How To Save Money On Your Wedding (Without Cutting Guests)

We all know the number one way to save money on a wedding is to reduce the guest count.

With every added guest at your wedding, your costs will inevitably go up.  At the very least, you’ll want to feed everyone, give them something to drink, and provide a space for them to enjoy your wedding, all of which can cost a lot of money.  Additionally, the costs go up with invitations, chair and flatware rentals, and favors, among many other items. 

While cutting guests from your invite list may work for some people, it just doesn’t work for others. I’d like to give you ideas and considerations that will help you save money while still being able to celebrate with all your friends and family. It’s super important to stick to your wedding budget (check out this post on how to determine your wedding budget) and keep costs low, but when your guest count is high this can be really tricky.  However, with some adjusted expectations, creativity, and focus, you can still have it all. 

It is totally possible to have a low cost wedding while still having a large guest count.  See the advice below on how: 

How To Save Money On Your Wedding (Without Cutting Guests)

SAVE MONEY BY PRIORITIZING

In order to have a large wedding on a small budget, you’ll have to decide what you need to have there and what you can do without.

To do this, make time to collaborate with your partner to create an all encompassing list of wedding needs and wants.  When you have the list, review it and see if you can determine what is actually a necessity, or can be skipped at your wedding. There may be some middle ground, here, too.  Perhaps it’s okay with you to skip a live band, seated dinner, or videographer. However, it may not fly if you have to remove music, food, or photography altogether.

List out all the items that you may want in your wedding, and start crossing off the ones you decide you don’t need. It’s important for each of you to understand what the other won’t compromise on.  If you stick with what’s important to you, your wedding will be more meaningful and theoretically everyone will have a better experience (even on a smaller budget).  Eliminating items that aren’t essential to you will save money while allowing you to spend in other areas.

In order to adhere to your budget, be very intentional about sticking to it.  Making lists with your partner and prioritizing will help you to understand trade-offs without costing a great guest experience.

To Do:

1. List out every possible item you could spend money on for your wedding
2. Work with your partner to prioritize and cut things from the list that aren’t important to you (or move them to the “maybe” pile)
3. Stick to your decisions as you move forward with wedding planning, or adjust if your budget allows

SKIP OR DOWNGRADE THINGS GUESTS DON’T CARE ABOUT

Having trouble deciding what’s important to you? Think about what’s important to your guests.

Honestly, most wedding guests are pretty reasonable people with realistic expectations. They usually want a happy couple, some food and beverages, a place to sit, a temperate climate, and perhaps some romance. They typically don’t care about favors, expensive attire, elaborate décor, fancy place settings, and programs.

Most importantly, guests will want to attend a properly executed wedding that is well thought out and has a nice flow to it.  This means that you can look at more affordable ways to supply some items, if you can’t skip them altogether.  An example would be to provide basic place settings instead of gold plated ones.  

If you focus on what your guests will appreciate, everything else will come into place. Perhaps this means you skip some items, but as long as you really plan and think about the guest experience with the items that remain, everything will come together.

To Do:

1. Look at your list of items again from your guest’s perspective and remove any that won’t enhance their experience
2. Research ways to save money by not having the “best of the best” with items that are of lower priority to your guests

TRADE SERVICES OR GOODS WITH VENDORS

This can be a huge money saver.

Do you or your partner have a skill or service and a vendor is willing to discount or trade with you?  You may have an Etsy shop, or teach something.  Or, you may be able to provide a service that is of equal value to what a vendor is providing you. For vendors like florists, photographers, or even caterers, this can really work out.

Of course, not everything is of equal value, so be sure to communicate the “quote” for your trade verses the vendor’s quote. For example, you could trade floral arrangements worth $1,000 for the exact same amount in musical instruments, or 20 musical lessons (if the regular price is $50 each). As long as the amounts are the same on both ends, this can be a fantastic way to save money. 

Don’t be afraid to ask vendors if they will work with you.  They may be very open to the idea.  

To Do:

1. Brainstorm with your partner if you have a skill that could be bartered with any possible vendors
2. Determine how much your barter is worth and reach out to vendors who may be open to a trade

SAVE MONEY BY RECRUITING HELP FROM YOUR COMMUNITY

This is where you ask your friends and family to help!

Crowdsourcing can be a great way to include your community, and often people will want to help you. This could be by providing a number of things. For example, setting up the ceremony site, creating the design for your invitations, being the Master of Ceremonies (MC), making dessert, or even letting you hold the reception in their backyard. 

I will caution you on a few items here, though. If you have friends or family who do not want to help, declining to offer or just flat out saying No, please do not hold that against them. Depending on the ask, this could be a major anxiety inducing nightmare for some people. So please respect that though this is your wedding, there are just some items that will be too much for others to do for it.

Additionally, there are just some items that maybe should be left to professionals or those with experience in the area. For example, your aunt may offer to make your wedding cake but if she’s never done this before this could be a huge risk. I suggest for items that you really truly care about, and would be devastated if they went wrong (and no judgement on what these items are), you’ll want to recruit those who know what they are doing and have done them before. Don’t let your wedding be the guinea pig if you can help it.

To Do:

1. Determine which services on your list could be provided by your community
2. Start asking friends and family if they are willing to help out by taking on a certain task or service
3. Have a back up plan for anything that a non-professional is helping with, or be realistic about it not turning out perfect

SAVE MONEY BY BORROWING FROM YOUR COMMUNITY

Asking your community for décor and other items can seriously save money.

When it comes to wedding, you really do need a lot of stuff. There are tables, chairs, decorations, clothing items, microphones, and so many other things that are specific to the wedding. When it comes to sourcing all these items, asking your community of friends and family if you can borrow before you buy or rent can be a huge cost savings.

To do this properly, you need to be super organized. When you borrow an item from a person they will definitely want it back. Create a system to track the items, the owners, how it will be delivered to your wedding, packaged up at the end, and delivered back to the right owner.  Not only will this help encourage others to lend you items, it prevents confusion after the wedding. 

To Do:

1. Determine which items on your list can be obtained second-hand
2. Reach out to your community (either friends or social media) to crowdsource items
3. Create a communication plan to obtain any items
4. Have a logistics plan to return any borrowed items to the correct owners

NEGOTIATE WITH VENDORS

It’s totally okay to search for vendors who are the best budget for you.  Just be up front about your limitations and see if they will work with you.

There are lots of ways to convince a vendor to discount their costs while still making the effort for you worth it for them. For example, you may only want their services for a small amount of time compared with other weddings. This could be the case with a photographer who normally is present at a wedding for six hours, but you are seeing if they can be at yours for less at a discounted charge.

It’s okay to let vendors know how much money you can allot to the wedding and see if that works for them.  Some vendors will not budge on their costs, but others may be willing to come down a little for a plethora of reasons.  For example, they may be free that day, the hours are less, or the venue is close to their home.

One way to get an “in” with vendors and help them be more willing to work with you is to ask for recommendations from friends and family. When you reach out, let them know they were personally recommended.  Tell them a little bit about you, your wedding, and how you hope they may be interested in working with your budget.  Be flexible if they come back with a counter offer.  Hopefully you’re able to create a deal that works for you both. 

To Do:

1. Determine the amount you are able to allot for a certain service/vendor
2. Reach out to vendors and lead with your story or reference
3. Let your potential vendors know your budget up front, see if they are able to work with it, and be flexible

OTHER EASY WAYS TO SAVE MONEY:

Timing: Get married in an off season (November – April), or avoid Saturdays altogether.

Size: Have a small ceremony and larger reception after to save money on venue fees, flowers, decoration, and set up.

Reception: Consider a cocktail party with appetizers and limited bar options, and no sit down dinner. This shorter time frame will allow you to save money on many items.

Videography: Have a younger or tech-savvy guest use an old fashioned camcorder or other good recording device to have a more rustic video of your wedding at little to no charge. 

Food: Consider a food truck to save money on catering costs. Yes, there may be long lines, and no there will not be servers taking away plates, but this is an affordable way to feed a crowd.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

As you can see, there are a multitude of ways to save money on your wedding while still inviting a large group.  You may have to be creative, plan ahead, and prioritize what is truly essential to you and your partner, but all of this is totally doable.  

More From Hummingbird Wedding Advice: 

11 Service Side Hustle Options That Will Help Fund Your Wedding

How To Have A Wedding For Less Than $5,000

How To Create A Detailed Wedding Budget

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