Are you busy with wedding preparations? First and foremost, congratulations on your engagement! Marriage is one of life’s most thrilling experiences, and your wedding day should be everything you’ve dreamed of. However, let’s talk about something that’s top of mind for many couples—wedding costs. Finding a balance between a beautiful, quality wedding and staying within budget can be a challenge. But with some strategic planning, you can achieve your dream wedding without breaking the bank.
Here are our top ideas on how to cut wedding costs while keeping quality intact.
What Are the Top 3 Costs for a Wedding?
Yes, love is free, but wedding gowns and exquisite wedding cakes can be costly. While you will undoubtedly remember your dress and the cake, there are a number of major wedding expenses that can go unnoticed. This quick guide to the 3 biggest wedding expenses will help you stay on track.
1. The Wedding Venue
The wedding venue alone accounts for approximately 20-25% of a couple's total budget.
A church wedding ceremony typically costs around $500-$1500. However, this is just the cost of the space, which you will almost certainly want to decorate—for a fee. Next, there's the cost of the reception to consider. The average couple spends an estimated $12,000 on their wedding reception venue.
2. Food and Drinks
With catering costs at weddings averaging $150-$250 per guest, food and drinks is one of the most expensive wedding expenses that couples will have to deal with. Catering costs can easily exceed $25,000, with the average wedding guest list of around 150 people.
This amount doesn't account for the cake, which, depending on its size and design, can add another $800 to $4,000 to your food budget. In Chicago, cake is roughly $6 per slice/person.
3. The Honeymoon
This is one of the best parts, but paradise comes at a cost! A typical honeymoon for a week at a tropical resort cost between $4,000 on the low end to $12,000 for a more elaborate luxurious honeymoon.
What Is the Average Wedding Cost?
The average wedding cost in Chicago ranges from $75,000-$125,000 for an estimated 150 guests. On average, we see most couples spending right around $100K for 150 guests.
A variety of factors will most likely influence the cost of your wedding. This includes the number of guests, the style of your wedding, and most importantly, the location of your special day. A wedding in the city of Chicago will cost more than a wedding in the surrounding suburbs. A wedding in wine-country or NYC will also cost more than a Florida beach-side affair.
How to cut wedding costs and not quality?
Finding ways on how to cut costs on a wedding is almost a rite of passage for every couple however let us help make it a bit easier! While most of you are making valiant efforts to stay within your budget, you are also concerned about still having a quality wedding weekend.
The key is to choose areas where you can cut corners without your guests noticing, while also making decisions that give you high impact with low associated costs.
Here is a quick guide on how to cut back on wedding costs. We promise, your guests won’t notice a thing.
1. Skip Saturdays. Saturday is the most popular day for weddings. That means that weekends have the highest demand for renting out wedding venues. Prices are typically higher on these days, which could significantly affect your wedding budget. We suggest considering a Friday or Sunday affair! Holiday weekends tend to be more expensive not just for venues but other vendors too. For example, NYE will have several other costs that are elevated for delivery and staff fees due to the holiday!
2. Dress Alternatives. A custom gown can range from $8,000-$15,000 on average (and up) with most gowns ranging from $3,000-$8,000 each. Think outside of the box to create some savings on your wedding gown! Other options are renting, buying a pre-worn dress or buying a dress off-the-rack.
So, if you are looking to tighten your budget, consider going to bridal shops that offer a wide range of glamorous gown rentals at reasonable prices. One of our favorite local options is Wish Upon A Dress that offers pre-worn dresses for under $750!!
There is always an option to buy a dress "off-the-rack" meaning you are buying the sample dress that was in the store. Traditional bridal shops offer these as they are letting go of inventory and can save you thousands!
3. Know what to DIY (and what not to!). We never recommend DIY'ing flowers simply because there are too many factors in making them perfect (coolers, transportation, set up, clean up, timing, inventory, etc). However there are small items you can DIY in advance that can save dollars and make sense!
Charger Plates are roughly $8-$15 each to rent. If you find a charger you love, buy them in bulk and then plan to re-sell them to another couple after the wedding!
Table Numbers are a small item that you can DIY and make personal for less than $50-$100. Use antique frames or buy them in bulk online.
Signage such as specialty cocktail signs and welcome signs, etc. are a few items that can easily be made in advance and will save you anywhere from $50-$250!
Table Runners are a great item to pre-purchase and can be reused after your wedding or sold! The cost of buying direct through CV linens is much cheaper than renting.
4. Cut the cake (in half!). We love a good wedding cake and the tradition of cutting cake together on your big day is still a special one! But there are ways to cut on costs relating to your wedding cake order. Choose a smaller 2-3 tiered wedding cake to only serve about 30-50% of your guest count. Additionally you could order sheet cakes of the same flavors but they cost less since the baker isn't spending time decorating these! Your guests will never know where they got their slice!
The other option here is to only order cake for about 40-50% of your guest count and instead of serving it table side, place it on a dessert table so that you aren't serving dessert to the entire group.
5. Control the booze. If a venue allows for BYOB - do it! This allows you to curate your bar options and also save a ton! In Chicago, you are allowed to return any unused, unopened and un-chilled beer/wine/liquor - so if something isn't consumed, you aren't wasting dollars and cents on it!
If BYOB is not available you can cut your package down to beer and wine only with the option of (1) signature drink so there is still a spirit based option!
6. Entertainment Alternatives. Now trust us, we know you want to PARTY! A DJ tends to be the most cost effective option however what if you really wanted a full band!?!? In Chicago DJ's range from $1,500-$3,000 on average and bands ranging from $8,000-$15,000 for the night.
If you want the band, get the band...but think about going from a 12 piece to a 8 piece band instead! Chat with the band leader to come up with cost effective options for the evening but still having their big band presence.
One of our favorite ways to get a lot of bang for your buck is combining a DJ with a live musician to elevate the musical entertainment but not sacrificing budget or atmosphere. Combine a DJ with a drummer or saxophonist - these are fun ways to elevate the experience!
What Really Matters
Weddings can be a big investment, but there are a variety of ways on how to cut wedding costs without making too many sacrifices.
After all is said in done, you want to feel good about the decisions you made along the way that allowed you to have a great party to remember for years to come! The purpose of that day is to be with your soul mate and to commit to them for the rest of your life. Keep that in mind, and the rest will seem insignificant.
If you’re looking to decorate for your wedding reception or any upcoming event, you can try shopping with CV Linens for the best quality linens and most affordable wholesale event supplies.
Collaborative Post written by Wendy from CV Linens & Wedicity
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