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Katie
Newbie December 2019 Ontario

Budget Conscious Wedding Tips

Katie, on October 16, 2018 at 12:16 Posted in DIY 0 27

Hi everyone,

So my fiance and I are getting married next December and we are looking for some extra tips that anyone has done to save some money. We have a small wedding and a small budget, so far we've done pretty good at keeping things relatively cheap without it being a dollar store wedding. We're looking for places or things that people have done to save some cash? Main areas would be for:

-flowers

-decorations

-wedding favors

We are paying for a majority of the wedding so we will take any tricks that people have! Thanks Smiley smile

27 Comments

Latest activity by Alessia, on November 21, 2018 at 22:46
  • Alessia
    Newbie April 2020 Ontario
    Alessia ·
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    Dont do weddinf favors , make a small donation to a charity ei. Sick kids,cancer,stroke,etc.. put up a sign saying thank you for joining us on this special day on behalf of groom and bride name we have made a donation to the blank Foundation.
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  • Vinod
    Top August 2017 Ontario
    Vinod ·
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    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 1

    For the most part of what your looking into, I went on amazon or ebay sites to purchase a lot of things and for much less than what would cost in retail.

    Artificial Flower balls/vases/Money box - rented from a vendor nearby my parents home

    Backdrop - rented from a local company in Barrie

    Wedding favours - retail only being a crystal motive tealight holder under $5

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 2

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 3


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  • Kaisha
    Super March 2019 Nova Scotia
    Kaisha ·
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    For our favours we aren't actually paying a cent. We are doing seed packages with seeds given to us from a friend who owns a greenhouse and my mom is designing the packages with her neighbour. I would definitely recommend looking into friends who may be able to help. For our bouquets we ordered wooden bouquets online which are much cheaper then flowers and beautiful. For decorations we have shopped sales, shopped buy and sells and used some stuff we had. Another big way we are saving money was by having our reception at a bar and not the typical location so it was much cheaper.

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  • Gabrielle
    Frequent user May 2019 Ontario
    Gabrielle ·
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    I used Michaels for my floral (they have coupons up to 50% off) totally worth it.

    f you’re doing Christmas theme or colors, wait until after Christmas this year when everything is on clearance!

    Facebook marketplace was very helpful in finding decor at cheap prices.

    I did a log of DIY which reduced my costs in most areas but when I made mistakes, i had to suffer the double cost.
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  • Hélène
    Devoted September 2019 Alberta
    Hélène ·
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    My first ‘rule’ (but I hate that word) of reducing costs is don’t mention you’re planning a wedding.

    Check out CBC’s Marketplace épisode on it...as soon as the word wedding is mentioned, prices increase.

    Flowers- if you’re not set on a dramatic cascade, bulk purchase flowers or pick what’s available the day or two before and hand tie them.
    My first wedding 20 years ago I handed out single roses to honour people who couldn’t be with us and collected them as I walked down the aisle. My mom tied them together before I stepped up to join my fiancé for the ceremony.

    Thank yous- consider a charitable donation. You can include that on your program or back of the place cards.

    Just my quick 2 cents between clients. Smiley smile Good luck with it all!!
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  • Sharlene
    Expert August 2019 Alberta
    Sharlene ·
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    Wedding buy and sell to purchase decorations and to re-sell after the wedding.

    For flowers for the venue we plan to be using things we can get for free, for example wheat, cattails, pussy willows in addition to a flower or two.

    We also want to keep it as simple as possible for a few reasons - cost efficient and we are travelling about 4 hours from home so we don't have a ton of room to bring it all with us.

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  • Peggy
    Super May 2019 Alberta
    Peggy ·
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    For flowers - look at non 'standard' florists. Mine is amazing - she's a retired florist who now works of her home, and cost about 2/3 what anyone else did. My flowers are casa blanca lilies, blue orchids and white roses (so not cheap flowers!) - for my bouquet, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 3 corsages, 5 boutonnieres, and either a toss bouquet or flower girl flowers, I'm paying about 670$!

    DIY what you can - if you have your heart set on something, figure out if you can DIY it. I -really- wanted blinged up chandeliers over the dance floor and the head table. I bought 6 chandeliers at the ReStore for 45$, spray painted them white and ordered crystal garlands online to do it myself. Total for all 6 was around 120$.

    Look for Buy and Sell facebook groups specific to weddings for your area. I have bought 90% of my décor secondhand, and will be able to resell it afterwards the same way. I figure my total décor budget, in the end, will be under 1000$ (which is pretty good for a guest list of 275!).

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  • Natalie
    Devoted July 2020 Ontario
    Natalie ·
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    I’ve included some pics of things I just pulled to show people that it’s not so scary. Lol.

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 4

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 5

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 6

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 7

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 8

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 9

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 10

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 11

    Budget Conscious Wedding Tips 12
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  • Natalie
    Devoted July 2020 Ontario
    Natalie ·
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    One word: AliExpress.

    After seeing the rental fees of flower walls and vases, bouquets and etc. I will be ordering most if not all of my material. I’m getting married in 2020 so I have time to order and re-order if something isn’t right since they do take some time to arrive, but having seen where a lot of these venues get their rental equipment... a lot of it is from there to begin with.
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  • Danna
    Newbie August 2019 Alberta
    Danna ·
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    I saw a posting for on Facebook Marketplace for Wholesale Floral that sounded like it could be quite cost effective. If you search Wholesale Floral Edmonton there are several options that come up. I was planning on purchasing greenery (eucalyptus leaves etc.) mixed in with fairy lights (from FB marketplace) for my headtable. That plus all our bouquets will fill it out the table nicely. (We are lucky for Marketplace! Many of my gfs didn’t have this buy/sell platform)

    I also found a bunch of paper fan party packages on sale at Winners (which means twice the discount) and it was in our colours. $14 a package and I can make a whole backdrop with them 2.

    Last note on savings: I agree about not doing favours. I just helped my parents move and they had a whole cupboard of unused tea and other favours collecting dust. Most people just leave them on that table. I’d rather put the money towards food and drinks. (Note: we are not doing a cake because we have dessert included in our per plate cost)

    Best of luck! There are some great tips in this feed so I’m sure you get what you need within your budget.
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  • Robyn
    Super June 2019 Ontario
    Robyn ·
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    Costo for flowers, and also silk flowers are sometimes cheaper. I've also been hearing that wedding favors are optional these days... don't know if my MIL could handle that though so we are keeping it simple. Our theme is kind of floral and my fiance is a really avid gardener, so we are giving wildflower seed packets with our initials and wedding date on the package.

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  • Rachel
    Frequent user July 2019 Ontario
    Rachel ·
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    Flowers from Costco! They have a lot of budget friendly flowers!
    For all of my DIY decor I have been making multiple trips to my local Michael's. I have the app and lately there have been a LOT of 50% off coupons, so I've purchased my more expensive items this way! Also, did the survey on the receipt and got 25% off my purchase so bought a lot of my less expensive items this way!

    Utilize your friends and their skills!

    I found a photographer who does it as a passion on the side so her prices were much more reasonable than full time wedding photographers ($1200 v $3500)
    Same with hair and makeup. I found a couple girls who are just starting out and their prices were reasonable!


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  • Chloe
    Newbie November 2018 Alberta
    Chloe ·
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    We are also having a budget friendly wedding and so far so good, most of our decor etc are homemade and DIY. We picked our own pinecones and just disinfected them, bought wooden letters for $8 in homesense and painted one so it matched the other two(they have white on them), bought hot choc in Costco and made hot chocolate cones for favours, put our centrepieces and cake topper together ourselves from bits and bobs , we don't have any flowers as decor because they aren't cost effective , dollar store is actually good for some stuff , go on your local kijiji or marketplace on FB , we got lots of cheap stuff from there. Just shop around and if you like something think of other ways to make or do than the one you see foe example we saw these wooden boxes with candles and pinecones etc in for $40 in homesense and I loved them, we need 3 ( small wedding) and ended up making our own for maybe $50 for all 3!.
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  • Allison
    Frequent user June 2019 Ontario
    Allison ·
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    If you are really set on favours but are looking for something super affordable, we are placing a bucket with Hershey hugs & kisses at the front door where everyone will most likely leave through. I have a chalkboard at home I am going to use to write something cheesey like “hugs & kisses from the new mr. & mrs.”. We won’t be buying bags or tags or stickers so we will be able to save some costs there - although very minor - and people can just take a handleful on their way out. Like others have said, people don’t expect things like favours so don’t feel bad if it’s not in your budget. Also we are ordering them from Amazon as I think that is the cheapest spot that we could find for bulk...
    For flowers, I know it might be a little harder for you because of it being December, but we are planning to order baby’s breath from Costco for all the centrepieces (roughly $140+ taxes). And my bouquets I will have to build still but I bought all the materials from Michaels at the end of the fall season for 60% off. 🤞 Hoping they turn out as nice as some of the other DIYs I have seen. I got my bouquet, 4 bridesmaids bouquets and 5 simple boutenieers for under $150 - It just requires assembly 🙃
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  • Stephanie
    Master July 2018 Alberta
    Stephanie ·
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    Flowers: get flowers that are in season. Or, skip them altogether! There are lots of great non-floral bouquets out there!

    Check out this Wedding Wire article!

    Also, you can save by not having floral centrepieces. We did and after the wedding, we weren't home to enjoy them as we went for our honeymoon right away. Some guests did take the centrepieces home, which helped us but alot of them went into the garbage unfortunately.

    Favours: We used our centrepieces as favours. That way we could save a bit of money and all the flowers wouldn't go to waste. My brother and sister-in-law used mugs as their favours. They had to provide the dishes at their venue, so instead of renting mugs, they bought some for the same price and guests were able to take them home. Find something for favours that you have used elsewhere in your wedding.

    Decorations: Rely on the beauty of the venue! We really just did centrepieces as decor. We used them down the aisle in the ceremony, then as the centrepieces.

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  • Valérie
    VIP September 2019 Quebec
    Valérie ·
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    Invitations : Etsy wedding invitation templates and printing them with VistaPrint (for example) will save you loads of money. RSVP'ing online via a webiste is also a good way to cut down cost (paper, envelope, postage).

    Flowers/Decorations : Faux flowers from Michael's, dollar store or afloral.com. You can re-purpose or sell them after the wedding!

    Decorations : Check facebook wedding Buy/Sell groups in your area!

    Wedding Favors : They typically end up forgotten on the tables, so I wouldn't bother with making anything. Maybe offer something they could eat/drink AT the event instead, like a drink ticket?!

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  • Rekramer
    Expert November 2018 Ontario
    Rekramer ·
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    If your heart is set on favors, do something homemade. people love a homemade bite of fudge, and you can get 100 tiny plastic bags and a wheel of ribbon for really cheap. throw on an easy-to-print note, and you're set!

    decorations: the dollar store really has some GREAT items. flowers, streamers, you name it. also, join some buy-sell groups in your area. they offer so many options that are reasonably priced, and usually about half the price of buying from the store. if you've got a little room in your budget, i'd say try to pick up a couple of really nice items for reasonable (a fancy mirror, a couple silver teapots, whatever) and make those the showcase pieces. as long as your venue is clean and has good lighting, decor really can be kept to a minimum. also, michaels has a weekly 40-50% off coupon that you can use on almost any time. so consider using that for a couple decor packages.

    flowers: consider alternative or greenery-heavy items. also consider DIY if you're at all inclined. our florist came in at $2500 for a LOT of florals, because we didn't go overboard with the expensive stuff like roses and a lot of my bouquet will be greenery. costco sells very reasonable packages of florals as well. host a little florals-making party to spread around the labour for centrepieces. finally, consider going very minimal. a small vase with 1 flower, on a little stack of books, done.

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  • Alexandra
    VIP November 2019 British Columbia
    Alexandra ·
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    Don’t worry about doing favours- people don’t notice when you haven’t! They end up being an extra expense that’s not necessary at all!
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  • K
    Expert June 2019 Ontario
    Kim ·
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    Not sure if you have a venue yet but if you can find a place that had a lot of character on its own that can cut down big time on the decor needed. Ive found restaurants to be much more reasonable than your typical wedding venues. Also diy or second hand decor is much cheaper. Flowers look into grocery stores or Costco...id also suggest farmers markets for flowers but since it's a December wedding maybe greenery and berries would be a cheap alternative. Wedding favours in my opinion are not necessary. We're doing a donation in lieu - bonus is that you get a tax receipt. Also if you haven't already booked a dj maybe consider a playlist instead.
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  • Jennifer
    Super July 2019 Ontario
    Jennifer ·
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    Alternative flower for that time of year. is using berries. I feel it was an article here on WW about flower alternatives.

    look into your grocery store florists. I've seen gorgeous flowers from zehrs and sobeys. or find a local grower. may get a better deal. we aren't doing boutonnieres. we are just doing pocket squares as our coordinator said pick one, doing both looks too busy. so the guys wanted pocket squares.

    if you are doing any sort of open bar. don't have wine at the table. it can be served from the bar. that way you don't have a TON of opened bottles that don't get drank

    check out fb groups in your area. I have seen so much décor being sold 2nd hand that way

    don't have flowers as centerpieces that is big way to cut costs

    don't get a cake (especially if your venue does dessert). as most venues charge a cake cutting fee. and its usually expensive.

    photographer wise...you can save a lot if you do a first look. because it will cut down on the number of hours needed.

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  • Julia
    Frequent user August 2019 Alberta
    Julia ·
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    I don’t think we are doing ‘take home’ favors, as I have found a lot of them get left behind anyway. Instead we are making a donation in the name of our guests to our favourite charity Smiley smile
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  • Michelle
    Expert April 2019 Alberta
    Michelle ·
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    I am buying a lot of my decorations second hand online! I have found Facebook wedding groups in my area to be super helpful.

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  • Allison
    Master October 2019 Ontario
    Allison ·
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    I've heard some good things about Costco for flowers, I'd definitely look into it!

    Decorations: Most of ours is DIY and we aren't hiring a decorator to save money. We'll be making the centrepieces for tables, and my godmother does wonders with ribbons and bows so she'll add some colour! I'm also doing non-floral vases and I bought my vases from the Dollar Store actually.

    I've heard the Wedding Star having good deals for favours, decorations, etc. The Wedding Shoppe is also a good spot to check too!

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  • Casey
    Master October 2019 Ontario
    Casey ·
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    Check out wedding star for favours. They are pretty reasonably priced and have some good sales on.

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  • Katie
    Newbie December 2019 Ontario
    Katie ·
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    I didn't even think of Costco! I think we're leaning towards buying bundles and making them ourselves, I'm just concerned that the time of year won't produce nice enough flowers for us.

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  • Tori
    Top October 2019 Manitoba
    Tori ·
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    I will be on the lookout for all the deals so I totally get you on this. I will be doing a lot of these things myself to save money - but I will admit that the minimalist look is great for the wallet!

    The main places to save on cash is the bar and food, we made sure to get a venue where we could outsource those two things as to not pay an "executive chef" $80 a plate and so that the drinks don't come out to $5-$15 each.

    One thing that is really helping me out right now is the honey app - you may have heard of it from youtubers but I swear it's a great tool to use (www.joinhoney.com) even if sometimes there aren't codes for the site you are on.

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  • Stacy
    Newbie July 2019 Alberta
    Stacy ·
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    My wedding is also small and I found a bundle of 20 small bouquets online for me, my bridesmaids and centrepieces for $150 at Costco online. Flowers will all be the same but I don’t mind given I hold them for like 30 min lol.
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