Ways to save on your wedding day

Photography

• Cut down paid time by choosing ceremony and reception venues within close proximity to each other.
• Only have the photographer stick around til the speeches. There’s no point paying for messy shots of drunk guests on the dance floor.
• Printing and preparing the formal wedding album is expensive, so only buy the DVD with edited images and get an album made up later down the track.

Videography

• Opt for an unedited tape. This should cost around $500 – less than half the price of edited footage.
• Hire a “newbie.” Budget videography rates on ServiceSeeking.com.au start from $45 per hour. You could be lucky enough to find a promising student who has access to some top equipment!

Invitations

• Choose a sole operator over a graphic design company with expensive overheads.
• For a discounted bulk price, order all your wedding stationery at once.
• Keep the cost of postage in mind. Unusually shaped invitations may require 2 stamps. Standard DL and C6-sized envelopes only need 1.

Cake

• Order a smaller decorated wedding cake for the “cutting” and serve guests a cheaper cake – they’ll be none the wiser!
• Make your cake go further by serving it as take-home finger slices instead of dessert. A two-tier cake will feed around 60 guests or produce 90 take-home slices.
• Save on the delivery fee (normally around $25) by asking a friend to pick up the cake.

Hair & Makeup

• Ask the mother-of-the-bride and bridal party if they would like their hair and makeup done. Discounts are normally given for groups of 3 or more.

Car Hire

• Organise alternative transport (like a taxi) home. Wedding car businesses charge elevated hourly rates if asked to wait for long periods of time.

Flowers

• Choose flowers that are in season. Some safe bets that are in season all year round include orchids, roses and gerberas.
• Try not to let on that the flowers are for your wedding until after you’ve been given the price.
• If possible, re-use the ceremony flowers for the reception.