5 Ways to Save Money While Planning a Wedding

Hello everyone! We're in Mexico enjoying breakfast on the beach. I'm looking forward to sharing more photos of our trip. It's truly paradise. I'll be posting more photos on Instagram! 

In the last eleven months I've learned a few ways to save money while having the wedding of my dreams. Here are five ways to save money while planning your wedding. 

1.       Prioritize - what are the five “must haves” for your wedding? Write them down and talk to your family and your fiancé about these “must haves”. What can you really live without? For example, my dress, the photographer, food, location and bride transportation were important to me. My flowers, veil, wedding favors, invitations and wedding parties were not top priority for me or my fiancé. Throughout the planning, we made the decision to save on certain parts of the wedding, which got us to stay within our budget. Which moves me on to my next subject…

2.       Set Budget & Stick To It- as a bride, we can get overly zealous about wedding planning and wanting everything is perfect, while our fiancé is more realistic about spending and saving. In most cases, allocating a budget, even with a little cushion will allow you to have a beautiful wedding. Plus, this will show your fiancé that you’re good with money!

3.       Create a Direct Deposit- create a joint account between you and your fiancé. Both agree to a set amount to allocate every paycheck. Mark the debit cards with WEDDING and only use the money in the account for wedding related expense. You will be surprised how quickly money accumulates!

4.       DIY Parts of Your Wedding- can you make your own ceremony programs and name cards and save $200? Probably. I was brave and decided to do my own flowers, which saved us thousands of dollars! That money that I would have use for flowers, I can now redecorate my kitchen…without the guilt.

5.       Sell Old to Buy New - I’m a huge advocate on selling things in your closet to buy something new. By selling old bags, shoes, skirts and shirts I was able to buy the designer shoes for my wedding and dresses for our wedding weekend.