Wedding Budget: How to Save, Where to Save

If you are a bride with a specific budget, here are a few areas you can save money, and some tips on cutting costs in each area.  You first need to prioritize your budget and put items in order of importance. If you aren’t willing to compromise in some areas, move onto others to see where you can save so that you have enough money to splurge on things that are important to you. Most often, women choose to splurge in areas like the dress, venue, or honeymoon. If you are working on a tight budget, make some careful decisions and only pick one of these areas to splurge on.

Save on the Dress

• Yes, the dress is the biggest part of the wedding budget for some brides.  If you are not interested in saving money here, you might have to pick another major area to save so that you can afford a pricier dress.  If, however, this is an area you feel you can cut cost in, there are plenty of ways to do so.  By attending bridal shows and bride expos, you can find out when many shops are having sample sales. You can pick up a beautiful one of a kind dress for a nominal price at a sample show or a “trunk show” where the store is clearing out its current stock of designer dresses to make room for new styles.  These dresses are sold at deep discounts and you can often be fitted in-house and pay extra for alterations.  For an even bigger discount, keep an eye out online and at local consignment shops for a used dress.  There are many reasons a woman gets rid of her dress, not all of them bad, so don’t look down on this as “bad luck” to get a used dress.  This is for the super budget conscious bride, and buying a dress from its previous owner is often much, much cheaper than even a sample sale.

Save on the Venue

• There are many options for the bride who wants to save money.  First, start by limiting the guest list.  Is it a large affair? An intimate gathering? Second, limit the amount and types of food you will be serving there.  For an intimate gathering, you may only serve cocktails and appetizers.  The time of your wedding can make a difference as well.  If you have it in the morning, you can have a sunrise ceremony with a beautiful setting and a champagne breakfast instead of an evening wedding with full dinner choices.  If you can, book a place that has package deals for the ceremony site, reception site, and food vendors. Often resort hotels offer great rates by letting you save more money if you purchase more services with them.  Also, resorts are a great place to get seasonal discounts as well.

Save on the Honeymoon

• In a traditional wedding, the groom’s parents might offer to pay the cost of the honeymoon, but more modern couples are opting to save the money and pay for the honeymoon themselves.  If you are budgeting the cost of your own honeymoon, consider an exotic wedding destination, such as the beaches of Mombasa or a safari honeymoon on horseback in the country of Malawi.  You can get married, have a small reception for your guests (if you choose to have any!), and honeymoon all in the same location. This is a great way to save money.  One other point you may need to consider is an offset honeymoon. Some couples choose to move right into married life together and save for a more elaborate honeymoon a few months or years down the road.

Written by Mary on Zimbabwe Weddings