Hi readers! Today we will be talking about places where we cut costs for our wedding. You will realize if you are just starting to plan a wedding that it is definitely important to cut where you can! So, we wanted to give you some ideas of places that we cut costs or saved money, without compromising the vibe and vision of our weddings!
1. Desserts: You've probably seen it all on Pinterest. You can make your own desserts and set up a dessert table, you can have a candy table that you set up, you can really seriously do whatever you want!
What Elyse did: For my wedding, we had cupcakes instead of cake. Brandon and I didn't even cut a cake, we just cut a cupcake in half and shared it. We actually didn't buy enough cupcakes for all of our guests because we didn't want to have any left over, so we bought cupcakes for about 1/2. Surprisingly, all of our cupcakes went ... but, we also had a sheet cake that my wedding planner brought out afterwards, so everyones dessert needs were fulfilled. Saved us money and everyone was happy!
What Kristin did: First of all, Mitch and I had a fabulously talented family friends make our cake. I saw a picture of EXACTLY (I think on Pinterest) what I wanted and they recreated that vision to a T...so we were very lucky to have talented them!! They cut our cost tremendously and we are sooooo very thankful! Secondly, only the bottom layer of our four tiered cake was actual "cake"! We had the exact same flavor, frosting and filling made into a few sheet cakes. This really cut the cost (in addition to their generosity).
2. Reusing things from other brides/past weddings: Do not be afraid to reuse anything! There are tons of things out there on Craig's List, Ebay, garage sales, and websites that are available for people to use at their weddings, so don't be afraid to take that chance! Check out these sites for help! Weddingbee -- Trash to Treasure -- Project Wedding: Classifieds
What Elyse did: All of my mason jars (that we used as glasses) were reused from a prior wedding or given to us from people who do a lot of canning. We passed on our table numbers to Kristin. We made the chalkboards for our drink menus. And so much more!
What Kristin did: I purchased LED lights for almost half the original price from another bride. I was gifted some of the vases I used and "salvation armied/garage saled" the others. Elyse gifted us half of our table numbers that we repainted and cut coupons (or received texts from JoAnn's/Michaels) like crazy. I know what helped us both a lot was being patient, waiting for the coupons, and only buying things for less!!!! For our seating chart, we only purchased the file and I had a family member print two 24" x 36" posters for me. The frames I purchased from JoAnn's....half off AND 20% off of that!! SWEETNESS. I saved over $250 this way!! To display them, we borrowed an easel from a photography studio and found one in my grandparents attic!
3. Stocking the bar yourself: If this option is available, this is definitely something we suggest! It not only gives you the options on how much to spend, but you get to pick exactly what you are stocking it with!
What Elyse did: Brandon's parents so awesomely volunteered to stock our bar for us. Having a bar in their backyard was a perk because Brandon's dad was already friends with the owner of a liquor store. After some google-ing, we decided how much we thought we needed. The best part of this -- we could sell back anything we didn't use! So, this saves money in being a less of "by the person" cost, but more of an overall cost.
4. Getting married on a Friday or "off season": Another option that if it is available to you, we would totally suggest!
What Kristin did: By getting married in April AND on a Friday we saved A TON!!! What also helped was having the ceremony and reception at the same location. Also, because Lafayette Grande is absolutely AMAZING when it comes to (everything...but specifically...) reasonable pricing, fabulous service and food we lucked out all around!
5. Doing as much as you can on your own in the floral/centerpiece department: Yes, this may be a big commitment, but with family and friend (OR Exceptionally Chic) support/help it helps A TON!!!
What Kristin did: We ordered our flowers from Sam's club! I found exactly what I wanted for some of my centerpieces on Weddingbee.com, and recreated that vision for MUCH less than if we had a florist do it...actually approx. $120 less PER centerpiece!!!!! Florists were going to charge us $100 JUST FOR PUTTING THEM TOGETHER and delivery!!! So, I found the vases (mentioned above), bouquet holders and flowers on my own! Then we lucked out and found The Henk Studio (across from LG) that were willing to compile the flowers AND deliver to LG for more than a reasonable price!! We just brought all the supplies to them and they did the rest! We utilized the rest of the flowers from Sam's for the corsages, boutonnieres, and bridesmaids bouquets (thanks to my amazing mother!!! Mwah!!!). Lastly, I made the flower girls bouquets out of paper flowers :-)
For the other centerpieces, I used curly willow (plucked from nature when spotted), white peacock feathers (donated from mother's friend), flowers from SAM's and the LED lights!!!
AAANNNNNDDDDD.....ONE last thing.... For the arch used at the ceremony, I found it at a church yard sale. We picked hydrangeas from a bestie's hydrangea bush and my mom's, dried them, and decorated the arch with them (cheap fabric and extra curly willow)!!! The whole thing was $15! :-)
Well, there you have it!! We understand that it may be a little more work to cut costs....but TOTALLY worth it in the end!!!!
Feel free to contact us with ANY questions!!
Happy Wednesday!
Xo, E & K
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