Top 5 Ways To Plan A Cheap Wedding

April to September is the high time for hitching, and venues charge accordingly. Plan your day off-season. Most places deeply discount winter weddings–and are sometimes decorated for the holidays so you can save on your day and decor. Plan it during a holiday week, on a Thursday or Sunday, and save even more.

You don’t need flowers as much as you need a floral aura at your wedding. Gone are the days where mandatory rose centerpieces grace every table and bouquet. Fresh flowers are a huge expense; cutting back, or cutting them out completely, can help make your wedding more affordable. There are a number of cheaper alternatives to flowers.

If your nuptials are secular, ask a special friend or family member to marry you. Anyone can be legally ordained, online, for free by the Universal Life Church. A professional wedding officiant can cost up to $600. Your best friend will probably do it for a bottle of wine (that you’ll drink half of!).

Food is huge at a wedding, in character and in cost. Catering is typically the single most expensive bill for most weddings, but it doesn’t have to sink your budget. The traditional sit-down, chicken, fish, or beef is no longer the norm. More and more couples stray from served entrees and instead choose creative, and often less expensive, options.

We saved the most important cheap wedding tip for last. If thrifty is your theme, then you’re likely less attached to a fancy venue, sit-down dinner or blow-up guitars and glow sticks in order to save a few bucks. But even the high priestess of penny pinching can be knocked off budget when it comes to her wedding dress. An inexpensive wedding dress doesn’t have to be a reject from the backroom. Gorgeous gowns can be affordable.