Candles, are they worth it?

SOOOOO worth it for me, personally! I love the ambiance and our venue didn't have awesome lighting so it made it feel romantic and elevated. We rented almost all our candles from our florist though

Personally, candles have always been a must for me, so I'd say it's worth it. Do you want bigger ones or just votives? Buying/ renting in bulk could help with the cost, and your florist may be able to include them as well at a discount (that's what we're doing).

We decided to skip them and to do a very minimalist decor for both the ceremony and reception, in order to save money: we are also skipping aisle markers, bouquets,corsages,boutonnières,chair covers,fancy tablecloths/linens and other things since our wedding will have a 'causual chic' vibe and atmosphere . Had we opted for a formal or semi-formal event, we would have added the candles.
In fact, you already answered your question with
" also don't want to regret not getting them (as they can create such beautiful ambiance)". Sounds like that despite your desire to save money, your wish to have them is stronger. So go for it!

For me, they are a must. But I also need a crap ton of them, and want them to look a certain way (be a certain color) and the ones that I have found that would work are crazy expensive.

So I'm making my own. Thank you candle making kits from amazon!

Candles are cheaper than flowers- we're saving a ton of money on our florist by going heavy on candles and greenery and lighter on flowers.

100% worth it in my opinion! We got great post-holiday discounts at Michael's in January. Depending on your wedding colors, keep you eyes open just following the major holidays those colors are associated with.

I didn’t find candles expensive. I did think they were necessary. Try looking at quick candles.com or yummicandles.com

One cheap way to incorporate candles is to use tea candles. I haven’t gotten married yet, but this is what I’m doing for my wedding next month. I thrifted all the crystal goblets from goodwill for $10 and ordered a 50 count bag of tea light candles off Amazon for $15. It’s really beautiful the way the light flickers through the glasses and makes patterns dance on the tables!

I didn’t do flowers, so the main part of our centerpieces were candles. I found votive candles on clearance at Dollar General and did candle holders from Dollar tree. I also got larger candle holders from Ross. I just used the votives in those. They didn’t need a bigger candle. I probably spent around $75 on candles (for 11 tables and 4 cocktail tables) and I was able to resell the small candle holders to another bride to be after the wedding.

I think candles go with any theme, and are universally romantic. Make sure to check your venue's policy, though. Mine doesn't allow open flames, so we have to get vases/etc. for everything. totally doable, but important to account for before you make the decision.

I think they add so much to the ambiance...we want a romantic feel and we find candles to be really romantic. We found a 100 pack of tea light candles at Ikea for just a few bucks. We just need candle holders and will either look on facebook marketplace or buy off Amazon. Good luck!

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. Since I will be DIY'ing my own flowers I did not have the option of going to my florist to rent the candles. My vision was to have tapered candles (which tends to be on the more expensive side in comparison to voltives or other candles especially since my venue does not allow open flames and needed the glass cylinders).

I ended up buying the candles from yummicandles.com, they have a 44% - 50% sale going on!

Candles are a must have. I DIY the votive candle holders by using yogurt jars. The yogurt is only $1.49 each, it’s healthy and you can keep the jars. The florist quote me $5 each. So expensive!! For pillar candle & taper candle, you can go to the website named Yummy candle. Buying is cheaper than renting from the florist. They usually charge $15 each.