Your wedding day is meant to be one of the best days of your life, filled with love and joy. However, this joy can sometimes seem impossible to achieve when you sit down and start calculating how much your wedding is going to cost. On average, the wedding reception alone costs $13,106. That is a steep price for many Americans, especially for couples facing financial struggles during the COVID-19 crisis.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways you can trim your wedding budget and still have the day of your dreams. Let's take a look at some of the most helpful tips for keeping wedding costs down so that you can have a wonderful wedding this year.
Limit Beverage Options
Wedding guests love an open bar at their reception but this is often an investment a bit too large for the average couple. To save money on the beverage options, limit alcoholic beverages to just wine and beer. These two choices will satisfy the large majority of your guests. These drinks are also easy to buy in bulk or when they're on sale. Join mailing lists for wine shops or breweries and snap up the drinks you want when they finally go on sale. If you still want a bartender to pour, you'll have to pay them a corkage fee for the service but you can avoid buying the drinks through them, which can cost twice as much.
Opt for a Wedding Brunch or Breakfast
As we mentioned before, wedding receptions are expensive. Breakfasts, brunches, and afternoon teas are typically much more affordable. If you celebrate your marriage with a wedding brunch rather than a traditional evening reception, the event tends to be shorter and the food tends to cost less. It is also easier to limit the choice of alcoholic beverages with a breakfast or brunch early in the day, allowing you to save some money there too.
Order Two Cakes
This may sound like one of the worst tips for keeping wedding costs down, but there is a method to this madness. For the reception, order a large sheet cake and a small decorated one. The tinier cake will be the one that is like a traditional wedding cake, with fancy decorations. You'll use this one for display and the cake-cutting ceremony and you can consider this as your true "wedding cake" when you look back on pictures of your wedding day. The sheet cake, meanwhile, doesn't need to be elaborately decorated and will be what you slice up for your guests. After all, 88% of Americans marry for love and what better display of your love is there than having two cakes?
Outfit a Backyard with Simple Decorations
Many couples decide to have their wedding in their backyard or that of a family member in order to cut down on reception costs. This is a great strategy and there are plenty of ways to decorate it that won't empty your wallet. One of the best decorations for a backyard wedding is string lights. These simple lights create a casual, yet elegant atmosphere while adding instant romance. Even better, you can find them in almost any store at an affordable price. Other decoration ideas for a simple backyard wedding include colorful streamers at the ceremony, mason jars as decorative vases, and framed photos from the wedding days of your relatives.
Find a Limo Alternative
Although limousines are a traditional part of the wedding, transporting the bride and groom to and from the reception, they are pricey. (Though you can compare prices in your area at Limo Find!) It is often much more affordable for couples to use a personal car for transportation. Limousines may have been the first cars to be equipped with air conditioning, but every modern car also has air conditioning and can be outfitted with fun lights, drinks, and snacks to give the luxury feeling that a limo does. You can also decorate the outside of the car in celebration of the big day without fear of damaging an expensive limo.
By following these tips for keeping wedding costs down, you can have the magical wedding you've always dreamed at an affordable price. With that money that you save, you can go on a nice trip with your new spouse, start furnishing your home together or even put a down payment on a house. The possibilities are endless, but no matter what you do, you'll be doing it together.
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