The false good ideas to reduce your wedding budget!
Today I wanted to talk about budget! Ah this famous budget that pulls us in all directions. Of course you have a multitude of desires and you want everything to be perfect for your big day! But you don’t have the budget to do everything. In this article, I will give you the bad savings not to make to reduce your wedding budget! This way, you will be able to avoid making mistakes for your wedding organization. It’s quite logical to want to reduce your wedding budget at all costs to offer the maximum of things without paying the cost. I have never met a bride and groom who gave me carte blanche on the budget or their credit card for that matter.
When you start to realize the true cost of a wedding, including the caterer, the decoration, the venue, the photographer etc… It is often a shock. You don’t expect it and you tend to want to save on these big bills. Big mistake… If these expenses are high, it’s precisely because they are essential to the good progress of your big day. I propose to you to discover the 8 most common false ideas to reduce your wedding budget!
Choosing a reception venue at a very low price
Congratulations, you have found a great reception venue in the area of your wedding at an unbeatable price! But problem: you have green carpet on the walls and a cracked tile floor. The neon lighting was already not fun in college but now it’s a mess. (True story). So it’s on the room is huge in any case enough to accommodate more guests than you have. You’ll have room to dance and set the tables and you’ve saved probably 1000 euros.
Now he will still decorate this room because it is not dreamy, and there is little chance that your theme sticks with the furniture and the decoration already present. And no, the miracle solution is not to block out the decoration by opting for a “cache-misère”. Believe me, your decoration budget will largely exceed the cost of the reception venue. And on top of that, you will waste time looking for ways to dress up the whole room and to set up everything.
My advice: choose a more expensive venue that you like and that matches the atmosphere of your wedding. The decoration will only be necessary to sublimate the place and bring your personal touch.
Thinking that you’ll be fine with a playlist without a DJ
Well yes, but no. Well, maybe if you are ready to create a playlist that offers 5 to 6 hours of non-stop music! But the DJ or the music group really brings an added value to the wedding day. He is responsible for the good atmosphere and the management of the animations. On the principle, plan music that will please your guests to dance all night long, no problem but there is not only that to take into account.
Remember that the DJ comes with professional equipment included in his service: speakers, turntables, amplifiers, lights, microphones etc… His equipment is designed for this type of reception. The volume of the sound adapts to your place, he manages the transitions of musics, they adapt the plays of lights to the rhythm of the music, he helps you and your guests during the animations: speeches and games during the evening. He sets a rhythm and an atmosphere to your party to make it dynamic and fluid. Especially since the rental of equipment and installation on the day may take you a long time, a similar cost, not to mention the technical settings to be put in place.
My advice: Get a professional to take care of this very important part. Look for a service provider who looks like you and understands your needs and desires. The stereotype of the DJ who shows us the whole evening is over.
Go for the DIY or Do it yourself adventure!
Dear little creative and DIY friends, welcome! I’m kidding of course, I find DIY ultra rewarding and admirable in addition to being trendy. I am totally FOR offering homemade decor, guest gifts, invitations etc…. My only recommendation is to be careful with the famous “Oh but that we can do it ourselves I’m sure!” . Of course when we see the general cost of a wedding and in particular for the decoration and the stationery we look for alternatives to make the maximum of things ourselves.
But remember that this requires a considerable amount of preparation time. You would never think that to make a single paper casserole or origami crane would take an average of 1.5 to 2 minutes. That is almost 3 hours without stopping to make 100 of them. The time/price ratio is inevitably less advantageous. Especially since all the materials and supplies you need to make them may cost you more.
My advice: keep DIYing some of your wedding decorations, but don’t put your entire wedding decoration on it (unless you have the time of course).
Getting married at home: A bad idea to reduce your wedding budget?
The answer is yes, unfortunately. The idea of having the wedding at home or in the family house is extremely tempting because it is more convivial and the budget for the reception venue is much lower. Although not quite, getting married at home involves a lot more work than entertaining at a venue. Indeed, your house is not designed to receive many people at the same time, it almost systematically implies an outdoor reception. And who says reception outside says: Tents, marquees etc… in the garden to be planned and thus to be rented.
To this first cost you will have to add the rental of chairs, tables, tablecloths, dishes etc… It will also be important to take into account the technical details: kitchen big enough to accommodate the caterer, equipment available, refrigerators to keep the cold chain of dishes and all the drinks… A little extra point, which comes from a true story: plan to rent mobile toilets because your toilets are not used to having so much traffic during a day and it can turn into a disaster!
My advice: Forget the reception at home if you are more than 50 guests because it will cost you a lot more to rent equipment
Don’t have a plan B
But no, it’s July and there’s no risk of rain for the vin d’honneur or the outdoor ceremony. Of course, there is less risk of rain in July than in March (long live the sleet!) But be careful, the weather is clearly the most unpredictable factor in your wedding. And it would be a shame not to be able to keep the surprise of the reception hall or simply to cancel the vin d’honneur or the dinner.
I know it adds an extra cost but clearly it is essential to plan for it just in case. Some tent rental companies offer cancellation policies that refund all or part of the rental fee up to 48 hours before the event. This gives you time to analyze the weather for the coming days.
My advice: Choose a reception venue with another specific room in case of rain or a sheltered outdoor area. If you don’t have either, choose to rent tents to set up the day before or very early in the morning.
Choose fame over quality
The title may not be evocative, but you’ll soon understand. In all weddings, the bride and groom are attached to traditions and want to offer the best to their guests. Mainly concerning food and drinks. For example, I always say that it is better to have a very good crémant than a bad champagne. Even if we are very attached to champagne and the symbolism it represents, they are not all exceptional. And taking an entry-level champagne to reduce costs and your wedding budget is unlikely to delight your guests’ taste buds. It’s exactly the same for the wine, choose a good wine from the Loire Valley or a Côtes du Rhône which will cost you the same price as a bad Bordeaux or Burgundy. And yes, the prices of Bordeaux and Burgundy wines tend to be much higher for the same quality.
As for the food, use a caterer who cooks fresh products in satisfactory quantities. Forget about dishes with frozen lobster and cheap foie gras.
Ask a guest to be the photographer
I’ve heard this so many times that I’m not even surprised by the idea anymore. And I’m telling you right now it’s no, no and no. The photographer is the one responsible for your wedding memories. And what a heavy responsibility he already has! So even if you have a friend or an uncle who has a good camera and makes nice panoramas in normal time, this is completely different. It’s about taking pictures of events, capturing emotions, people in motion and it’s a real professional job.
Being a photographer is a job and beyond the professional equipment he knows exactly what and when to make the most beautiful pictures. He knows perfectly the magic moments to capture and how to frame them. Moreover the photographer is there for that and only for that. He will be able to concentrate on your wedding by taking pictures of all your guests.
He will be able to hold a beautiful quality of photos on a whole day which is very tiring. He has the appropriate equipment for all situations, even double in case of unexpected events. And last but not least, he will process the pictures after the wedding, retouching, brightness to keep only the best of the best for you.
My only advice: Take a professional photographer!
Do not take out insurance
Administrative phobic friends, welcome to this happy last part! Yes, I have a problem with insurance, I think it never covers enough. But for the price, I recommend a wedding cancellation insurance. Because we are never safe from unforeseen events and it is better to put all the chances on our side in case of a problem. The wedding insurance can be subscribed between 2 weeks and 2 days before the wedding on average.
It covers all the things that cannot be controlled by the bride and groom: resignation of a service provider, hospitalization of one of the bride and groom, unavailability of the reception venue (flood or fire), unavailability of equipment, drinks or food, impossibility to go to the wedding venue (strike, demonstration), unavailability of the photographer, etc… There are still a multitude of guarantees that are optional. On average, plan on 2% of the cost of the wedding for the cost of the insurance (between 200 and 500 euros on average)
On the other hand if you say no in front of the mayor it is sure that you will not be refunded.
I hope this article will help you to avoid making mistakes to reduce your wedding budget!
