Planning a wedding reception is both exciting and challenging at the same time. It is a special day and you want everything to be perfect, but there are a lot of things that you need to do in order to make your dream wedding a reality.
A wedding reception is even more difficult to plan when you have specific requirements. If you want a small, intimate wedding, for example, you will have a tough time going through your list of guests and choosing the ones to invite.
There is also the issue of budgeting for the wedding. Dream weddings don’t always have to be expensive. You just have to know when to splurge and when to save, and these next few tips will help you do just that without the hassle.
Make a Checklist
Budgeting is difficult when you don’t have all of the expenses mapped out, so the first thing you want to do is create a wedding checklist. You can either borrow a template from online wedding sites or create your own based on the kind of wedding you want to have.
A wedding checklist lets you do two things – prioritise wedding components and set a budget for each of them. The latter is what you want to focus on if you want to keep the wedding reception affordable, especially if you know you don’t want to spend too much money on the occasion.
Use Your Credit Card
Credit cards have reward programs and loyalty points that you can collect. They also come with deals and special offers, including cashback and exclusive discounts. Knowing which credit cards to use – and how to use them – is a fantastic way to save on your wedding.
It is also a good idea to improve your credit and apply for a reward card if it offers better deals. Just make sure you repay your credit card bills on time so that you don’t end up paying more on interest and other charges.
Book Early
Booking early is another great way to save on your wedding. If you are looking for a Jewish wedding band for hire, for instance, you can secure top names like Jam Hot for your special day by booking early. Jam Hot lets you get quotes directly from their website too.
As a leading Jewish wedding band, they offer stunning performances at great rates. Even so, you can secure the date and ask for a better quote – based on your specific requirements – in order to save more money in the process.
Do It Yourself
Some wedding preparations are easy enough to do yourself. You also have the option to enlist the help of close friends and relatives. Things such as arranging flowers, wrapping gifts for guests, and preparing the wedding invitations are perfect DIY projects too.
Turning certain wedding preparations into DIY projects to complete with the help of close friends is a great way to save on wedding expenses. You just need to know when to save and when to splurge depending on the tasks you have to complete.
Go Digital
Another thing you definitely want to try if you are trying to save on your wedding reception is digital invitations. You can create a wedding site for virtually nothing, and once the site is up, you can send the electronic invites and have guests RSVP on the website.
Going digital is something that you can do with other wedding components. Rather than printing out wedding photos for guests to take home, upload photos from the reception to the cloud. Instead of a physical thank-you postcard, send e-cards to your bridesmaids and special guests.
Shop Off-Season
Similar to booking early, shopping for certain items that you need for the wedding is also something that you want to do early, preferably when the items are not in season. Shopping off-season will land you stunning deals and big discounts, which definitely reduce your wedding expense significantly.
For select items like wedding dresses, there are seasonal promotional offers that you can pursue. Subscribe to newsletters from boutiques and retailers, and you will also be able to benefit from exclusive offers that are available to subscribers only.
Take Advantage of Samples
Bad purchases and unnecessary expenses are your biggest enemies when you are trying to keep your wedding reception affordable. Fortunately, these are enemies that you can easily defeat. The secret to defeating them? Samples!
Whenever you are choosing items such as makeup or accessories for the wedding, search for samples. There are many ways you can get samples delivered to you; most of the time, you just have to ask the retailer. After trying the samples, you don’t have to worry about making bad purchases.
Get Recommendations
The same is true with wedding services; avoiding hiring the wrong service providers is a great way to avoid unnecessary expenses. While there are plenty of online resource centres to help you find the right service providers for your wedding, recommendations from friends and relatives are invaluable.
Recommended service providers tend to be more reliable, plus you can get a clearer picture of what to expect from reliable sources. Online reviews and testimonials from past brides are also easy to find these days. Read them before finalising your decision.
Seek Alternatives
You want your dream wedding to be perfect, but perfection doesn’t always come with an affordable price tag. Sometimes, you have to make compromises to keep the wedding reception affordable. For example, switching from fresh flowers to mixed arrangements can save you a lot.
Alternatives are also available for other wedding components. The key here is knowing which elements to replace with more affordable alternatives. A good example is replacing expensive wine with affordable bottles that taste equally delicious.
Borrow and Rent
Last, but certainly not least, consider renting or borrowing some of the things you need to save even more money. You don’t have to buy everything for the wedding reception, especially if you are on a tight budget.
With these 10 tips, keeping your wedding reception in budget will not be difficult at all. Do you have any other money-saving tips?
