Weddings on a budget

Weddings on a Budget

More than ever we are all needing to tighten our belts so, I wanted to share a few ideas and tips on how to keep your budget under control and perhaps even help you come in under budget.

My first tip, if you are wanting to do a DIY wedding, is to join local Wedding groups on Facebook.You will notice over the summer months an influx of people selling items from their own Weddings, and you can grab some absolute bargains!

From lanterns, to wood slices, chair covers and sashes and much much more, people are trying to get rid of as much as possible and because they no longer want it all in their house and they are often open to a cheeky offer. But word to the wise – Once you have bought some bits for your centre pieces for example, STOP LOOKING!! Otherwise you will end up buying duplicates of the same sort of thing.

You can then use these groups to sell on your bits after your own Wedding and recoup some money back.

DIY weddings can work out much cheaper if you shop around but remember, unless you have a venue that is really helpful with putting things out for you, like centrepieces, signs, table plan etc, you will need a little team of volunteers on the day to get everything set up which can be a stress you might not want.

 

Flower Tips

Another area of big expense is flowers. With the cost of flowers at wholesale going up, that is of course reflected on the price you pay. I have some little tips that might help keep the price down.

• Have a look at florist online where you can order bouquets. You can get lovely bouquets in various colours from around £30. Simply take them out of all the packaging and tie some ribbons the stems and secure with a florist pin which you can pick up for around £3 for a pack of 10. For Bridesmaid Bouquets, a cheap but pretty way to do it is to buy bunches of baby’s breath (Gypsophila). It’s simple, pretty and will go with any theme and colours.

 

• If you are crafty, maybe think about making paper flowers. There are so many places online and soooo many YouTube tutorials that can show you exactly how to make paper flowers and arrange them in to a bouquet. You can then pick your own coloured/patterned papers and add little embellishments to make your bouquets look amazing. The good thing about doing it this way is you can make them at any time. Maybe try to do one bouquet every now and then when you have the time and try to make sure they are all done a few weeks before your Wedding. There is nothing worse than having to rush something that is quite fiddly!

 

• Artificial flowers have come a long long way is recent years. Gone are the days with vivid coloured, unrealistic looking flowers they look amazing and can often work out much cheaper.

 

Image Reference WVSA Supplier – The Petal Parlour

Cake Tips

Another place to look at saving a few pennies, is to look at buying a simple iced white cake which you can decorate yourself with maybe flowers or fruits. There are a few supermarkets that even do different sized plain white cakes that you can decorate at a fraction of the cost. Then you just need a stand and someone with a steady hand!

Maybe look at buying cupcakes and a small cake so you have something to cut. Again supermarkets have a great selection of cupcakes and maybe for the cutting cake you can get a big Victoria Sponge. Also check out local bakeries to see what fresh cakes they could provide.

Image Reference – WVSA Supplier Cathlene’s Cakes