Dream Big, Spend Small – Five tips for small wedding budget success
I love that weddings are one of the few occasions in your life where you can really go to town with your imagination and throw a party that is purely you and your partner’s vision. I also love that you can spend years coming up with lots of ideas, squirreling away cut outs from magazines and swatches of material into wedding planning scrapbooks that you know at some point will come together to create the day that you have been plotting and planning for, for so long.
So, you can imagine that it makes me sad when Brides to be say that they are not going to be able to have their day the way they want it, because of budget reasons. I have seen, time and again that it is all about the energy and love that you put into your day, that will make it special – not how much money you have spent. Don't get me wrong, sometimes reality will get in the way when your £4k wedding budget won't stretch to cover a private fireworks display and brand new Vera Wang wedding dress, but I am a big believer in making the most of what you have and focussing on what you can do to ensure small wedding budget success.
Granted, creating a beautiful wedding day when you don’t have the assistance of a stylist or wedding planner, can be demanding on your time (and patience!) but it is possible.
Here are five of my top tips for small wedding budget success:
1. Create a plan:
Everything in life is easier when you have a game plan, and weddings are no exception. Grab yourself a scrapbook, shoebox or just create a folder on your laptop and start collecting everything that inspires you for your wedding – magazine articles, colour swatches, the names of particular flowers that you have fallen in love with over the years – put EVERYTHING in there and once you look through your inspiration collection, you will be able to move your plans forward.
2. Give yourself plenty of time...
One of the best tips that I can share with you, when it comes to planning your wedding on a budget, is to give yourself enough time to collect together everything that you need to pull off your wedding day. When you don’t have the money to make things happen at the snap of your fingers, time will give you the luxury of being able to search for suppliers who can come in on budget as well as giving you space to create your DIY wedding decorations amongst the myriad of other items on your to-do list.
3. Internet stalk – It is ALL about the online resources!
Online wedding planning and shopping is your friend – full stop. Pinterest and Facebook can give you buckets of inspiration for free – just be sure to take note of where you have seen certain ideas (or Pin them to your own page) to ensure that you can easily look them up again. Wedding sites like Sell My Wedding mean that you can pick up absoloute bargains that would otherwise cost a fortune to buy new. Ebay is fantastic for sourcing favours and materials for DIY projects and don’t forget our Budget Bride Boutique where we have sourced hundreds of budget friendly goodies for your wedding from dresses through to personalised wedding items.
4. Car boot sales and charity shops
This can be a really fun part of your wedding planning and I totally recommend heading out to every car boot sale, vintage and homemade fair and charity shop that you can in the run up to your wedding. If you visit enough of these cheap and cheerful events and stores, you are pretty much guaranteed to be able to find what you are after for your wedding – from teacups and saucers to bundles of old vintage romance novels, making gorgeous unique wedding decoration ideas.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help - borrowing is a great solution!
On the whole, most of your friends and family will be falling over themselves to help you in any way they can with preparing for your wedding. So, if you have spied a beautiful mirror at your friends’ house that could make a lovely table plan mount, or if you know that your Aunty has an epic bunting collection, then just ask! More often than not, whoever you confide in will be delighted to help you out!
So, good luck with your planning and don’t be afraid to dream big for your wedding! If you give yourself enough time and the right resources, you can have small wedding budget success 🙂
I’d love to hear how you’re dreaming big and spending small on your wedding – head over to the facebook page and join in the discussion!
Laura xx
Photo Credit: Nomadic Lass via Photopin
