With the wedding coming up in August, we are saving every last penny to be able to pull off our my dream wedding 100% debt-free. The downside to being in the wedding industry is that the more weddings I shoot, the pickier I become… meaning we are in for some trouble in the financial dept. There are areas where I cannot find myself making compromises – obviously photography being one of them. And although I would love to do dozens of DIY projects, I’m want the wedding as stress-free as possible.
There are HUGE ways I’ve been saving, though. One is with my little obsession with clipping coupons and stock-piling. After I saw this youtube video, I was completely fascinated by how this woman goes into a grocery store and buys $200 worth of groceries paying only a few cents. It was impressive! But it does mean you have to throw out the way you naturally shop, buying what you want, when you want , and only buying items on sale matched with coupons. The idea here is.. if you do this for six months to a year, this will allow you to “stockpile”, and you never have to pay full price for anything at the grocery store again.
I’m the girl who’s never used a coupon in her life, mind you, but you gotta do what you gotta do when there are big bills to be paid! And who knew saving money could be so much fun! It’s turned from fascination into a hobby, that may continue long after we’re married. This past Sunday I bought 4 boxes of kelloggs cereal, 2 lunchables, 2 bandaids, 2 colgate sensitive, neosporin, a dozen eggs, reach floss, digourno 200 calorie pizza, and a tiny piece of caramel to snack on all for $7!!!
Vania was amazing for putting together a cute polka-dotted coupon binder for me for my birthday. Now I’m all organized when I go to the store.
Who knows, one day I may be able to shop like this crazy lady! Seems like I’m already on the way. Some sites I’ve been using to follow good deals are:
Other ways I’ve been saving big bucks that’s directly related to the wedding:
- Scheduling the wedding on a Friday instead of a Saturday. Sundays have lower rates, too.
- Making a single invitation with all ceremony and reception details than having them separate.
- Having a smaller bridal party.
- Forgoing the champagne toast, and toasting in whatever beverage the guests have.
- Ditching dessert and having cake only.
- Renting or borrowing a luxury sedan instead of a limo.
Some other ideas I liked that I may or may not do:
- Make a donation to charity instead of buying favors no one wants to keep.
- Make RSVP cards into postcards to save on postage
- Use potted flowering herbs or veggies/fruit for centerpieces.
- Using fresh flowers as a cake topper
Hope that gives you some great ideas for you budget brides. What are ways you’re saving for your wedding? I’ll blog more with my own research of wedding vendors and who I pick as my SUPERSTAR line-up for my wedding.
Also wanted to get an idea of who likes reading about my wedding planning process or are you here just for the wedding photography and think it’s better on a separate blog?