Bride on a Budget 👰🏼‍♀️💰

I did a lot of DIY, our budget was 5,000 and we stuck to it! So everything I made, clothes, signs, bouquets, the whole nine yards. Our DJ was actually a karaoke DJ from a local bar, so he was much cheaper but sooo good! So that saved a lot of money.

Yeah you will need to cut back. I saved as much as I could. I factored what I made per check and my portion of bills and decided so much I wanted to put aside towards wedding and honeymoon. I am a teacher so opportunities to make extra money I took it. I really decided where I would splurged but I stayed within reason for my budget for expenses. Like I splurged on our cake but within reason and did not so super expensive like I could have. Also, catch sales and discounts when you can.

So much diy and a nice outdoor venue! I’m diying so much signs, arch, florals, my dress, basically all decor, and our cake!

We ended up skipping the plate chargers and the menu at each seat. I really thought I needed them but honestly didn’t even notice it! I got our table names at Ollies for a deal! I used HomeGoods gift cards to buy frames 🖼

We just didn't do a lot of decor. Things like signs aren't really needed. Unless you have a very unique layout, most people will be able to figure out where they're going, and I would hope they know who's wedding their at lol. We had a beautiful venue with green outdoor space, so we played that up. I bought my dress as a sample, so it was much cheaper than brand new. My shoes were $35 from DSW. We negotiated pricing with our venue, DJ, and photographer. I got invitations online at Ann's Bridal Bargains during their Cyber Monday 30% off deal. Good quality and by far the cheapest invitations I found online out of all the major ones (vistaprint, zazzle, shutterfly, etc.). We skipped gifts to each other. I didn't do bridesmaids robes or any of that stuff for getting ready photos-everyone wore what they were comfortable in and I think the pictures are just as cute.

Postponing by a year has helped us save more, so I can splurge on a few things that I wouldn't have before.

-No videographer
-No bridal party (for reasons not to cut cost, but it helps)
-No flowers except my bouquet and MOH’s, only small amount of greenery -Centerpieces are thrifted candlesticks and dollar store candles-Whole sale flowers-No programs/menus -No useless favors (doing a donation to a non-profit instead, we can decide how much to give)-No ceremony decor (the place is beautiful and doesn’t need it) -Wearing heels I already have and loveI’m sure there is more but I can’t think of any else at the moment!

I borrowed things where I could! For instance I didn’t need to buy easels for signs because my friends had some I could borrow

1. We slashed out guest count down to less than 10.


2. We don't have a true venue and are getting married outside in a piblic park.
3. I'm getting flowers from wegmans

DIY’d a lot, no bridesmaids, no ringbearer/flower girl, no matron of honor, no real flowers, no DJ (i prefer my own songs on iTunes playlist) no cake, (doing cupcakes made my a friend) no huge venue, (it will be in a church or outside) morning wedding, so no dancing, wedding dress custom made under $700, decor borrowed/bought at thrift stores, and designed/printed my own programs/invites

Sit down and focus on your priorities and what you don't care about. Most couples focus on the guest experience: good reasonably priced food, beverages guests do not have to pay for, a good dj..plus good photos. Toss out the rest: favors, welcome bags, champagne, etc.


Avoid the word 'wedding' whenever possible. If you dont you will pay 100x the price with no room for negotiation.
Only invite who you and your fiance want in attendance. Parents are not getting married so do not invite people to please them you do not want.
Corporate catering is your best bet. A ton of delicious food a half the price of a wedding caterer.
Eventective.com for blank slate venues to bring in your own vendors. Most include tables and chairs without the expensive food/beverage minimums of an all inclusive.
Take a look at thumbtack.com for vendors.
Cake from a grocery store or specialty bakery. Skip the cupcakes and dessert tables which cost more due to labor.
Flowers and invites from Costco

Black Friday sales!!! Fake flowers/greenery on sale or amazon, fresh flowers from Costco or Sam’s club, my dad is making a custom wedding arch from PVC, my friend is officiating, my bridesmaid dresses are azazie maxi dresses (cost saving for bridesmaids too!), aunt is making cake as wedding gift, if you need signage make your own and put in dollar store frames but honestly 100 different signs are annoying, no save the dates, veil from etsy or amazon is a lot cheaper, my dress is off the rack, and my venue is byob so I’m buying wine on sale with mail in rebates.


My theory is: think of all the weddings I’ve been to and ask myself “do I remember what _____ looked like?” Likely the answer is no. I only remember the food, bar, and dancing so I’m investing there.

Dress from a sample sale

Up-coming filmmaker offered to do our video for a flat $1000

Fake flowers

Smaller guest list

No favors, photo booth, 'extras'

Limo only took me/family to venue, DH/BP to venue

Locked in year-of prices because we had a short engagement

Smaller cake

And, what Jessica said - if you don't remember it from other weddings, *it doesn't matter to you, and doesn't need your money*.

We did no favors, got our invitations through Walgreens, our wedding cake through a grocery store, catered from a local restaurant, and got my dress for 50% off due to black Friday

The best way to save money is to keep your guest list small.

We are skipping cocktail hour and are doing a Publix cake. Literally half the cost of what most bakers would charge. We will not have a bridal party so we don’t need to spend extra money on bouquets or boutonnieres.

- We negotiated with our vendors. For example, our church only charges a fee if decorations are used. Decorations wouldn't have enhanced the space so we got the church for free by not using any.

-We basically nixed all décor and used our reception venue's centerpieces.

-We used someone building her photo portfolio for our photographer. We also only used her for part of the day. Our ceremony started at 2 and we had her from 1:30pm- 3pm.

-We cut our guest list to under 30.

-We went with non-traditional cakes provided by our reception venue. Also our reception venue was a restaurant who has a team dedicated to weddings so we had a private room and whatnot.

-I honestly regret not getting real flowers for at least my bouquet but the fake ones we got were $30 and I made several boutonnieres and corsages out of them.

-We thrifted attire and my step mom bought my wedding dress from Wish. That was probably the biggest money saver right there but it's risky lol.

-No DJ, videographer, DOC, or wedding planner

Have a budget of 10,000. Not doing flowers outside of my bouquet and no guest favors. We are not spending money on any extras like signs, ceremony cards, seating cards, menus ect. Also got our friend to officiate, so no cost there. I made my dress, which was half the price that I would have spent if buying it. Sheet cake instead of tiered. Buffet instead of plated. It also helped we got a gorgeous golf course venue for only $900.