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Weddings are ridiculously expensive. You can always do a small wedding ceremony and have a destination wedding then a more local reception. That surprisingly cuts down on cost big time. Working extra shifts or extra jobs is sometimes necessary to make ends meet. It’s all insane and a mess. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment I'm looking for a new one atm that would help tremendously fingers crossed that I get it

Honestly, my fiancé recently got a new job where he can work overtime and save up for the next steps in our life (wedding, kids, etc.) Other than that there's nothing wrong with a longer engagement or cutting things back a little to save costs.

View Quoted Comment I'm thinking about moving to a better job that way I can save more and still eat 😅

Maybe a small elopement with a reception at a later date? This is the route we’re going with. Our elopement plans/vendors plus travel and our AirBNB amounted to $4000. Definitely more than what we would have wanted to spend on eloping but we got everything we wanted: photographer, videographer, day of coordinator, cake, rentals, florals, AirBNB on the beach, transportation, hair and makeup, catering, dress alterations, and suit rental.

View Quoted Comment Luckily the venue covered the catering the package and thats in our budget we are having a small wedding of 100 I think I stressed myself out over decorations and the smaller details too

So what we're doing is saving every week. We pay rent, so right now my FH pays for rent and I put my half into our wedding savings. I also have a separate account through Albert Savings that takes $20 from my account every week. Before each paycheck, if I can afford to put some of my checking into my savings, I do that as well.

What's also helped us is booking vendors that are new to the wedding business. A lot of times these newer businesses don't have a full idea on how much to charge for their services, so they're cheaper, and also more willing to work with you on your budget. Don't be afraid to ask for discounts! We got $1k off of our venue cost because I asked if they offered off-peak season wedding discounts. I told our florist I wanted to keep it under a certain amount, and she worked with us and respected our budget.

You can also DIY A LOT of stuff rather than buying it on Etsy or hiring a vendor. That saves a lot as well!

We set up a joint savings account and put as much as we could spare into it. I got 2 side jobs and my husband also got a second job. We also stopped going out to eat and doing anything extra like trips and going to the movies. It sucked for about a year but we saved up enough for our wedding!

Similar to Sara, above, we set up a joint savings account with a high interest rate and each month we both contribute a portion of our paycheck to that. Definitely take the long engagement to your advantage, that is what we are doing. If you're planning on 2023 and you contribute a couple hundred a month, with high interest it'll definitely build up. We also put all stimulus money and tax returns into that account. It built up surprisingly fast. We're almost at our goal and we're still over a year out. I also recommend having a financial advisor. Mine has helped assure me that I am on a good track to save for the wedding while still being able to live my life.

View Quoted Comment !!! I forgot about taxes that makes me worry less ^_^

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Yes! That helped us a TON this year! and we still have next year which is awesome! I also forgot to mention that any birthday or Christmas money is also going into this account. Basically anything extra that's not from our paycheck goes into that savings account and isn't touched until a wedding deposit or payment is due.

View Quoted Comment Perfect this helped me out alot to be less stressed

They are 1 billion ways to save money.

We are paying for 100% ourselves (our decision, both sets of parents offered to pay for 50 to 100% and we said no because 1-we can afford it ourselves; 2- because of the strings attached (we would have to invite at least 50 people that neither me nor my fiancé know, people we haven't seen in 1(or more) year(s) or other people that one/both of us dislike).

We both knew from day 1 we wouldn't spend more than $15,000 ( for 120-130 guests, guest count not final).

We are saving on flowers and decor: we're going with fake flowers except for my bouquet ,we're skipping the arch, flowers as part of the decor altogether and we'redoing non-floral centerpieces. And my groom wants a pocket square in lieu of a boutonnière.

The decor will be minimalist for both the ceremony and the reception: no flowers on the aisle or on the chair, no candles on tables, no chair covers,ribbons, etc.

We are hosting our reception in a simple (but still nice) restaurant instead of a ballroom or a banquet hall.

And we are skipping a ton of things:ceremony program, guest book,the bridal party (we don't even have a MOH,best man(or woman)), I even decided not to buy a 'real' wedding dress! I bought a simple white dress from a department store + a lace bodice and I bought a simple pair of shoes I will be able to wear again after our wedding instead of a fancy pair with pearls you only wear once. Same with my jewelry, I'm going with what I already own and I'm not buying jewelry for my big day!

I'm doing my hair and make up.

And we are doing digital invites and RSVP so we also save money on stationery.

In my mind, the only areas where you should splurge on are photography, food & drinks including dessert and DJ or band if you're having a dancing portion but you can save on everything else, including the reception venue.

View Quoted Comment Noted! Thankyou so much!

To add to some of the suggestions that have already been mentioned, consider having a Thursday or Friday wedding. My venue gave us the weekday rate for our Friday wedding (they usually charge the weekend rate for Friday) and our DJ/lighting company knocked about 10% of the rate also. I asked my venue about a discount after another venue offered us the weekday rate for the Friday date and my venue decided to extend the same offer to us. For the DJ/lighting company, I asked if they offered any discount for Friday events and they did. Neither of these vendors published or publicly offered any discounts but I think it's worth asking for those vendors where the day might make a difference due to demand.

There are a lot of things you can skip out on. You just have to figure out what is most important to you and your fiance. I am doing most of the decorations myself, cuz I'm crafty. We are skipping out on all the pre-wedding festivities, as well as not having a bridal party besides our 2 best men.

If it's an option, have the ceremony and reception in the same venue. If there is a Michael's or Joanne's nearby, sign up for their mail list and wait for sales on flowers. I've bought TONS of flowers already at 60-70% and they are all really nice. Nice votives and vases can be bought at the .99 store. Check out pinterest for super easy DIY ideas that you don't even need to be crafty for. Also if you want to save on a DJ, just make a giant playlist and ask a friend to man the speakers. Do e-vites or e-rsvps to save on invites AND POSTAGE! Find a dress style you like and try it on in person and then find something similar online for cheaper (just make sure it's a legitimate site). Skip the videographer and look for a novice photographer...someone just starting out who has a nice portfolio.

Also, I cannot stress this enough, START BUYING STUFF NOW. My wedding is in February and I started buying flowers and sourcing vendors immediately so it doesn't all pile up towards the end. The more you can spread out the cost of stuff the less overwhelming it will be.

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Can I just say...this is IMPRESSIVE. I love hearing about/getting good deals. Hats off to you for getting all that for 4k this sounds like a steal!

View Quoted Comment Thankyou!! I got lucky with combos my wedding planner also does decorations and she dropped the price down for me

View Quoted Comment It took two years of researching and not settling for the first thing I found. The dress was a gift (from a StillWhite bride) so I definitely saved on that! Besides those things, I recommend following FB wedding pages near your venue, finding vendors on Instagram, and knowing what things are most important on your wedding day. I think we bumped our budget up three separate times to allocate for a DOC, videographer, and additional rentals. Last piece of advice… don’t be afraid to use new vendors or small businesses! My DOC is amazing… and she’s new to coordinating weddings/elopements. But I’ve saw her collaborating with big vendors in our area for larger events and I knew she was knowledgeable!