Getting married is undoubtedly one of the most memorable times of your life.

You get to celebrate your love, party with friends and family and look damn beautiful doing it. But, let’s be honest, it also happens to be one of the most expensive times of your life, too.

Between the dress and the venue and the food, it’s not uncommon to splash the equivalent of a house deposit on your wedding.

So, where does that leave you if don’t have six-figures in your bank balance, or just aren’t willing to spend that much on one day?

The good news is, a wedding doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive or extravagant in order to still be the greatest day of your life.

Read on to learn three simple tips for planning a beautiful and memorable wedding on a tight budget.

1. Design your own wedding invites

Your wedding invites might seem like a minor touch in the grand scheme of your wedding. After all, how expensive can a piece of paper be, right!?

But, once you start talking about 100 invitations, that can easily add up to thousands of dollars. In fact, research shows that the average cost of invites is $5,000 to $8,000 for a set of 100 invitations. That’s a lot when you’re already splashing out on many other things.

The solution? Design your own, using Basic Invite’s beautiful wedding invite templates. This tool allows you to create stunning invites within minutes — no design skills required! Whether you want to spread the joy with cheerful sunflower wedding invites or are after something more modern and minimalistic, there’s truly something for every couple.

The best part is, they’re completely customisable! Because, your love is unique, so your wedding invitations should be too. Basic Invite is one of the few wedding invite tools that have almost unlimited colour options with instant previews online. You can also change the colour of each element on a card, with more than 180 different colour options.

They also have more than 40 different envelope colours so that you can make your invitation stand out even before it is opened. Plus, there’s other gorgeous options like their Seal & Sends collection, where guests’ addresses are printed on the front of each invitation so no envelope is necessary!

And, because planning a wedding is rarely just about the wedding, they also have 900 different wedding sets you can choose from including the dates, wedding invitations, enclosure cards, wedding menus, wedding programs, and even matching thank you cards!

Plus, you can create a wedding website to go with your invites, which is mobile friendly and super easy to use. You can instantly upload all of your wedding details, along with images, and a convenient map with directions for your guests. Choose from 180 custom colors, and a design suite to match your wedding invitations.

Oh, and if the thought of designing your wedding invites online feels a bit intimidating, don’t worry! Basic Invite allows you to order a printed sample of their invitation so they can see the card’s paper quality and how it will print before they have to place their final order.

With their invites starting from as low as 99 cents each, this is one surefire way to lower your wedding costs without sacrificing on the romance and quality.

2. Rent your wedding dress

Let’s be honest, every woman wants to feel like a million bucks on their wedding day.

Even if you’re not really one for the fairytale wedding dress vibe, you still want’ to look back on your photos and think “damn, I looked amazing!”

But while the dress is an important part of the day, it can easily set you back from $500-$4000, — and that’s dresses on the more conservative side (we don’t even want to know what Kim Kardashian’s cost!) And that’s for something that you’re literally going to wear once in your life.

One way to save money on your wedding is to hire your dress instead! Companies like The Volte, GlamCorner and Rent The Runway have a wide range of pre-loved or for-hire wedding dresses you can rent for your special day, then return.

Most even have a try-on service, so you can make sure it fits like a glove before you commit. Not only is it a cost-effective way to still look like a queen, but it’s also a far more sustainable and eco-friendly option!

3. Consider a live-streamed wedding

Costs aside, getting married during a pandemic can be tough.

With travel restrictions, many couples are unable to have all their nearest and dearest in attendance. One great way to include all of our loved ones in your big day while also reducing costs is by having a live-streamed wedding.

Whether you elope or just have a couple of close family members at your ceremony, this is one way you get to still have a beautiful ceremony without having to cater to hundreds of peoples’ food and alcohol. You could then just go out for drinks with a few of you nearest and dearest after your ceremony, rather than having to hold a reception.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, your loved ones will still get to feel like they’re a part of everything. If you have complicated family dynamics, this can be a great way to mitigate the drama at your wedding too!

 

This article was written in partnership with Basic Invites. 

This article was originally published on A Girl In Progress.