How to Plan a Wedding for Under $5k
- Leigh-Anne Clabby
- Jul 17, 2019
- 12 min read
I know what you're thinking - $5,000 still seems like a lot of money! It is... but it's a heck of a lot less than the average cost of a wedding these days in the U.S., which is over $35,000. I'll give you a minute to recover from that shock. We good? Alright, let's move right along.
You might think that you need to spend on par with the rest of the country in order to have a beautiful and memorable wedding, but I am here to tell you that you DON'T! I planned my own wedding and managed to keep it around $3,000 total. Now in retrospect, I probably would've gone with at least a day-of coordinator to manage everything that day so that I wasn't the one everyone was coming to with questions, but hindsight is 20/20. Anyway, without further ado, here are some of the ways we saved money on our big day (there are a lot!).
1) Fake flowers - Some people don't like fake flowers, and I can see why. Nothing compares to real, fresh flowers... but they also can be very expensive and fragile. You have to make sure they don't wilt, which can be difficult if you're having an outdoor wedding in Texas. Fake flowers, on the other hand, can be purchased months ahead of time without worrying about wilting, they don't need water or refrigeration, they can be cheaper. Some fake flowers look... pretty obviously fake, so it's better to avoid those. Silk flowers can be pretty expensive if you get really good ones, but it's up to you how fancy you want to get with them.
We got our flowers from a Garden Ridge store that was going out of business, so all the flowers were significantly discounted, and they looked realistic enough that people commented about how they didn't realize that they were fake until we mentioned it. I was able to get a bunch of different flowers to play around with for my bouquet, and just enough clusters of blue and purple flowers to act as bouquets for my bridesmaids (and I had a lot of bridesmaids). We also reused some of the flowers and some of the leaves to make the centerpieces, so that saved money as well.
2) DIY decorations - As mentioned in the previous paragraph, I used some of the flowers we bought to make the centerpieces. I also got a bunch of mason jars, votive candles, and shiny stones (like decorative fish tank rocks) from a bridal consignment store and some ribbon from Michael's, all of which I turned into decorative vases with floating candles. The mason jars were great because we hot-glued the ribbon around the outside of it, but didn't glue that little plate that covers the center. This way, we were able to put the stones and candles in their jars with the lids on to keep from spilling during transport, then when people were setting up the tables for the reception, they just took out the plate from the lid, filled the jars with water, and lit the candles. They made simple, yet pretty centerpieces with big leaves sitting underneath them, and they probably cost less than $5 per centerpiece (totally spit-balling that number because I don't remember how much each item cost... it's been 4 years, give me a break).
We also purchased some pretty inexpensive tulle and fake flowers to decorate the aisle and the tree we stood under for our ceremony. We kept the decorations pretty simple, partly to save money and partly to save labor because I wasn't able to help out with decorating and tearing down, and I didn't want to leave a ton of stuff for friends and family to clean up and have to transport to someone's home.
*Note - Don't assume that your friends and family will help you with set-up and tear-down. Please ask them if they'd be okay with it first (and it's not a bad idea to have assignments so each person knows what they're doing. That will make the process much quicker and smoother).
3) Thrifty wardrobe (for us and bridal party) - You guys, my wedding dress wasn't even technically a wedding dress. It was a dress I bought from a yard sale, and the lady told me it had been her 8th grade graduation dress! But it was only $50, which is so much cheaper than a lot of the wedding dresses out there, averaging around $1,000. It was a plain, white strapless dress, so I ended up making a waist sash to go with it. I got the idea from one that I had seen on Etsy for $83, but I made one myself that I think actually looked better, and it only cost about $12! I got a petticoat from aforementioned bridal consignment store so the dress would look a little poofier. I think my dress with the accessories cost about $85, which is still an amazing price compared to what most wedding dresses cost, not to mention the cost of alterations (thankfully my dress fit perfectly, so I didn't need to get any alterations done, but I do think I had it professionally cleaned. I'm not sure how much that cost, as my now-mother-in-law covered it). I wore some flower sandals that I already owned. They didn't look amazing, but I figured my dress was floor-length, so no one would see the shoes anyway. I also wore jewelry that I already owned, included a pearl necklace and matching earrings that my deceased grandmother had given me when I was a baby.
My in-laws bought a nice suit for my husband (not a tuxedo, that way he could use it more in the future for business meetings and such). We found a fairly cheap tie and vest for him on Amazon, and he wore dress shoes that he already had. The vest honestly wasn't a great material (100% polyester, I believe), so it didn't feel very nice, but it looked nice... and isn't that all that matters?
We wanted to keep things pretty cheap for the bridal party because we knew at least a few of the members were on a tight budget. I also wanted to pick a bridesmaids' dress that they would actually like wearing and would possibly wear again in the future. We found tie & vests sets on Amazon and got blue for the groomsmen, deep purple for the best man, and silver for my husband. They were about $18 per set, if I remember correctly. We didn't have them wear tuxedos or suits, just black dress shirts and black slacks, and they wore black dress shoes as well. We tried to pick what people might already have so they didn't have to buy a bunch of clothing items, but honestly, I don't know how many of the items each person ended up buying.
With the bridesmaids, I found a lavender 50s style dress with tiny white polka dots. It was really cute, and dressy, but casual enough that people could wear it again for a variety of occasions. Everyone commented about how much they liked their dresses, and my sister even reused hers for a "Decades Day" at her school the next school year. I found the maid of honor's dress somewhere online for maybe $30, and it was gorgeous! I picked out what type of sandals I wanted them to wear, but didn't make them all get one specific brand. I just told them to find something similar because I didn't care if they matched exactly, and I knew some people already had a pair of sandals that would work. I think their dresses cost about $20 each, and I found them on Google. They came from China, so they took a while to get here, but they were so inexpensive that I didn't mind. I just had to make sure to order them way ahead of time!
4) Had friends do... a lot - I had a pair of sisters I was friends with volunteer to do hair and makeup for me and my bridesmaids. We didn't have a set style for the bridesmaids or set makeup, so my friends just did some quick styles for each of them and let them take care of their own makeup unless they wanted someone to do it for them. My friends did my hair and complete makeup (which I kept pretty simple because I rarely even wear makeup). That saved us a couple hundred dollars, and I got to bond with some friends at the same time!
One of the bridesmaid was a childhood best friend who I had known since I was 5 years old. We had her brother play the ceremony music for us since he could sing and play guitar. It was beautiful, though I would recommend timing your walk down the aisle with the music so the musician knows when to fade out... unlike my friend who just abruptly stopped mid-line because we had made it to the end of the aisle. It did make for a funny memory though, I will say that!
We also had a friend and my sister-in-law sing when the ceremony was over and we were walking back up the aisle. For our reception, we made a Spotify list and did have someone there to man the equipment, so that part wasn't free, but it was fairly cheap. Basically all our music was free for ceremony and reception, we just had to pay someone from the church who knew how to set up and run all the equipment, but he was much cheaper than a DJ.
We also had asked several friends and family members who were not in the bridal party to help with set-up and tear-down. I chose one friend to be the "point person" that everyone could go to with questions about where things went, and I just made sure that she knew the answers. To give you an idea of how organized I was with this - I made a 20-page packet for her (and an extra, just in case), complete with photos of each of the decorations and where they were to be set up, and a guide of how the food and tables were to be set up. I heard that it was really helpful, and everyone knew exactly where everything went. I figured I would have as much detail in the packet as possible since I wouldn't be there to supervise or answer questions, and after that, I just had to trust them to make it all look good. And it looked amazing!
We also had a family friend do our photography, and my sister-in-law helped him out with the post-wedding photos of just me and my husband. He was a professional photographer, but since he was an old friend, he gave us a really good deal. His photos were amazing, and while the post-wedding photos were different from the style I had been picturing (we got to the photo shoot location close to sunset, so the photos were darker than most wedding photos are), we still loved them! We also used my nice camera and my dad's to record the toasts and first dances, so we didn't have to pay a videographer.
5) Buffet-style meal - Buffet-style in general is much cheaper than a three- or four-course meal, which can get pretty pricey (average $71 per person). It cuts way down on the amount of labor needed, and therefore the costs of servers. It also allows people to better choose their portion sizes, and it's easier to offer a larger variety of food, making it more likely that everyone will be able to find something they like. It does take longer for people to get their food, which is a downside. It also might not work if you're wanting to do a very formal reception, since buffets tend to be more casual, but it's completely up to you.
We had family friends offer to make lasagna for our reception dinner as their wedding gift to us. I wouldn't necessarily ask someone to do this because I can only imagine how much work it was to make lasagna from scratch for 100+ people, but it definitely saved us a ton of money because we only had to pay for sides to go along with the main part of the meal. We got fruit and veggie trays from Sam's Club (it's cheaper to get your own fruits and veggies and cut them up yourself, but it's up to you whether you want to put in all that time and effort or whether you think it's worth it to pay a little extra to have it done for you). We got juice concentrate and Country Time lemonade mix for the drinks, as well as water. That made the drinks pretty simple, and kept the costs really low.
One thing that we didn't do that would also save a lot of money would be forgoing the giant, fancy wedding cake (which can costs hundreds of dollars), and just doing a small cake for pictures of you cutting the cake, and having a dessert table. Not everyone likes cake (shocker, I know), so if you offer a variety of desserts, it will appeal to more people, and can be way cheaper than a traditional cake. We did have several pies since we got married on Pi Day (yes, we are that nerdy), and a chocolate fountain with graham crackers, marshmallows, strawberries, and pineapple. If you wanted a cake to serve everyone, you could do a sheet cake from a grocery store, and also offer things like pies, cookies, brownies, etc. These can be homemade or you could get some store-bought ones. As long as you put them on nice-looking dishes, ain't nobody gonna judge you.
6) Didn't serve alcohol - Our venue did not allow alcohol of any kind, which made it easy, but I also didn't want to serve alcohol anyway because it can get expensive and I didn't feel like dealing with any drunk people. As far as I know, no one complained about it being a dry wedding (and if they did, it's too late to tell me now!). We served a small variety of nonalcoholic drinks, and used sparkling cider for the toasts, which is way cheaper than champagne, and tastes a lot better in my opinion.
If you want to serve alcohol but still want to save money, you could always limit it to beer and wine, and not do any hard liquors. Or you could serve 2-3 signature drinks that people could choose from, and you'd only have to buy the alcohol needed for those.
7) Used own transportation - One easy money-saver is using your own transportation, or borrowing a nice car from a friend, rather than renting a limousine. Limos can be expensive, especially if you're getting married on the weekend, and you might be required to get temporary insurance on it, and that can add up. Some people might really want to pull up in front of their venue, already dressed and ready, and looking extra fancy in a limo or carriage or whatnot, but it really isn't necessary, especially if you're going to be getting ready on-site. Saving the couple hundred dollars and just take your own car (and maybe your bridal party will surprise you by decorating your car during the reception. Ours did!).
8) Had ceremony and reception at same location - Booking the ceremony at one venue and the reception at another often ends up costing much more than doing it all in one place. Sometimes venues will give you a discounted rate if you book both with them. If you have them in separate venues, you have to factor in the cost of transportation to get from one to the other and the cost of chair (and other item) rentals in each place, which can make a big difference. By booking them at the same venue, you can cut down on the number of chairs you need to rent (just have each guest carry their chair from the ceremony to their spot at the reception tables). It will also cut out a lot of time in between the ceremony and reception because you won't have to travel anywhere. This is great because if you keep the guests waiting for too long before the reception actually starts, you'll just end up with a room full of hangry people, and no one wants that.
We had our wedding at our church, and did the ceremony outside in the courtyard and the reception in the community hall. They also had a big room that we could use for the ceremony if it were to rain, which thankfully it didn't.
9) Made a deal with the venue - Since we got married at our church where were were members and my mother-in-law was (very) actively involved, they gave us a great deal on the venue. They normally charged a lot more than they did with us, but my mother-in-law was able to negotiate them down so that we didn't have to pay anyone for set-up and tear-down because we said we'd take care of that ourselves. This cut down on the cost a lot because they didn't have to have anyone on-site except the "wedding coordinator" who was more for supervision than helping with the wedding details.
So look for places you have a connection with, and they may be more willing to work with you on price than they would with a stranger. Or find a fairly new venue because they might be charging less at the time since they're just trying to get their name out there. If you're in the Kyle/Wimberley area, The Ivory Oak is just such a place. I toured that venue recently, and it is gorgeous and so reasonably priced! I was surprised when they told me the price because they had so much included in their packages that I was expecting it to cost a lot more. But they've only been around for about a year, so they're just trying to get people to book with them right now, and once they're more established, they'll probably raise the price.
**BONUS** Used AirBnB for honeymoon - You don't necessarily need to stay in a fancy, expensive hotel or resort for your honeymoon. We found a small beach cottage on AirBnB and rented out the whole thing in a town a couple hours away from us. By staying close by, and finding a bargain on accommodations, we were able to save a lot of money on the trip. We drove there, which is cheaper (and much less complicated) than flying, and we tried not to spend too much on meals while we were there. I think our trip cost less than $300 total, but it was still really fun and relaxing. We got to go to a couple different beaches, explore the town, try new restaurants, and just be together, all without spending a ton of money.
So, if you're planning out your wedding, and getting intimidated by how much everything seems to cost, just take a breath and remember that there are ways to save money without compromising the beauty of your big day. Also, it may seem counter-productive, but paying for a wedding planner can actually help you save money overall because they know what to look for and how to keep things inexpensive. Check out the different packages available with Bride to Bee, and I'll help you create the wedding of your dreams without breaking the bank!
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