The only things you need to get married are…
1. Another person, your fellow weirdo who has agreed to love you and put up with all of your weird habits and you to them.
2. Someone to make it official, a celebrant or a minister.
3. Witnesses (depending on where you are making it official.)
That is it.
Al of the other stuff, such as alcohol, donut walls, cute shoes, a pretty venue and cake are really just nice extras to make your wedding celebration, a celebration but they aren’t vital to making it a wedding.
Saving money when wedding planning, is about perspective and knowing what you value.
What aspects of the day are really important to both you and your partner? What are non-negotiables when it comes to the day?
Maybe you envisage a wedding week extravaganza with 300 guests and multiple events and parties, but your partner always imagined getting hitched in a bookshop with 12 people.
And if you’re engaged you really should give Mamamia’s podcast Hitched a listen. In our second episode, we talk about how to get married without going broke.
You can download the full episode from iTunes, your favourite podcast app, or listen here.
Perhaps you imagined eloping and just escaping to a tropical destination where you can get married barefoot on a beach, but your partner was hoping to have a big, formal black tie event with canapes and everyone wearing shoes!
Having an open discussion and hearing each other’s thoughts and opinions early on before you spend any money or make commitments will ensure you are both celebrating at the same event.
1. Go paperless
A great wedding invitation alternative is to use Paperless Post, a digital invitation service with beautiful designs that you are able to both send via email and then print a couple of copies if you want to send them to people like your grandparents who may not have access to emails.
2. Use in-season flowers
When selecting wedding flowers (if you want flowers at all), it’s a smart idea to choose blooms that are in season as they will be cheaper and, most importantly, readily available. You would be surprised how many flowers we see in florists that are flown in from all over the world, which can be very costly. Speak with your florist about what is in season and work backwards from there.