3 Tips for Getting Married on a Budget
Nowadays it seems like in order for you to tie the knot, you have to shell out a ton of money in order to tell the world — your invited guests, that is — that you are spending the rest of your life with the person you are marrying.
While I’m not totally against throwing a grand celebration to celebrate a marriage, not all of us can afford it. The average wedding in the US costs around $30,000. That’s enough to pay off a huge amount of your student loans. Plus, wouldn’t you rather spend all that dough on your honeymoon instead?
If you want to spend less on your wedding, the most important thing you have to do is set a budget and stick to it. With that being said, here are a few aspects of a wedding where you can consider being a bit more frugal.
Rings
Wedding rings can be nice and sparkly without being exorbitantly expensive. Unless you’re a celebrity or royalty, you don’t really need to go all out on the symbol of your union.
This is especially true for an engagement ring too. While the diamond and wedding industry may want you to think that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, most women nowadays prefer a solid, stable relationship to a gaudy, reflective, and very costly gem.
Halo engagement rings are a great option for you to have that sparkle you still want, but at a lower cost. Search the internet to see more designs — there are many beautiful rings out there that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
Event Coverage
Paying for a wedding photographer or videographer to cover the entire occasion can easily take up a huge portion of your wedding budget. Plus, they’ll have to constantly compete with your wedding guests who may be snapping away with their smartphones to commemorate your union. This makes their shots and footage less than desirable.
So why not make use of your guests’ photos and videos instead? With Eversnap, you can use your guests’ pictures to help you cut down on the cost of hiring a photographer for the entire day. Eversnap allows your guests to upload their shots from the event to a custom-made site for you. If you’ve got any friends with a good eye for photography, this is quite possibly the best alternative to paying a huge amount for a photographer.
Food
Apart from the moment you and your partner say your vows, food will be the second thing that your guests will remember. Traditional weddings often call for a wedding to be catered, with a multiple course meal to be served to guests.
In an ideal world, a five-course meal would be very affordable. But until that day comes, you may have to think of other options without resorting to pre-packaged meals or bad food. You can still have gourmet food without the gourmet price. Gourmet food trucks in San Diego are more than willing to provide the food for your wedding reception, that is if you’re not entirely averse to eschewing traditional wedding setups.
