5 Things I Cut From My Wedding Budget

5 Things I Cut From My Wedding Budget…and no one ever noticed!

One of the first things you should do in the wedding planning process according to Contemporary Bride is to create a budget. I did just that, and since planning my wedding budget was stressful, I cut myself (and my budget) some slack!

Here are five things I eliminated altogether:

1. Wedding favors. Dry, imposter m&m’s? No thanks. A coaster with the couple’s picture on it? Ummm… A candle? I already have plenty. For my wedding, I considered several different favor options. I envisioned all of them ending up in the trashcan of each guest’s hotel room. Not to mention, with 150 guests, even spending just a few dollars per favor can add up really quickly! I decided to skip favors all together, and I’ve been to quite a few weddings recently where other brides have decided the exact same thing.

2. Appetizer course. I really wanted a sit-down dinner at my wedding rather than a buffet. However, I didn’t want dinner to take hours on end, so we nixed the appetizer course in order to save money AND time. That time is much better spent on the dance floor!

3. Wine service during dinner. Your guests can survive 1 hour without booze – especially immediately following cocktail hour. They’re busy chatting with others at their table, anyway.

4. Floral centerpieces. My jaw hit the floor when I received quotes from multiple florists of nearly $100 per floral centerpiece (we had 15 reception tables). My entire floral budget was $1,000 – and that needed to cover bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, and flowers for the cake. I chose inexpensive lanterns from Ikea as the centerpieces instead, and we even allowed the guests to take them home after the reception! They loved it! This post from Austin Wedding Blog has many creative centerpiece ideas to consider!

5. Specialty linens/overlays. White or ivory linens are included in many wedding packages, and you can often upgrade to a different material or color for a hefty fee. I went back and forth on this several times, as I thought deep purple linen would make my wedding colors stand out in the large reception room. Then I realized I didn’t want my wedding colors to stand out: I wanted my groom, wedding party, and myself to stand out! I went with white and it blended right into the reception hall. The people are the focal point of our wedding photographs, not a sea of purple linen.

Have you cut any unnecessary expenses from your budget?

-Alison Ford, contributing editor

Stay tuned for Alison’s next post, I Hate My Wedding Photographs and also 5 Personal Secrets From My Wedding Day