Weddings are expensive! If you have recently had a wedding or just started planning I am sure you are shaking your head in agreement with me. We are wedding planners in North Carolina and we have seen a dramatic increase in wedding costs in the past year.
One way of saving money for your wedding——-Consider having a station style meal. A station Style meal means that your guest will have several different options to choose from on different stations placed around the venue. The only way station meals will work is that the venue should be set up like a cocktail party with only partial seating and the rest of the tables would be high tops, where people stand. If you are the person who wants every guest to have a seat, then this style will not work. When everyone is seated they will treat the stations like a buffet. Stations are not meant to be a buffet, they are meant to have small plates offered at different locations and during the event you can come and go as you wish. Not everyone will eat at the same time.
How does that save money? You do not have to provide seating for everyone, which means less chairs, less lines, less centerpieces. Linens can be anywhere from 12-75 dollars, chairs are 7-15 dollars if you have to rent them, centerpieces can be 50-500 dollars
Example of a food station
These might consist of heavy hors d'oeuvres, a taco bar, oyster station or more. Stations give you and your caterer the chance to really get creative with the meal and offer interesting foods to your guests rather than the chicken and green beans they might be expecting.
2. Have your wedding during the day you may want to consider having an earlier wedding. Daytime weddings can be very beautiful, but they do not have to be as formal as an evening wedding. Daytime food can be a lighter faire. You could easily serve a punch, with wine and beer opposed to having a full bar. Most likely you will not need a ten piece band, but maybe an acoustic guitarist.
Afternoon wedding
3. Consider having a smaller wedding. More guest mean more money. You have to have more space, more food, more drinks and so on. Yes there are some fixed prices no matter how large your guest list is, such as the photographer, the music… At The French Bee in the past year we have found an average catering bill to be around $100 per person. Of course some caters will be a bit less and some a bit more, but for an average that is a good estimate for North Carolina. So if you eliminate 10 people from your guest list you will be saving more than a $1000.00. Just something to think about.
4. Be a smart shopper There are a million things that can add up to being a large budget for a wedding. There are ways to be smart about going about this. Try to find a dress during a trunk show, where sometimes there is an incentive to buy that day. Possibly you could buy the sample dress off of the floor. Also if you do some research there are stores that buy discontinued dresses, or overbuys and you can find significant savings there. Also remember to shop with plenty of time before the wedding, rush orders can be quite expensive. Don’t have a champagne toast, you have to rent the special flutes and pay for the champagne for everyone to have a little and some people do not even care for champagne. Allow your guest to toast with whatever is in their hands. You can skip the late night snack as well, a late night is nice but not a 100 percent necessary. Along with the wedding favors, most people dont take one or leave it in the back of their car.
5. Save on the venue. consider asking if you choose a off main season date if they would consider lowering the cost. Even on days other than Saturdays, some venues will consider a lesser fee. some venues offer the entire weekend for rent, so that you can have all of your wedding events at the same place.
Here at The French Bee, we know how expensive weddings can be. We always try to keep our clients educated about their budget and we are always very respectful of our clients when they share their budget. We, as do our clients, want the very best wedding for the budget that they have. Please reach out to us if there is anyway we can help you with your wedding budget.