Budget Wedding: Tips to Save Money on your Wedding

Intimate or large-scale weddings, they are expensive. Given the ever rising rate of inflation, quite honestly there is no such thing as an inexpensive wedding.  However, after researching and questioning a lot of married couples and those in the wedding industry, Bigindianwedding.com has come up with plenty of tips, which can actually save you lots of money. All the ideas presented here are based on a single premise: understanding the difference between what is really needed and what can easily be done without.

Budget and Prioritize

1. Allocate a certain amount as your wedding budget. Stick to it.
2. Do not saddle yourself with a personal loan.
3. Don’t get carried away simply because your relative had a grand wedding.
4. Discuss with your fiancé and contribute towards your own wedding.
5. Just because daddy is paying, don’t add excess to his bills.

Venue

1. Opt for getting married in community centers, wedding halls or even a friend’s farm house.
2. Bargain the use of a bridal suite for a discount.
3. Ensure that the venue is just perfect for the number of guest invited.
4. If you have no religious or family constraints, get married off-season.
5. Book your venue months in advance.
6. Celebrate more than one event in the venue, this way you can get a discount too.
7. Holding your ceremony and reception in the same venue will save you vendor services travelling time and supplies transportation (décor and catering).

Reception

1. Trim the guest list.
2. Follow the wedding with a reception, so you don’t have to cater for two separate celebrations.
3. Intimate weddings are a rage.
4. Let your guest park their own vehicles, valet parking cost more.
5. For a reception of less than a 100 people, skip the podium where you would sit. Mingle with crowd. Save cost on its décor.
6. Avoid using the baghis, palkis, horses and elephants, your own well decorated car to ferry the bride/groom is also good enough.

Décor

1. A large number of ornate centerpieces are a waste of money.
2. Make use of in-season flowers and stick to just one or two kinds of flowers.
3. Use more foliage than expensive, exotic flowers.
4. Avoid excessive lighting.
5. Ask for simple, yet elegant table and chair covers. Too many frills and laces equal to too much money.

Food and Drink

1. Hire a caterer that supplies everything you need from waiters, bartenders, plates, glassware, table cloths, napkins, table décor, cutlery, etc, and is part of package deal. 
2. Serve soft drinks, juices, wine and signature drinks rather than hard liquor.
3. A champagne toast is not needed.
4. Restrict the number of appetizers served to 4-5.
5. Set up 2-3 types of stalls of inexpensive, but hygienic street food.
6. Stick to serving dishes that everyone is familiar with. Avoid fancy and exotic menus.
7. Buffets generally cost a good deal less than individual servings.
8. Avoid serving too many types of cuisine.
9. Get a small one or two-tiered cake.
10. Adult and children have a different price rate per plate, negotiate that with the caterer.

Wedding Attire

1. Check out grandma’s wardrobe for some traditional wear.
2. Keep your eye open for discounts and sales.
3. Don’t be hesitant to visit the old markets of the city.
4. Design your own clothes.
5. Don’t horde; fashion and styles change every season.

Invitations and Favours

1. Make use of single page cards.
2. Avoid bulky ornate invites.
3. Send out more e-cards than paper cards.
4. Use the book-post facility to post the cards.
5. Buy favours in bulk.
6. One favour, one family.

Other Service Vendors

1. A small live band will also do.
2. You don’t really need dancers.
3. Pre-recorded music is great too.
4. Hire the same DJ/band for wedding and reception.
5. Get your photographer and videographer from the same studio