Cheap Wedding Ideas

Cheap wedding ideas will not make your wedding tacky or cheap-looking.

You can use these ideas to cut down on unnecessary wedding expenses which can quickly creep up if you are not careful. 

Weddings are not cheap.

Unless you’re Meghan Markle and marrying into the royal family, you will more than likely have to put a budget on your wedding.

If you are looking for cheap wedding ideas that are not too tacky, we will show you how to plan a great wedding.

Whether that budget is $2,000 or $50,000 is completely up to you but if you are looking to make your money go farther, then read on for our 10 ways to stretch your wedding budget.

I am so excited to share a few inexpensive wedding ideas you can use to plan your own wedding. 

To plan a wedding on a budget, you absolutely need to learn how to negotiate, be flexible and think outside the box. 

I am not going to lie, even small weddings can cost an arm and a leg with no proper planning. 

Having an expensive wedding can lead you to start your marriage off in debt which is not ideal either.

If you are looking for solid ways to have a cheap wedding, this post should help you with some great ideas. 

If you are reading this post, we are going to help with the following: 

  • How to plan a wedding on a small budget

  • How to plan a cheap wedding that is still classy

  • Budget wedding ideas worth implementing

The first step is definitely learning how to create a budget that works for you. 

No two weddings are the same. 

Go ahead and find a realistic budget that you are comfortable with and make your wedding fit those requirements. 

And if you have to leave certain things out, then do that. 

Grab yourself this cute rainbow budget planner to start planning your budget. 

So how can you stretch your wedding budget and what are our best cheap wedding ideas?

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Planning a cheap wedding

Having a cheap wedding is an excellent way to save money that you can put towards other things such as a house or a savings account. 

You don’t have to use every single sent you have on a wedding that will only last one day. 

But you also don’t want to have regrets on the one day that will mean so much to you. 

So what is a reasonable budget for a wedding?

For a 100 person wedding, you can expect to spend approximately $19,000 (including the ceremony and reception)! 

This is depending on where you are and this is on average. 

This is still expensive for some couples. 

That is why we have come up with creative cheap wedding ideas you can use to try to save more money.

How do you plan a wedding on a low budget?

Keep reading below for our awesome wedding on-budget ideas. 

Unique And Cheap Wedding Ideas To Save Thousands! Weddings have many little costs that add up. The industry makes it so easy to overspend on creating the perfect day. Using these cheap wedding ideas is how to plan an affordable wedding on a budget. Creative, unique and cheap wedding tips and decorations ideas!

1. Have a very long Engagement

If you are on a tight budget and you truly want to save money, I suggest stretching out your engagement.

Having a long engagement before your wedding is a really good way of being able to not only stretch your budget but to expand it as well.

This way, you will have a longer time to save money to pay for all your wedding expenses.

Instead of planning the wedding in one year, plan a year wedding.

I also suggest grabbing the money-saving challenges so you can save for your wedding!

If you are looking for cheap wedding ideas but still want an elegant wedding, get more time to save more. 

You can also look around for the best deals without too much pressure and negotiate the best prices when your wedding is a couple of years away.

Related: 

2. Change your wedding date

By picking an off-peak date for your wedding is crucial if you want cheap wedding ideas.

You can get the best deals from venues and other wedding essentials, and at the same time make your wedding different from everyone else’s by having less traditional Decor that fits into the offseason you have chosen.

Wedding venues are willing to give you a good rate for booking a wedding on dates that they usually do not book. 

I personally got married on a Sunday and I paid 50% off the rates that most pay on a Friday or on a Sunday. 

You just need to think outside the box to find more cheap wedding ideas that could save you thousands of dollars. 

3. Cheap Weddings Require Flexibility

Don’t be set in stone with all your plans if you are searching for cheap wedding ideas.

As I mentioned above, the more flexible you are, the better your chances of scoring some awesome wedding deals! 

It’s good to be able to give a bit of wiggle room for your vendor if you’re looking for the best prices. This way they can work with you to meet your budget. 

Look at a few different options for flower arrangements or 2 or 3 different dates for your venue location.

Here are few ways you can save money for your wedding if you are flexible:

  • Get married during the week
  • Get married during the day (think wedding brunch)
  • Alternate expensive centrepieces with non-expensive pieces 
  • Get off the rack wedding dresses
  • Skip the wedding veil

These classy but cheap wedding ideas can save you thousands of dollars. 

4. Don’t Travel

For couples that are considering planning a cheap wedding should avoid things that could add more to their overall costs.

Think about having your ceremony and reception in a dual-purpose venue.

If you are not too fussed about the actual ceremony location i.e. a church setting, you can stand to save a bundle on travel costs not having to transport yourself and your guests to the second reception venue.

Limo’s can be expensive. 

I am not saying skip the limo but you can book it for fewer hours instead of booking it for most of the day. 

Having your wedding ceremony and reception also allows for a much more fluid rhythm to your big day.

5. Cheap wedding venue ideas

Consider looking into cheap wedding venues. 

As I mentioned earlier there is a lot that goes into planning a wedding, but one of the most important steps is setting a budget and looking for affordable alternatives to save money.

And looking into alternative affordable wedding venues might just save you thousands of dollars. 

City-run spaces, public gardens, art venues and restaurants can be great locations for weddings and receptions. 

If you are looking to save money on your venue consider these affordable wedding venue alternatives: 

  • Historic sites
  • All-inclusive
  • Church
  • School
  • Park or beach
  • National park
  • Backyard

Read this post to find more unconventional and alternative wedding venues. 

And don’t forget to also google cheap venues to get married in your area. 

I am sure a lot of amazing options will come up.

Cheap Wedding Ideas on a Small Budget! Looking for cheap wedding ideas on a small budget? These tips on how to plan your ideal wedding while still having fun will help you keep costs low. So, you just got engaged to the person of your dreams. Weddings can be both as beautiful as you have dreamt about while also being inexpensive. You can certainly plan a cheap wedding without compromising beauty or elegance.

Leonardo Miranda @mirandanene

6. Wedding reception food ideas on a budget

Food and alcohol is another place where couples tend to spend a lot of money. 

It’s important that your wedding guests are well fed for your big day. 

Depending on where you are getting married, you may have no choice but to use their catering. 

If possible, try to negotiate your wedding foods and drinks. 

And if your able to find a location that can allow you to bring your own catering, here is where you can attempt to save some money. 

Lookup cheap wedding food ideas that will allow you to stick within your budget. 

Think things like:

  • Brunch
  • Food trucks 
  • Heavy Appetizers
  • Cake & Punch 
  • Mini Food Stations

7. Consider All-inclusive Wedding

A lot of places offer all-inclusive package deals now where everything like flowers, live band/DJ, catering, and photography are all included in one deal.

Now, these can save you a lot of stress and potentially money. 

Booking vendors individually can cost a lot more. 

If you can get a venue that offers all-inclusive wedding services or they can package a few things together, you can potentially save a lot of money. 

Let’s say the venue cannot off all-inclusive but can do a few things such as:

  • In house DJ
  • Wedding decorations 
  • Ceremony locations
  • Even  hotel rooms (bridal suites are usually included)

Why not get that package and add on to it?

But make sure to do a bit of research before jumping in with both feet to make sure you are getting the best deal possible.

8. DIY Your Wedding for Cheap

You will find plenty of wedding ideas on a budget on the internet. 

If you’re a Pinterest lover then you would have probably already mapped out exactly what you want to DIY for your own wedding. 

And it’s a great way of being able to save a few pennies and stretch your wedding budget.

DIY is ideal for those looking for cheap wedding ideas.

Wedding planning on a budget is possible especially if you can truly be creative. 

Things like decorations, invitations, and favours can all be DIY’d at a fraction of the cost of buying ready-made.

Make sure your DIY project is not going to cost you more than what you budgeted for. 

I would recommend that you itemize the cost of material, including your time, and tally everything. 

Then compare the cost to ensure it’s not costing you more to DIY it. 

Read this:

9. Save the trees

A good way of helping your budget and the ecosystem is to avoid printing anything.

So instead of having a printed menu for each table have a large chalkboard with the available food options. 

And if you have to print something, for example, your wedding invitations, take out some page inserts by having a website page with all the details that guests can visit.

A website is also a great idea so your wedding guests can easily reference the site should they need further answers. 

I am all about saving the environment if I can. 

10. Quality over quantity 

As they say, less is more, and taking those words of wisdom through to your wedding plans is a great idea.

Planning a cheap wedding requires you to think outside the box as much as possible.

Whether that’s to cut down on your wedding guest list or decorations it can really help stretch your budget without sacrificing the luxurious feel of a wedding.

If you are planning and looking for cheap wedding ideas, be sure to look at the number of guests you have. 

Numbers obviously do not lie. 

The more people you have, the more money you are going to spend. 

On my day, I had exactly 35 people and it was the most intimate wedding and the best thing. 

Don’t forget to grab this amazing rainbow wedding budget to document your wedding expenses. 

Here is a wedding budget printable you can use to plan your wedding on a budget today! Use this to budget your wedding today and save money.

11. Happy hour

Everyone wants to celebrate with a drink but this can really affect your budget if you allow for an all-night free bar, so think about having a happy hour where your guests are welcome to drinks but also helps keep the drinks tab under control.

These low-budget wedding ideas are meant to help you stay on a budget. 

So instead of having an all-night open bar, you can have an hour of free drinks during the cocktail hour. 

Serve wine during dinner (account for 2-3 hours of dinner service). 

And then the bar can be paid at the end of the night by the guests. 

12. Hire rather than buy 

There are plenty of inexpensive ways to get married, and if you really look, you can find some great ways to cut costs.

For example, hiring instead of buying.

Hiring is a good way to keep costs down and it can include everything from the wedding party dresses/suits to the decorations.

If you’re not likely to re-use or want to keep a part of your wedding, this is the best place to start looking to hire rather than buy.

Most brides feel like they can purchase things and then resale them after the wedding. 

This could end up costing you more in the long run. 

Just take a look at this list of hidden wedding costs you can incur when planning a wedding. 

As you can see, it can add up quickly. 

Plan wisely. 

And there you have it, cheap wedding ideas you can use to save money!

Read next:

 Pin this post to your wedding Planning board for inspiration. 

Cheap wedding ideas on a budget. Cheap Wedding Ideas on a Small Budget Looking for cheap wedding ideas on a small budget? These tips on how to plan your ideal wedding while still having fun will help you keep costs low.

Cheap Wedding Ideas {12 Ways To Stretch Your Wedding Budget}