Seven clever ideas to save money on your wedding

If you’re getting married but don’t want to be paying off your wedding debt for years after the big event then we’ve got some great tips for you! Read on to find out how you can celebrate your wedding in style but keep the costs under control. 

The simplest way to control your marriage costs is to create a wedding budget. Figure out how much you really want to spend and then use our ideas to help you achieve your dream wedding on a beer budget. 

Your wedding venue can create a major pain in your hip pocket but not if you think outside the traditional venues. Does a friend have an awesome backyard you could use? Could you hold your wedding ceremony in the local botanical gardens? How about a sunrise or sunset wedding down at the beach or in the park? There really are loads of locations you can use to walk down the aisle and they don’t have to cost you a bean! 

It’s often one of the most expensive items you’ll have to pay for and you don’t have to look very far to find a dazzling array of dresses that will set you back $3,000 or more. That’s a heck of a lot of money for a dress that you’ll only wear for a few hours, so here’s the secret to securing yourself a cheap wedding dress: 

Second hand doesn’t mean second best - Still White is Australia’s largest pre-loved wedding dress marketplace, and with 33,000 wedding gowns to choose from, there’s bound to be something that’s almost new and perfect for you!  Just enter your size and the maximum price you’re prepared to pay and then check out what’s on offer. 

Another option is to rent a dress for your big day and this is a great idea if you really want to go a bit upmarket with the dress. Costs vary depending on the designer, but if your tastes lean towards the Vera Wang variety, it’s a much cheaper alternative than buying a dress. 

Food and drink often consumes a huge part of a wedding budget, but there are plenty of ways you can keep the costs down. There’s no need to treat everyone to a 3-course sit down meal with matching wines – try these ideas instead: 

• Reinvent the wedding cake – have a donut bar or cupcake station instead
• Check you local Asian supermarket – you’ll usually find a stack of pre-made canapés in the freezer so all you need to do is heat and serve
• Hire a couple of students on an hourly rate to top up glasses and serve canapés
• Bring in your own beer, wine and bubbly so you don’t pay marked-up prices and make sure you ask your local liquor outlet if you can get a discount for buying in bulk
• Get your close friends and family to help out with making some great finger food for you the day before the wedding (or on the day if you’re having a late afternoon wedding)
• Hire a food truck to serve some yummy low cost food to your guests
• Check your local op shop – you’ll often find cutlery, plates and glasses that you can pick up cheaper than hiring

You don’t need to spend a fortune making your wedding venue look amazing. Speaking of which – you’ll be amazed at what you can get from your local $2 shop! $100 will buy you more scented candles than you can poke a stick at – just pop those onto some tables with white table cloths and a few scattered rose petals and you’ve instantly transformed your venue. 

Everyone loves to have professional photos of their big day but there are ways to save on this expense too! Check out Eversnap – it’s been voted as Huffington Post’s number one wedding photo app and it lets you capture all of your guests’ photos and videos in one online album.  

You just sign up (prices start at US$99 for a lifetime membership) and then get your guests to download the app, using a custom code to join your album. You’ll even get 200 customised instruction cards to hand out to your guests. The app comes with 7 photo filters that can be used once a photo has been taken - to make each shot even more unique. 

You’ll end up with so many cool photos you might want to think about hiring your professional photographer for just the main event, rather than paying them to be there throughout the day.  

If you’re smart about it, you can get an amazing honeymoon that costs you nothing! Head on over to Travel Registry to create a simple registry website that you can tell your guests about in your wedding invitation. 

You get access to create an itemised, categorised honeymoon registry that includes all aspects of your honeymoon, such as accommodation nights, flight sectors, dinners, and cocktails on the beach - whatever! All your guests need to do is visit your registry website and they choose the gift they’d like to give. Once they pay for it the money is deposited into your bank account, which you can then use to buy your honeymoon. What a great concept! 

Need a helping hand? 

If your big day is looming and you’re planning a cheap wedding but still need a hand with the financial costs, we’re here to help. Take a look at our flexible mini-loans up to $5K to find out how quick and easy it is to get your hands on some extra funds. Once a loan is approved, we can usually deposit the cash into your bank account within a few hours - so you can start planning that stylish wedding on a budget right now!