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Five Rules for Planning Your
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We sometimes think a small budget means doing everything ourselves and giving up on the dream wedding. Not necessarily. The good news is the dream can survive the pinch! It will, however, require more thoughtful spending.
The key when buying products and supplies for your wedding is to combine DIY projects with discount suppliers, sales or coupon codes, and used items in a way that not only gets the most value for your money, but also keeps your stress levels down. The dream wedding, after all, does not include Bridezilla raising her harried head and ruining your big day.
There are various tactics to help you save money on your venue and service providers as well (see Top 6 Tips for Saving Money on Your Dream Wedding), but here I am focusing more on purchased items.
Rule #1: Do it yourself ONLY where it makes sense.
Depending on your expertise and cost of the supplies, some projects will work out better for you than others (for example, making your own wedding veil may cost more than buying it from a discount merchant).
For those of you with limited craft skills, you and I are in the same boat; I'm maybe a three on the 10-point craftiness scale. And I did every project here. On the couple I had trouble with, I talk about it and show pictures so you can decide if you want to tackle it yourself.
Rule #2: Buy pre-owned or slightly irregular where you can.
There are several opportunities for you to save on pre-owned or not quite perfect items: (a) Many used wedding items are in like new or nearly new condition (once-worn bridal gowns, for example). (b) "New with a quirk" are perfectly good items but cannot be sold as new because they have been opened, don't have the retail tags on them, and/or have been repackaged. Candles and candleholders are often sold this way. (c) Slightly irregular items are another way to save. Usually, the defect is barely noticeable or is on a hidden part of the product. The seller should note it in the description.
Rule #3: Sell or reuse your wedding products.
There are others out there like you so, after the wedding, flip tip #2 on it's head and sell. When you do this, the wedding-related cost is lower than the price you originally paid. By selling, you get part of your original price returned. By using it in your day-to-day life, you are saving money later. The two most popular arenas for selling are eBay (their selling tips are here)
and
Craigslist. In my opinion eBay,
with its free Buyer Protection and Buyer/Seller Feedback programs,
is the most trustworthy route.Rule #4: Shop a range of stores, including general merchandisers and discount websites.
Many times, we are inclined to head to the local bridal store to buy everything for the wedding. This is good because it helps support local business. Usually, however, the prices are higher than you could get online, so the local route may not be doable on your DIY budget.One way to find items from several online stores at once is to use our unique product search engine, which simultaneously searches products from all of our retail and wholesale partners. You can use the search page, the "search all products" boxes at top right on every page, or below. Try it now:
Rule #5: Shop sales and use coupon codes whenever possible.
The ultimate "score" is using a coupon on already-reduced items (either on sale or at a discounter/wholesaler). We have a special deals and offers section, with current offers and discounts from our partners, many not otherwise advertised. Get started by taking a look at the different categories below.
New Items, At Discounted Prices: |
Used Items, With Free Shipping: |
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