So you’re planning your wedding and you have a budget. As you plan, you start to realize that it’s impossible to stick to that budget. Weddings are expensive - but let me help you find ways to cut the costs!

S T A T I O N A R Y

I know you want to plan the perfect wedding invitation, but let’s talk about those costs.

You pay a graphic designer to make Save The Dates, Invitations, and RSVP cards. They charge anywhere from $30 - $150 per design.

You pay about $80 to print all three sets for 150 guests.

You mail them out to 150 different households. The first round of Save The Dates costs $82.50 for stamps. The Invitations costs another $82.50 and you want to send them with RSVP cards that are pre-stamped for guests to return, so there’s another $82.50.

At minimum you have spent over $400 for your invitations.

Let’s cut those costs!

First off, skip the Save The Dates. I know it sounds important, but mail out your invitations earlier and you can save yourself $100 on those Save the Date cards!

Next, consider placing your RSVP choices on a free website. www.zola.com lets you create a wedding website that you can put on your invitations for guests to RSVP on!

And, here is an even crazier idea - don’t mail out a single invitation.

I know it sounds crazy, but you can have a greener and less expensive wedding by sending digital save the date and invitation cards! Here are some websites I love:
https://www.paperlesspost.com/ Options as low as $50 to mail out.
https://www.minted.com/ Free options to mail out.

All customizable and beautiful.

W E D D I N G F A V O R S

SKIP THEM!

They are frequently left behind by guests who are tired after dancing the night away at the ceremony. Instead of spending money on little potted plants or koozies or personalized mason jars, just skip it all.

Most guests would rather skip the little gift and prefer an open bar so if you are deciding between the two, go for the open bar.

R E C E P T I O N D R I N K S

You don’t want a cash bar (which your guests will appreciate) but you don’t want to spend $800 on the drinks at the reception. Fix a few things!

Maybe you are picturing the toasts and you have this vision: champagne toasts.

You want all your guests to raise a glass during the toast. I understand that. Still, if your reception has 15 tables and you buy a bottle per table - even the cheapest bottle - you are spending over $150 on the champagne toasts and you haven’t even got the glasses yet. Skip the champagne! Your guests will already have a cup of something with them and they’d probably rather toast with their beer or wine than a bottle of champagne that has sat at the table for the last two hours, warming.

Maybe you and your friends prefer fancy cocktails. Pick only a few.
You could do a full bar service, but no one at a wedding is expecting to find their new favorite cocktail - so it’s fine to decide to only serve your two favorite cocktails with a wine and beer selection. This limits the costs for things like garnishes, half-finished bottles of whiskey, or mixers. And it allows you to only open what you need! If you buy 15 bottles of wine but only open 11, great! A lot of places, including Costco, allow you to return unopened alcohol purchases.

For your beer, go with a keg. It’s less expensive per drink than cans are. Go directly to a brewery you like and ask them about their options for pony kegs. Get two small kegs with options for beer. Your friends will appreciate if you order what they like, but some of the safest options are pale ales and lagers because they’re so popular. In the PNW, IPAs are also especially popular. (They are also my favorite, so if I am going to be at your wedding, I would love it).

V E N U E

Venues are expensive. Saturdays during June, some venues go for more than 20k.

You can cut costs a lot by getting married at a park or a backyard - but you might have unexpected costs like renting chairs or tents or generators.

One of the best ways to save money on a venue is to get married in the off-season! Have a January or a November wedding. Get married on a Friday or a Sunday. Better yet, get married on a Tuesday and save yourself thousands of dollars.