Most brides, unless they are on Platinum Weddings, are looking to cut costs when it comes to the big day. I was under a strict budget, and in order to have some things that I really wanted, the most economical way to obtain them was to do them myself. Here are some of the ways I saved on the big day. Granted, these things do take some time and planning, a bit of computer literacy, and it always helps if you enjoy doing these sort of…crafty…things. In the end, I ended up saving a lot, and everything turned out great.
Make Your Own Program Book
It’s crazy how much stationary places will charge for program books. We saved on these by buying a program book kit from Michael’s, an arts and crafts store. The kit came with the binding, ribbon, and pages. All we had to do was download a template, fill in the text that we wanted, print out the pages, and assemble the program books. That’s all? Haha, it did take a couple of hours to do, but they came out looking very professional, and guests were surprised to hear we made them ourselves.
Our total cost: $47.99 for 80 programs; the kit was originally $39.99 for 40, but we had 40% off coupons
Compare to: $3+ per program book at most wedding stationary boutiques
Make Your Own Menu Cards
My mom refused to pay the ridiculous cost of premade menu cards (I can’t blame her), so that meant I had to make my own. For these, we went to a local scrapbook store (the Paper Niche) and bought heavy cardstock paper that was similiar to our invitation. I made the menu cards in Microsoft Word and set the document to make four per page, then we printed them out and cut them into fours.
Our total cost: $16
Compare to: $3 or more per menu card
Make Your Own Place Cards
I did some browsing around for place card ideas and loved the way the votive candles looked. There were a few Etsy sellers offering to do this for us, but since we had to wait till our seating chart was finalized, we figured it would be too complicated and too expensive. Instead, we purchased votive candles and holders from Quick Candles and bought clear address labels from an office supply store. These came out great, and we placed them on a table with our parents’ and grandparents’ wedding photos.
Our total cost: Labels: $11; Candles and holders: $108.98, which comes to a little less than $1 per place card
Compare to: $3.50 per place card
And One Last Tip…
Save on your bridal accessories by shopping at a bridal consignment boutique. You can check out my previous post here about how I saved money on my veil. Most brides only wear their veils for a couple of minutes, so finding a like-new used veil for a fraction of the retail price wasn’t that difficult. Make sure to bring a swatch of your dress fabric so that you can match the color. The alterations that I had to the veil cost extra, but I still ended up paying less than if I had bought a brand-new one. The lady who altered my dress shortened the veil to match the length of my gown and also made the longer portion of the veil detachable so that I could take it off after the pictures and ceremony and leave the shorter veil on for the reception.
Our total cost: $120 for veil, $60 for alterations
Compare to: $250 or more
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This post is GREAT! I LOVED your programs (mostly because I made the cut to be in it :)) and menu cards. It looked like you spent a fortune on them! I will definitely be coming to you for $$ saving ideas when I get married (if that ever happens!).
Again, SO impressed w/your ingenuity and craftiness!