxury’ wedding, which is sure to cost a lot more. Such expenses are impossible to fit into a frugal living budget. However, with a few clever tricks, you will be able to get a great wedding celebration without spending a fortune. For this, you will need to pick your expenses carefully, choose the right wedding theme, and shop around for the most understanding vendors.
5 Effective Tips for How to Have a Luxury Wedding on a Budget
1. Get your catering from a local family-owned business
If there’s a small nice family-owned restaurant or a café in your neighborhood, be sure to go there to discuss catering to your wedding. Be friendly and open about your budget limitations. Such businesses are usually more likely to be understanding and help you find an affordable solution.
You also shouldn’t discount the help from your own family or friends. If they can help with the catering or have personal connections to some restaurant or a catering business, be sure to use these chances. Organizing a big wedding on a budget is based on a thorough research of all options so you can truly find the best ones.
2. Limit the photography service package
No wedding can go without a photographer as this is the person who will immortalize your memories of this special day. However, the average cost of a wedding photographer’s services is over $2,800. The biggest service package, which includes prints, engagement shots, albums, etc. can go up to $4,000.
As you can’t remove this big expense altogether, you should pick the services you want to include very carefully. Things you can discard right off the bat are prints and albums. You can do those when your next paycheck arrives after the honeymoon. In fact, getting this service from a specialized agency might provide a much more beautiful wedding photo album. As the business focuses on this particular service, they will have a great selection of designs. Therefore, you’ll be able to find something truly perfect for you.
It’s the same thing with prints. You can get those anytime, even if you do one a month to minimize the strain on your family budget.
Bear in mind that photographers’ rates vary greatly. Where one would offer a few prints, album, and an extra photo shoot for the couple, the other might only shoot the wedding for a few hours for the same price. That’s why it’s essential to find at least five options to compare.
3. Choose an inexpensive theme
The theme of your wedding will affect the venue and decorations, which are major expenses right after photography and catering. If you want to organize a luxury wedding on a budget, you should go for simple elegance.
If you can, set the wedding outdoors as this might be more affordable and nature itself will be a perfect decoration. Otherwise, work with the venue’s design so you can minimize décor.
In either case, aim to limit the florist’s services to the minimum. It will be best to avoid professional flower arrangements altogether. Consider making bouquets yourself, especially if you know someone with a garden and willing to share its ‘fruits’. A small bouquet for the bride, one rose each for bridesmaids, and a tiny centerpiece for each table are all you really need. You should also consider using fake flowers for table decorations.
4. Cut the number of groomsmen and bridesmaids
While you might want to give all your dear friends a special place in your big day, doing this only adds to the cost. They will be with you anyway as guests. It might require a bit of explanation so no one gets offended, but one ‘tough’ conversation is better than starting your family life with a huge debt.
The same goes for bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts. You definitely should make a card for each and express your gratitude and appreciation of them through heartfelt words. Your friends should understand this when they know that you are organizing a frugal wedding.
5. Make your own invitations
When trying to have a luxury wedding on a budget, you should use as many handmade elements as possible. Invitations are a definite must on that list. You only need a reasonably good printer to make them. In fact, this will give you much more flexibility with the design and allow you to create invitations that will be a perfect fit for your planned celebration.
You can even look up wedding invitation design templates online. It will take a little effort to alter those to your liking using simple graphics software.