Last year I wrote a fun post for Cat at Budget Blonde called “I Don’t Have A Boyfriend, but I’m Planning My Wedding” basically imagining my future wedding. Now, at that time…and ahem-now, I didn’t (and don’t) have a boyfriend but I am so glad that I spent some time imagining my future wedding. Because my taste is expensive. Dang.
In fact, my future imagined wedding was very close to the national average. What is the national average? It’s around $30,000 according to a money.com article from last year. In fact, I looked at several articles to make sure that my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Yep, that amount is correct.
So, I thought it would be fun to reimagine my future wedding so that it’s just as beautiful and a heck of a lot cheaper!
Here’s what I decided to do:
- Changed My Theme-God I love French Country Chic but everyone in Colorado seems to love it too so the freaking barns have gotten super expensive to rent. I’ve changed my theme to something else …but I’m not going to say what it is 🙂 It’s super simple.
- Hosting Friends and Family-I still would like to pay for a portion of housing for my overseas guests. My plan is to use my and the future hubby’s mileage points to help pay for hotel rooms OR rent a house and pay for 1/2 and then have them pay the other half. I haven’t figured out the best approach. I won’t pay for the whole cost.
- No Professional Photographer-Work with someone who needs to add to their professional portfolio. People are really good at taking pictures these days! So, I will just ask people to share their photos with me and designate my friends who are really good photographers as the “designated” memory makers.
- Transportation-Figure out some way to cut out the transportation costs. I will probably incorporate the light rail if I’m getting married in Denver. Seriously. So, no rented bus.
- Honeymoon-Use frequent flyer points. Hadn’t even thought about that as a possibility when I made my first future wedding budget.
- AirBnB (Honeymoon)-Hopefully I will have earned some money from my AirBnB affiliate link! Would you like to use AirBnB and save money on your first stay? Click my link HERE and also read my tips on how to use AirBnB Safely. *please note, I may receive compensation if you purchase something using my affiliate link**
- Food and Drink-I can’t cut those two items. Nope, not going to happen. I will still have an open bar and really good food. But I will do the next thing
- Cut The Number of Guests-At this point I am not wanting a huge number of guests. I just want around 30-50 people and that’s more than enough. I used to plan events and up to 50 people was always a nice number.
I am really glad that I spent some time thinking about what I wanted for my future wedding before it was even a glimmer in my eye. I think it was an important exercise in figuring out what was truly important for me to have on that day and what I didn’t really care about. I was a bit surprised and feel empowered as I move forward in my personal life.
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I want to echo the thing about the photographer. We hired a photojournalist who charged us $400. He did not provide prints, just his services. We were able to get the prints for a steal and hubs is a Photoshop expert, so he did some really creative things with it. The photos are OUTSTANDING and I loved that the man wasn’t ordering me to stop and stand here or go there. He just captured the memories.
I’ve been getting 2 different views on the photographer! So now I’m torn LOL! But, I loved seeing that there were places that I could make substantial cuts to my wedding budget and still have a nice wedding.
Awww this is super sweet! I would recommend professional photographers though. That is something you do not want your friends to mess up! But other than that anything is game!
I actually received that advice from several people so I will probably change that and work with a young lady that I know who is a professional photographer. I’ve known her for years so I know that she will do a fantastic job.
Although I don’t care or want any kind of big wedding (perfectly happy eloping to Hawaii), the wedding photographer is the one area I would spend money. I think I would be nervous putting my memories in an amateur’s hands. lol! But it’s fun to see how we all differ in what we want from our weddings. 🙂
I think eloping to Hawaii is a fantastic idea! You’re not the only who brought up the photographer concern. So, I might rethink that one 🙂
I had a surprise wedding. We’d been together for a while and already had our daughter so we organised her christening and slipped in the wedding ceremony immediately after. I was much happier with that solution because I didn’t want a ‘wedding’ but wanted family and friends there to see it happen. No one knew it was happening except our witnesses and the minister.
We ‘hired’ the local hall for nothing. Catered ourselves, provided plenty of refreshments and I wore an outfit I already owned. Casual and relaxed and cost a total of around $1000 (1996).
I’d do the same again, if I ever chose to marry again.
You can make your wedding day whatever you want but it’s sensible to keep the costs within your own budget.
Your post is also a great reminder to revisit your dreams because sometimes dreams change as you do.
How awesome! I think your friends and family were so shocked (in a good way). I think that I was surprised at what I was willing to forgo. I was unwilling to cut food and drink but completely happy with changing my theme (and I really loved my theme) Part of the problem is-I want to have a proper wedding AND I’m an only child. I love that you found such a great solution.
Love this! I’m not engaged yet, but I still fantasize about my wedding and create budgets. I’d like to keep my expenses very low but we’d still invite 75-100 people. I want to provide dinner for guests so catering and the venue will probably be the most expensive. I’m more focused on being happy with the style of my dress as opposed to the brand or designer, plus it’s probably something I’ll only wear once so I don’t want to spend too much on a dress. How we will fund the honeymoon is a mystery to me so far but I like your frequent flier idea and I’ll definitely have to check out AirBnB when the time comes.
I am very particular about food because I’ve been to weddings were I left hungry 🙁 I don’t want that to be my wedding LOL! I agree with you regarding the style of the dress vs. designer. I’ve actually picked the absolute maximum that I am allowed to spend and my new theme will allow me a lot of flexibility re: the dress. I want to go to Spain/Portugal/ and Morrocco. Or, Tanzania.
I found some student photographers for STUPID cheap and I love their work! Saving on photography is such a great way to save on the wedding overall!
I think it’s a great alternative to a professional. I used to have a student assistant (who is now a professional photographer) who built up her portfolio that way.