Reading other blogs, there are sooo many ways to keep your wedding costs from ballooning beyond control. Although I admit, from our initial budget, we had an increase of 33% in cost, HOWEVER, our original budget was really small to start with, so after all the cost cutting and scrimping, we still managed to have a cheaper wedding than most couples do nowadays. And we're really really proud of that. :)
Here are some of the ways how we managed to cut our costs and have an awesome budget wedding:
1. The Biggest Slice of the Pie
One of the biggest portion of the wedding costs are the reception venue and food. What we looked for (apart from the homey, casual, open feel) is a location where we need not pay hundreds of thousands of pesos just to rent the place. We found one in Enderun, where only a minimum amount spend is required. So in the end, we only paid for the food and not a cent on the venue. That's at least 50,000 peso worth of savings. :)
One of the biggest portion of the wedding costs are the reception venue and food. What we looked for (apart from the homey, casual, open feel) is a location where we need not pay hundreds of thousands of pesos just to rent the place. We found one in Enderun, where only a minimum amount spend is required. So in the end, we only paid for the food and not a cent on the venue. That's at least 50,000 peso worth of savings. :)
If you cannot find a place where they offer free venue for a minimum amount spend, there are a lot of other places where you don't need to shell our 50 to 70 thousand pesos for the rent (you know the places that I'm talking about!). We found very nice locations around the city where they will charge you below 15,000 (Filipinas Library in Makati (they closed already :( ), Clubhouse for Exclusive Villages in Makati and Taguig areas) for the rent, which is so much cheaper. :)
P.S. I recently heard that Enderun is now charging for rent, and they have a new venue as well called The Tent.
All Those Dainty Dresses
2. Cutting Costs on Entourage Dresses:
I never liked the idea that my entourage will be wearing a gown (that we paid for - or that the entourage is required to pay for, and that they're only going to wear once in their life) on my wedding day. I always thought that it was an unnecessary expense on the couple's part, or to anyone for that matter. And so we decided to be practical, since we were having a morning casual wedding, we got our entourage infinity dresses from 168 Mall. It was semi-formal, and they can do whatever style they want PLUS they can still wear it after our wedding, which is sooo much better than getting formal expensive gowns . Each dress costs around 800php. Around 2000 peso saving for each member of the entourage. :)
3. On Budget Bridal Gown:
Just like any other bride, I had this wedding gown idea on my mind that I was hoping I can get made. Although, when I started sending my peg to designers, I was shocked at how much my perfect wedding gown would cost! They quoted me from 30,000 to 70,000 pesos (already a quarter of our budget gone to one gown!). After I got over my shock, I realized that it was just a gown, I don't need to pay that much for a gown that I will only wear for a couple of hours. And so we trooped to 168 Mall and looked and looked for my perfect (and cheap!) wedding gown. After 3 tries, we finally found it, the gown was a perfect fit (and it was not one of those kinds were the back is adjustable) and perfect cost (6,000 for the gown plus complete accessories). And the rest was history. I was just as happy in my cheap gown as I think I would be if we bought the 30k (or more) gown. :) That was more than 30,000 peso saving. :)
All The Small Things (Which when added up costs wayyyy too much)
We decided to do a lot of DIYs, first because of the costs, and second because I LOVE ARTS and CRAFTS! (Time to let out the craftee in me!)
4. DIY Wedding Invites:
We tried to look for suppliers from wedding fairs but we only wanted a couple of pieces, around 30 (mainly to be given to the principal sponsors and to uncles and aunts). We asked around and every one of them said that the minimum number of invites is 100 (Not sure if this is still the case now) but why would I want 100 pieces of invitations when I only need 30??. After that, I played around the idea of actually making our own invitations since this will definitely save us some money. We did some research, downloaded Adobe Photoshop, and lo and behold we actually managed to pull it off!! Our invitation was one of a kind, very personal, very chic and very cheap. Haha!
5. Wedding Souvenirs
Nobody, and I mean nobody keeps traditional wedding souvenirs nowadays, that's why I guess photobooths are so in right now. It's the "souvenir" of yourself attending somebody's wedding, and of course, people tend to keep pictures of themselves. Hehe! We decided to forego the traditional souvenirs, and got the photobooth instead. We also decided to make small boxes (DIY again!) which we used to hold chocolates (Kisses and Goya). That was a hit, specially on the kids. :) <More DIYs ideas>
6. Free Wedding Car!
From the start, I wanted to have a unique wedding car, we played with the idea of a taxi, a tricycle and even our own personal car. In the end, we decided to stick with the traditional white car, but we were looking for someone whom we knew (and who is our guest) who can lend us one.
We were so lucky since my sister's boyfriend just bought his new SUV (a white one!) before the wedding, and we got him (or coaxed him) to also be our wedding driver. haha! On the day of the wedding though, he got sick, my sister, who was my maid of honor was supposed to drive us instead (she was an all-around-gal) though in the end, we got my brother-in-law to drive us to church. LOL. This is probably one of our better ideas since we managed to save around 5 to 8 thousand pesos from wedding car rental. :)
There are so so so much more ideas that you can try to save on your wedding day (like doing a DIY bridal bouquet (Pinterest is a lifesaver!) which will save you around 4 thousand pesos), foregoing a reception stylist, finding a cheaper but just as good photographer and videographer, etc).
In the whirlwind, chaotic and stressful journey of wedding planning, many couples, brides most especially, forget why they are getting married in the first place - it's not because you want to show the world that you can afford a lavish, expensive wedding, it's not because you want to wear a big bold (and expensive!) gown for one day, it's not because you want to be treated like a queen - But because you want to spend the rest of your life with the guy you're getting married to. If you keep that in mind, specially when booking suppliers, and I'm sure you can and you will keep your wedding costs really low (or within budget). :)
As I told one of my soon-to-be-married friend (now married! ;)), not all suppliers who cost a lot are worth it, and even if you can afford it, it doesn't mean that you should pay for it.
So here's to your journey on having an awesome, unique and very personal cheap wedding! :)
As I told one of my soon-to-be-married friend (now married! ;)), not all suppliers who cost a lot are worth it, and even if you can afford it, it doesn't mean that you should pay for it.
So here's to your journey on having an awesome, unique and very personal cheap wedding! :)
Wowo' thank you so much for sharing this😊 It really gives me a great idea😊😊
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