Tips and Ways to Save on Weddings?

HYX on 23/11/2017 - 14:13
Last edited 29/11/2017 - 13:00

Hello OzBer's

I'm in the process of planning my wedding and I'd like to get any ideas from your experience on how to save on costs.

My budget is as little as I can spend on top of the venue (minimum spend is close to 20k), without compromising too much on quality. I've got to adhere to the minimum spend (seems I can't negotiate this), but I'd like to find out any tips I can ask for in terms of add-ons and things to bargain for (and how to bargain for).

Would be great if you could share how much you spent on your wedding and when it was.
Please exclude the cost of rings.
You can fill in the below or even just a one liner stating no. of guests and rough total cost.

Reception:
No. of Guests:
Ceremony:
Photography:
Videography:
Flowers:
Hair & Makeup:
Dress/suit:
Bridal party:
Cake:

Recommendations are more than welcome.

Thanks in advance!

Update:

Thanks for all those who took the time to give advice and share your experience! Much appreciated.
One of the most common advice was to find a venue with a lower minimum spend. After asking 20 venues in Sydney, the lowest minimum spend I came across for a Sunday evening was 9k (similar on a Friday evening), with most venues being 12k–15k. Average per head cost being $145–$165.
Let me know if you know of alternative venues that have a lower minimum spend/per head cost in Sydney.
Thanks again!

General Discussion

Comments

        • mrsi on 28/11/2017 - 15:12

          @abb:

          Yeah but your future wife will call them hahaha or you will have seen them in 12 months!!

    • BartholemewH on 26/11/2017 - 11:36

      This roughly matches my expenses for a wedding 4 years ago for 65 -70 guests.

      Edit: Per pax on the reception sorry, 105 - 120 a head. Line ball on everything else.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 23/11/2017 - 15:18
    +1

    Get an extra large boston bun from Woolies.
    Wedding at a winery estate FREE. Pick a big one. Arrive, pick a spot somewhere far away from the cellar door out of sight and plonk down the camping chairs.
    Invites via Facebook
    Flowers, drive around local parks and find some.
    Save on photography fees - get a free photo together with Santa at a shopping centre
    Salvos vintage dress and suit.
    Food, dominos delivered with ozbargain discount codes.

    There you go.

    • poohduck on 23/11/2017 - 16:23
      +4

      I know you're trying to be funny, but there is something refreshing, achievable, stressless in the gist of your suggestions. These things get out of hand and are just stressful (weddings, funerals etc). They inexoribly become something that nobobdy wanted - you want somethng different, the wheels start rolling and bang! you wonder "how did I get here?" Your suggestion is closest to keeping it homegrown and simple.

      • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 23/11/2017 - 16:44
        +2

        If you want really stress free, do what my brother did. Elope!

    • HYX on 23/11/2017 - 18:22

      What's the fine for trespassing private property? Weighing up the options…

      Are we allowed to just pick flowers from parks? Sometimes there are nice flowers along the side of the road outside my place…

    • pennypincher98 on 28/11/2017 - 21:10

      Lol I, in my tired state read that as

      Get an extra large bosom bun from Woolies.

      My eyes then dashed to

      Pick a big one.

  • MiMiKat on 23/11/2017 - 15:20
    +2

    Reception: $8500 - It was more for the catering as the restaurant part of the hotel and we were able to use function room for free. It was a 10-course dinner.
    No. of Guests: 80
    Ceremony: The standard fee at the Registry, around $350 at the time.
    Photography: $500
    Videography: $0
    Flowers: made a crystal bouquet myself with Swarovski crystals, around $70
    Hair & Makeup: $450
    Dress/suit: $150 for the wedding dress from eBay! I ordered to see how it was and it fitted me well so I kept it. I also bought another tradition dress for $150 (which I can now wear for other occasions) and hired 2 more dresses for $200 to change into for the night. Hubby's suit was $300. Total cost = $800
    Bridal party: $0
    Cake: a 2 tier cake made by myself, around $50 for the ingredients and decorations

    Total = around $10.5k

    We got around $8000 from the wishing well, so most of our expenses was recouped. I think you can't compromise the cost on:
    - Food - No one will complain after a good feed
    - Photographer and how you look for the day - Make sure you look great for the camera so you can look back at the photos and smile in the years to come.

  • Marcsie on 23/11/2017 - 15:33
    -1

    Are we all invited ? lol

  • rover on 23/11/2017 - 15:41
    +2

    A big saving is catering to provide buffet style meal paying per dish rather than paying head for the boring old "alternate drop" chook/mammal. We hired church's community hall and self decorated the day before.

    Buy booze from bottle shop and chuck in bins full of ice (manager gave us staff discount). I told bride "I'm getting beer and champers" to which in-laws said to bride "OMG, he's not getting, we'll get wine", I was of course going to get wine but they offered so…

    Get photographer that gives a USB stick of photos not pay per print.

    Flowers were a wedding present.

    Made wedding dress (also got dry cleaned years afterward as regular clothes not wedding or formal wear).

    Made and decorated cake. Had top layer cake for daughter's christening a couple of years later.

    Brother in law ran the music.

    I've told my daughter how romantic it would be to elope.

    Our wedding was soooo cheap, can't remember budget per item but way less than $5000, probably less than $3000.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/11/2017 - 15:45

    Selfie stick wedding photos. Savings.

  • Lando on 23/11/2017 - 16:08

    Don't have it in inner Sydney.

  • poohduck on 23/11/2017 - 16:17
    -3

    don't involve religion - there's a cost saving and religion should be discouraged

  • The Wololo Wombat on 23/11/2017 - 17:03

    If you're in SE QLD. One Word

    DARRRRRRRRBS.

    https://www.darbsphoto.com/

    He's a bloody legend.

  • TransportPosters on 24/11/2017 - 07:56
    +4

    Marry into a culture that gives money as gifts rather than presents, so all their family gives you envelopes full of cash. Wedding pays for itself.

    • HYX on 24/11/2017 - 18:09

      Would that possibly involve changing finances?
      Ideally I'm hoping that's the case, although I've come across some threads discussing how much to give at weddings and some people mentioned $50 or looking for gifts under $50 that look expensive…

      • TransportPosters on 26/11/2017 - 15:09
        +2

        Sadly, weddings are all smiles and laughter but in reality with the types of weddings that many people put on these days, if you're giving cash then you're expected to give an amount which not only reflects your love for them but also a decent bit of cash to cover what they outlaid for you to drink all night and eat a multiple-course meal. In my experience going to numerous multicultural weddings over the years, $200 per person would be the average after discussions with fellow attendees, and the couple do notice how much you give. But it won't be remembered forever, and some couples are a lot more understanding than others.

        • Munki on 28/11/2017 - 13:26
          -2

          $200 per person. That better be an extravagant wedding. Asian weddings with seafood banquets generally give about $100 per person…

  • jacross on 24/11/2017 - 08:40

    Your venue has a minimum spend of $20k? Choose a different venue.

    • HYX on 24/11/2017 - 18:11

      Wedding mark up is ridiculous.
      This seems to be the median from what I've come across.
      I will reconsider ones with lower minimum spend :)

      • Gowrie29 on 25/11/2017 - 13:19
        +12

        Don't mention the word wedding. You are boking a function

        You need flowers for a fucntion

        You need a cake for a function

        You need music/band for a function

        And so on

        • smartazz104 on 25/11/2017 - 22:58
          +1

          Family reunion ;)

        • D6C1 on 27/11/2017 - 18:41

          You need music/band for a function

          Spotify! or iHeartRadio

        • pennypincher98 on 28/11/2017 - 21:11

          @D6C1: Google Play 4 month free trial?

        • D6C1 on 28/11/2017 - 22:25

          @pennypincher98:

          Google Play 4 month free trial?

          Winner!

  • Aussie Smurfette on 24/11/2017 - 10:14
    +2

    Will fill out your list when able to but if you don’t get married on a Saturday, even a Sunday you will save heaps. Wedding businesses can charge huge prices on a Saturday but are in low demand during the week.
    You will be surprised at how much you can save.

    • knk on 27/11/2017 - 16:52
      +1

      Man Sundays are alright, guess you don't really want to have too big a night though…but Weekday weddings shit me.

      How much can you really save, say your $150 a head goes down to $100..so you save $50 a guest. And it's not usually that big a difference.

      Yet that guest has to take a day of annual leave at at least…lets say $300 before tax if they make a bit under 80k. It's just inconsiderate.

  • Antikythera on 24/11/2017 - 15:17
    +5

    I went to a nephews wedding this year. A lot less formal than others I have been to. It was great.

    Was in a large community hall in the almost bush outer north eastern suburbs of melbourne. not quite the yarra valley but close. Ceremony was outside at sunset. The hall kitchen was used as the bar and they had hired 3 food trucks with different food styles which worked really well. Live band and a DJ.

    Having things simple meant they didnt have to limit the guest list. Neither are pretentious and wanting over the top luxury when the money could go towards their home instead.

    • HYX on 24/11/2017 - 18:14

      Any idea on what that may have costed?
      I was surprised to find out some weddings that seem to appear rustic and low key turn out to be just as expensive.

      • Antikythera on 24/11/2017 - 18:27

        I dont know I'm sorry.

      • Stopback on 27/11/2017 - 10:51
        +1

        3 food trucks easily 4k

  • Inzo on 24/11/2017 - 15:40
    +1

    We did ours 8 years ago, in Fiji

    60 guests attended the ceremony and the dinner

    We paid for:
    * Our 10 nights accommodation (Holiday) at Shangri-La FIjian resort
    * Bus to take all guests from one side of resort to the chapel for the ceremony and bring them back
    * Mercedes for the bride and the bridesmaides
    * Bride and Bridesmaides hair and makeup and flowers
    * Photographer who took over 150 images and published 60 in an albumn for us
    * Church decoration, and gospel singers
    * Catered buffet dinner for all guests, and $1000FJD bar tab

    Cost us 20k AUD

    Guests paid their own airfare and accommodation (between 1- 2k on average per couple)

    Would highly reccomend!!

    (Also means you don't get the freeloading guests who can;t afford it :) )

    Also, this is where you get married :o Chapel front , Chapel View from Altar

    • smpantsonfire on 27/11/2017 - 20:47

      You're the worst type of person.

      • Inzo on 28/11/2017 - 14:41
        +1

        For having a great holiday and wedding at the same time?

        Seems plausible…

        • stirlo on 05/12/2017 - 11:40

          For suggesting that guests who can't afford 1-2k are freeloaders?

    • Munki on 28/11/2017 - 13:37

      Wow that just screams twat.

  • Archi on 24/11/2017 - 16:58
    +1

    if you get married in spring be prepared to book and commit as early as 12-18 months in advance for photography, venue, celebrant and everything else that has the word wedding attached to it

  • MrTweek on 25/11/2017 - 11:09
    +5

    Whatever you buy, don't tell them it's for a wedding.
    Try this at any florist:

    "I need a bouqet of flowers" "sure, we got these for $35 or this one for $50"

    "I need a bouqet of flowers for a wedding" "sure, we got these for $350 or this one for $500"

    • Zondor on 25/11/2017 - 11:18
      +3

      This really is a dick move to the venue itself though, I've had this done to me as a DJ and it absolutely sucks. There is alot more prep into weddings to ensure everything goes smoothly.

    • h3h3 on 25/11/2017 - 13:02
      +6

      its not always this simple, as a DJ as well and photographer the difference in prep that goes into a regular function compared to a wedding is HUGE.. a 21st for example i just show up with little to no prep done besides a few texts. a wedding on the other hand can be multiple phone calls, multiples setups, double the equipment, hours getting the right music sorted, arriving early, meeting with bride/groom.. this is why i charge atleast 50% extra ontop of my function rate

  • MessyG on 25/11/2017 - 11:21
    +4

    We did ours for around $10-$12k and it was gorgeous and got featured on a few bridal sites so here goes:

    Reception: Probably where I spent the most money - held at a restaurant instead of dedicated wedding venue. It was a delicious Italian one. Table setup was white roses in rectangular glass vases and that was it, saw a photo on Pinterest and just went with that. From memory it was $130 per head.
    No. of Guests: 50
    Ceremony: Under a 150 year old tree in a park - free
    Photography: Probably spent market rates here too, a couple of thou from memory.
    Videography: Nope
    Flowers: Minimal - bridal bouquet was peonies, 1 bridesmaid with a bouquet of white roses. Table flowers as mentioned. Cost a few hundred bucks.
    Hair & Makeup: Paid for both, wish I'd done the makeup myself, the artist completely overdid it. I'd probably try a bunch of makeup looks on myself and photograph them than pay someone. Probably $200 combined.
    Dress/suit: Dress was from BCBG Max Azria that I got from Bluefly.com for $500 and looked amazing. Shoes were more expensive, because I was spending so little on the dress, I bought a pair of Louboutins ;) Suit was a very generous gift from my husbands father to him, cost more than mine but it was completely worth it. He still has it and wears it.
    Bridal party: 1 bridesmaid, 1 groomsman. They were happy to choose and buy their own off the rack as long as they were within the colour scheme.
    Cake: Paid for this from a bakery that does them. 3 tiers, classic white fondant and almond layer, off-white ribbon with fresh flowers as decorations. Couple of hundred bucks.

    I should also add bonbonierre was a small box of locally-made chocolates that was put out on each plate. Can't remember cost.

    We didn't get cars. I got driven by my Mum in her Mazda, they didn't seem necessary to me.

    Honeymoon was on Bora Bora which we could never have afforded if not for our wedding being smack in the middle of the GFC and the price of luxury destinations dropping something like 60% at the time.

    It was very pared back and understated and chic - the surroundings we got married in needed no decoration and the restaurant we chose was in the CBD which was beautifully fitted out - we were outside and they had greenery of their own and fairy lights everywhere so I didn't need to spend much money on gussying much up.

    • HYX on 27/11/2017 - 09:06

      Thanks for the details!
      Do you mind sharing what restaurant it was? Feel free to pm me.
      I'll check out the site for dresses :) I'm not prepared to pay thousands for a one time dress haha

      • MessyG on 27/11/2017 - 14:05
        +1

        It's since closed down but you can do it anywhere, my sister had hers at Cumulus in Melbourne, similar price.

        Also check out theoutnet.com and netaporter.com - I think going the designer dress wins any day. Collette Dinnigan also did a very well priced off the rack collection too, not sure if that's still happening.

  • Zondor on 25/11/2017 - 11:21
    +4

    Have a Cocktail wedding, seriously.

    So much better, I've DJ'd a few now and the atmosphere is infinitely better.

    You Can:
    Invite more people.
    Pay for canapes instead of meal sets.
    The bridal party isn't isolated from the rest of the guests.
    Generally more relaxed atmosphere.

    Mostly my own personal opinion but I'm surprised more people don't do it.

    • dtc on 25/11/2017 - 13:02
      +2

      Absolutely. A ceremony outside, cocktail party nearby. If you can find a venue that doesn’t do the catering you can then buy all the drinks yourself and hire some waiters and cocktail people. Catering will be snack food /hors d'oeuvre. Get a good DJ. I can highly recommend Zondor (well no idea but s/he agrees with me on weddings so clearly intelligent)

      People will remember the food if you serve it, but will remember the party if you make it into a party (and won’t care that there wasn’t sit down meals)

      My sister in law had one and all her friends loved it.

    • Gnosh on 27/11/2017 - 12:56
      +2

      I'm with you, I like cocktail weddings.

      The more mature crowd tends to prefer a sit down, though. You can't please everyone.

  • mattys on 25/11/2017 - 11:44
    +2

    We had an extremely small wedding, Basically just family and a few close friends each.

    Reception: We rented a house in the forest and set up the outdoor area ourselves. $400 (Per night)
    No. of Guests: 40ish
    Ceremony: $700. We found a nice little forest in Warburton, VIC. The only cost was the celebrant.
    Photography: $1500. Perhaps our biggest cost other than food.
    Videography:-
    Flowers:$500
    Hair & Makeup: She had her friends doing it for her.
    Dress/suit: $1500 for the dress. I just wore a shirt. It was February and 40 degrees.
    Bridal party:??
    Cake:$250 - We got a bunch of cheese wheels and stacked them on top of each other.
    Drink: I'm not sure how much it cost all up, we had quite a few slabs and a few bottles of spirits.
    Food: Again I'm not entirely sure - we had a lot of finger food and then had about 20 pizzas delivered later on.

    I think everything cost under 7k.

    • Aids on 25/11/2017 - 21:20

      I got married in that forest too. Best spot.

  • fukunaga on 25/11/2017 - 12:27
    +4

    Reception: $5500
    No. of Guests: 35
    Ceremony: $900
    Photography: Red Pocket maybe $300
    Videography: N/A, Live feed via Facebook for Ceremony
    Flowers: $0
    Hair & Makeup: $350
    Dress/suit: $2250 + $1200 shoes; $700 farewell dress/ $700 + $160 shoes
    Bridal party: N/A, No bridal party - mum's dress + shoes: $1200
    Cake: $180
    BOMBONIERES: $240

    We had a reception (lunch) at Park Hyatt Sydney, so that was the approximate price. No venue hire cost, just needed to reach minimum $2000 (spend on food etc, per "room" - they have 3 rooms, each accommodating up to 40 people) and pay for meals and silly things like seat covers and cake service (in retrospect should have haggled for these to be free as we only took 1 room and didn't ask for a 2nd given it was squishy in its space). We were also free to use their lobby as a welcoming/ photozone.

    Ceremony was at Botanic Gardens. We got lucky because the husband's a photographer and had mates who wanted to help out and take shots for us, so it was just a matter of giving them a red pocket and a meal (albeit expensive meal) in exchange for photos. We asked a friend to do a live video of the ceremony to Facebook and that was it.
    I did my mum's makeup, and the makeup artist didn't stay with me for the day, but I was lucky a friend helped me to touch up.
    Flowers were freebies/ recycled due to my work and we only stuck with one type (baby's breath so no labour involved).
    I got my wedding dress from Lover at Strand Arcade (White Magick Collection) and shoes were from Christian Louboutin. My second farewell dress was something I found at DJ's. The husband's suit and shoes were also from DJ's, namely Uberstone and Florsheim.
    Our cake was a strawberry and watermelon cake from Black Star Pastry. Our bombonieres were caramel apples, and got a discount bulk ordered (1 apple per guest).

    Overall we wanted it to be really simple (to the point there was no bridal party) but wanted it to look grand and well thought. We were happy we didn't take videos for the reception because it was only 3 hours, and we didn't have space to do any dancing. To entertain the guests we had a Fujifilm Instax and 10 packs of film and let them all snap away instead of hiring a photobooth. No car hire because our ceremony was in a place where you cannot see the car, so saved on that.
    Pretty sure we did it all around $12Kish - it was really simple, but guests came back with comments saying the wedding felt lavish.

    EDIT: Saturday lunch, 3 course alternate, unlimited beverage package.
    Also DIY'd all my graphics and invitations so the most I spent was $20 on heavy card/ paper stock. Lots of stuff was recycled from home like cardboard, and none of my jewellery was new.

    Make sure there is enough food for everyone - that's important.

  • belongsinforums on 25/11/2017 - 12:29
    +8

    Pay for a professional photography studio to do your photos. Amateurs simply have not the experience to capture your one-off event. View their past work and find a studio you're happy with.

    Do the wedding and reception at the same venue. Much, much easier.

    I ripped YouTube playlists for music. Just search for lounge music.

    Wife will want professional hair and makeup.

    If you're going to China anytime soon, you can get a well-made custom made wedding dress for around $700. Suits are cheaper.

    Ask for money in lieu of presents to recoup some of the costs.

    The less you have to do in preparation, the better wedding you'll have.

    Otherwise, courts/park wedding!

    • MessyG on 25/11/2017 - 14:02
      +2

      So true re photography - don't skimp on that. You can also buy a gorgeous designer dress far cheaper than a formal wedding gown. So much cooler too imo.

    • syousef on 26/11/2017 - 07:33
      -3

      Past performance isn't a guarantee they'll do well for you.
      Paying big certainly isn't.
      We had family take our wedding photos, and while we'd have preferred a few more full length ones, we got some wonderful photos.
      We've also taken wedding photos for friends and family on a handful of occasions and they were happy. It's quite a gift to give though. Very long and tiring day.

      • belongsinforums on 26/11/2017 - 07:41

        There's no guarantees either way. Just speaking anecdotally. Wife wasn't happy with 'old amateur photographer mate's' work

        • syousef on 26/11/2017 - 07:49

          Is that because his work sucked or because her standards were very high?

        • belongsinforums on 26/11/2017 - 10:33

          @syousef: bit of both really

  • Gowrie29 on 25/11/2017 - 13:13
    +1

    The venue you choose will be the biggest indicator of how much you will spend.

    Bigger venue means more people, menu printing, name cards, more flowers to fill the room.

    Have no official bridal party. That way no need to purchase dresses, shoes, make up suits ect for the group. Invite them to be part if the day but they can wear what they want. Maybe give them a colour theme only.

    Save on the things that don't matter much. Wecaught taxis and mini buses to and from the venue.

    Shop around. There is a difference in value from different suppliers such as flowers, cakes, photogrpaghy.

    Good luck

  • GangGang on 25/11/2017 - 13:51
    +2

    Weddings are cheaper on Sunday. If you can find out a day where a public holiday is on the next day (Monday) then at least the guests won't have work the next day and you will get a cheaper rate for doing it on a sunday.

  • Real Bill Pullman on 25/11/2017 - 14:08
    +3

    If you're catering to a separate venue, try not to tell them it's a wedding at the booking. I've booked a lot of corporate catering and the packages we were offered for our wedding seemed a lot higher. Same goes for the flowers, but in the end we went with minimal flowers and it actually looked a lot better than the original plan.

    Unless your family/friends and massive drinkers, avoid the drinks package and just pay per drink. Once you factor in nanna etc. people almost never drink as much as you think.

    If it's at all your thing, church weddings can be really cheap. I think ours was something like $500 for the venue and minister.

    Most of all, shop around. The quotes we got were all over the place.

    Also, don't cheap out on the photography. That doesn't mean you need to get the full diamond exclusive maxi package (with accompanying oil painting) but a mate who's pretty good with his DSLR won't cut it. It's worth it for the little things - we have some incredible photos of the ceremony despite the photographer being basically invisible at the time.

    • Baghern on 26/11/2017 - 11:47
      +2

      Friend got dudded a drinks package… we hardly drunk half of it.

      The service was terrible slow and most of the time there was one person (jnr? or purposely incompetent) not two…

      Its like the staff has an "in knowledge" deal that says the staff can have the left over drinks…

  • Oofy Doofy on 25/11/2017 - 14:18
    +2

    Australia abolishes Pre-nuptial agreements (FA/CFA)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=629xPLB7NkI

    Good luck!

  • d4rkbliss on 25/11/2017 - 14:29
    +2

    We had ours in August this year in Ubud, Bali:

    No. of Guests: 40 + a few kids
    Ceremony: $2150 included celebrant, chairs, flowers and decorations Photo
    Reception: $8000 included drinks/cocktails, canapes and four-course dinner. We paid for drinks on-consumption since we knew our guesses were not big drinkers and brought our own champagne and whisky. Photo
    Flowers: Included
    Hair & Makeup: $800 for my wife (+ one re-touch), mother-in-law and my mother. Bridesmaids did their own hair and makeup.
    Dress/suit: Suit was $160 from ASOS during one of their 20% off sale (paid in GBP, of course). Wife's dress was $800 online - can't remember the store.
    Bridal party: Bridesmaids and groomsmen all paid for their own dresses/suits from ASOS. Dresses were less than $100 each and boys spent around $100 each for their pants, waistcoat and bowtie.
    Cake: $300
    Photography: $3000
    Videography: $2000
    DJ: $1100

    My wife designed all the invites, save-the-date, place-cards and menu; printing and paper was probably around $250. We set up a website on Squarespace for $70 (with a student discount) and had all our guests RSVP via the website.

    • eruption on 27/11/2017 - 16:09
      +1

      $1,100 for a DJ?

  • phaol7ta on 25/11/2017 - 15:49
    +3

    i spent almost 20k on my wedding last year. some tips:
    1. dont waste ur money on wedding car, i hired 1 hour local limo just to drop us from house to the venue for $80.
    2. no kids meal on the wedding, instead i ordered happy meal from maccas. it was lunch time tho.
    3. everytime u meet with ur vendor, ie flowers or decoration or cake, dont say its for wedding, they will rip u off.
    4. do ur decoration by ur self, kmart has plenty selection of things that can be used for table decoration.
    5. photographer or make up artist are normally know for each other, so ask if they know someone good with affordable price. Trust me it can save u a fortune.
    6. choose ur guest wisely, do not invite someone u barely meet just for the sake of wedding.
    7.Wait for Amex offer for hotel or accomodation. Last year we saved $200 for one night in Sofitel Melbourne. they also upgraded the room plus a bottle of champagne when we told them that today was our wedding day.

    have a good time mate and i wish u all the best.

    • danyool on 25/11/2017 - 22:33
      +3

      Double standards!

      flowers or decoration or cake, dont say its for wedding,

      upgraded the room plus a bottle of champagne when we told them that today was our wedding day.

      • phaol7ta on 25/11/2017 - 23:12
        +1

        i wish the receptionist never ask about hows my day going when we checked in..

  • krunchymoses on 25/11/2017 - 18:29
    +9

    Bloody unlikely this advice will be taken but…

    I had a wedding that cost me a few grand and to this day it is known as one of the best weddings in my friend group. And there have been some pretty big soirees.

    Backyard.

    We had the celebrant organised and we got to know him real well before the date. I set up the sound system and just ensured a mate of mine kept levels reasonable and made a playlist.

    We had a bunch of plates which were sorted out by friends (mostly parents friends - one of them owns a cafe so they did the salad trays from there - you could sub this for caterers)

    We had (literally) kiddy pools full of ice and booze. A huge trip to Dan Murphy's and some kiddy pools from the bargain shop. Some of the guests ended up dipping in the ice around midnight :-D

    But most of all, we didn't have to worry about guest numbers or any of that rubbish. Everyone was welcome. Nobody stressed about plus ones and people brought people I didn't even really know. And it didn't matter cause we were all just getting blotto and celebrating our love.

    Photographers are great but if you are a real ozbargainer you will give some kid a few hundred bucks to do it. We didn't have a photographer but our guests took a ton of pictures anyway so whatever.

    It was, as I said, one of the best weddings we have ever seen. We all just went (profanity) ballistic and had fun.

    But the marriage lasted a year and a bit so like, you know, there's that :-P

  • hypie on 25/11/2017 - 18:46

    Do a destination wedding, cuts out the trash ;).

    • anastasiastarz on 27/11/2017 - 08:33
      +1

      Personally I know only one of my friends would actually attend our wedding, not sure about his friends though.
      My friends will either not go, or ask me to pay for the trip.

      • hypie on 27/11/2017 - 09:55

        You would be surprised, we are forcing our friends to fly to europe. About 8 have confirmed so far. Then there is family as well.

        • anastasiastarz on 27/11/2017 - 21:31

          Did you require confirmation emails? One suggested we do a fb live video.

        • hypie on 27/11/2017 - 23:02

          @anastasiastarz:

          We got them to confirm on a website RSVP.

  • arbok on 25/11/2017 - 19:08
    +2

    I got married at a church (St. Michael's) in Melbourne and it was only $1200 at the time. You get the celebrant, beautiful venue, organ to play songs.

    I then had a Saturday daytime lunch celebration which saved about $50 per head (it was $80 vs $130 for Sat Night) - same food, same everything. for 100 people. The money saved, we took our families for another banquet at night.

    I didn't get a car.

    I got a 4 person band for about $1000.

    I wore a basic black suit (new from Peter Jackson's).

    The photography is the only place where I kind of cheated as we had two weddings, and we only paid for the one in Malaysia and they said they were happy to cover the Melbourne one for 'free'.

    I basically got the bare minimum everything and it only costed me $12000.

    I know plenty of people who spend $30-40k which is absolutely insane to me. They probably have more guests, but they also spend crazy amounts on photography, limos, decorations, bands, entertainment, specific alcohol and food, location.

    • hypie on 27/11/2017 - 09:57
      +2

      Try $118,000 for a melbourne wedding I attending early this year. Ridiculous.

    • arbok on 28/11/2017 - 01:25

      Forgot to mention - I had the reception at Brighton International - which was fantastic. Food was great and totally recommended. I don't know if they stopped, but they offered seconds to people who wanted more. Free flow alcohol as well for 4 hours. $80! (This was 5 years ago though!) :)

  • OzzyOzbourne on 25/11/2017 - 19:09
    +2

    Don't spend so much money on stuff.

  • Lumens on 25/11/2017 - 19:13

    I’m a wedding photographer and videographer. If you book last minute (under 3 months) we will generally discount over half price.

    • Aids on 25/11/2017 - 21:26
      +3

      Really? My gf is a photographer, and if you try to book her last minute, you get told 'sorry booked out'. Most are done 12 months in advance for spring, booked out 6 months in advance most other times.

      • John on 26/11/2017 - 01:45
        +1

        It depends how desperate they are for the money. If this is your sole income and you dont get many bookings, especially in the low season.. most likely they will take any last minute job. And yes, discount is quite possible

        PS: im a part freelance/owner videographer

      • Lumens on 27/11/2017 - 01:21
        +3

        For sure we will discount last minute and take whatever job we can get if we’re free. I don’t understand why your gf would turn down a job if it’s simply last minute? Maybe she values her social life and plans but for me it’s my full time job. It’s actually a bonus if you’re not booked on the day.

        We do well over 180 weddings a year at an average of 2800-3800 per job and if there’s any opportunity to add an extra gig on, then we’d take it with open arms.

        Here’s my website: www.lumensphotography.com

        • HYX on 27/11/2017 - 11:42

          How big is your team?

        • Aids on 27/11/2017 - 23:27

          It's not that she's turning jobs away, just that she is literally booked out. Besides, why would you devalue yourself? Not much margin shooting a wedding for $1400…

        • Lumens on 01/12/2017 - 00:51

          @XYH:

          5 first shooters and 5 second shooters.

        • Lumens on 01/12/2017 - 00:53

          @Aids:

          It’s not devaluing. It’s picking up a job that you would otherwise earn $0 sitting around at home. I just stress that this is last minute only and if they booked a year in advance then no discounts apply.

        • Lumens on 01/12/2017 - 00:53

          @Aids:

          Also, shooting a wedding is 99% margin. The only cost is fuel and time.

    • anastasiastarz on 27/11/2017 - 08:33

      The risk is too high…

  • stevednj48 on 25/11/2017 - 19:14
    +4

    this is what i done

    Hired local chapel for ceremony about $100
    Hired Celebrant $100 (family Friend)
    Hired local photographer to take pics $250 (got them all on cd for us to print)
    after wedding went to a local pub with a function room provided meals drink for everyone
    was a small family wedding i think we had about 15 people in total meals and drink cost us about $450 in total

    end result we did under 1K by keeping it small immediate family couldn't justify the cost of a big wedding.
    instead we saved the cash for a deposit on our first house.

    • stevednj48 on 25/11/2017 - 19:18

      forgot to add for video we had our own HD video camera set up to record the ceremony

  • ashpete02 on 25/11/2017 - 22:05
    +7

    wow.. can't believe what some spend on weddings… 20-35k+ FTW!! Me and my partner could build the needed extension on to our house for our 3 kids with that sort of money, thats nuts…f&^%k thats nuts….. we even wear rings and tell people we're married and noone knows the better, who ever asks to see your weding cert…. what a con these expensive marrages are eh….. some peeps must have pretty shitty 'friends' if they need to spend that much to entertain them for a few hours!

    • Providence on 25/11/2017 - 23:17
      +3

      "just exchange rings and tell people you're married". Classic.

      You do know that you can make it official for just a few hundred dollars at a registry office, if you like?

      • ashpete02 on 26/11/2017 - 10:42
        +1

        Yeah but yousee we don't need a piece of paper to tell us how commited we are to each other or our kids, with current divorce rates taken into account it means nothing anyway, weddings are now massive business as clearly seen by what people are spending (seen on this thread!) We could have an anaversiry of meeting BBQ/House event every year for the next 20 years with free booze and food for that sort of money, at least then only the real friends and family show ;)

  • Cheshire Cat on 25/11/2017 - 22:08
    +1

    Reception: $4-5k for food, it was at a friend of a friends chinese restaurant, banquet style. booze was BYO so it was a few grand from dan murphys. we got two types of nice beer, red and white wine and champagne and had heaps left over(we even bought too much and were able to take back a bunch of champagne we didnt use, we kept the leftover beer hehe) BYO booze was a big cost saving compared to my wifes sister who got married only 2 months prior to us and a similar sized wedding
    No. of Guests:130
    Ceremony: whatever the donation to the church was $300 maybe?
    Photography: $2-3k and then we spent another $2k or so on fancy album/dvd etc…was a friend who is a big time professional (does famous peoples island getaways etc) so we got a bargain off them but flying them and an assistant in and we had them for about 12 hours
    Videography: didnt have
    Flowers: wife made paper origami ones for bouquets and didnt have any others
    Hair & Makeup: sister-in-laws friend so only cost a couple of hundred dollars as a gesture
    Dress/suit: suits were few hundred each, bridesmaids came from asian dressmaker online about $100 each maybe $150. girls shoes were more than their dresses as we had different colours as highlights for everyone. brides dress was made by sister for free. she makes hand made corsets etc so it was pretty detailed and i hate to think what it would have cost to pay someone
    Bridal party: they kept their clothes
    Cake:about $500-600

    we did needed some extras for tea ceremony (second gown for wife) but in laws paid for the pig for that and had it at their place. family all helped make food the days before etc.

    wife made lots of extras. bon bon whatever gifty things they are were all hand packaged bulk ordered fancy teas and hot chocolate type things, all the dessert centrepieces at each table, hat and hair pieces, cake toppers, invitations were designed in photoshop etc.
    we didnt have cars or any of that as it didnt mean anything to us, but did buy some strange items like a zorb ball to take some pictures in.
    we got given $10k from each set of parents and didnt spend anywhere near that. we also got money from guests as its tradition but seems to be the norm for everyone these days. we easily paid for our quite lavish honeymoon from our wedding and had some left over for our new house. this was 7 years ago.

    The moral of our tale is spend money on things you care about and will last (our photos are great and the dvd slideshow they made was a great gift for parents and grandparents etc later). the things that you dont care about that are expected….screw that, its your day do whatever you like :D

    and i know you said not the rings but we made each others (at a jewelers in sydney cbd) and it wasnt really anymore than paying someone but was well worth it (simple platinum bands, no gems etc)

  • Baghern on 25/11/2017 - 22:41
    +1

    Wow big numbers for small attendance…

    Im scared to think what my cousins 500 guest wedding cost now

    • smartazz104 on 25/11/2017 - 23:02

      Big Fat Greek Wedding?

    • bobbified on 29/11/2017 - 12:00

      A friend of mine did theirs in Melbourne CBD for just under 500 people at the end of last year.

      They are by no means rich and the total cost was $163,000!

  • od810 on 26/11/2017 - 00:08
    +2

    I don't know if you like the idea but we got our reception at lunch time, about $40 cheaper per head and you actually can take a lot of nice picture of the reception. Our wedding was also during off peak period. With flowers, don't go for wedding florist, they charge shit tons for it. We just went to a normal flower shop, probably saved us couple of hundreds. We had both Videographer and Photographer, but i think Photographer worth much more, so if you plan on videographer, you may want consider to skip it.

  • John on 26/11/2017 - 01:48

    Just bear in mind, in the end what you’re left with are the photos and videos. So make sure you budget properly for a nice photographer/videographer and try to save elsewhere

    • sparkanum on 27/11/2017 - 08:54
      +2

      Just bear in mind, in the end what you’re left with are the photos and videos.

      Well, that and a spouse.

      And memories, which are always better and free of charge.

      • John on 27/11/2017 - 12:01

        Well I’m referring to the list of things the OP posted. And good luck with your memory 40 years down the road

        • sparkanum on 27/11/2017 - 13:42

          If I can't remember my wedding day in 40 years, then not having photos will be the least of my problems!

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