Hey OzBargain,
So I'm doing it, I'm getting married!
I know wedding budgets vary tremendously but are there any smart decisions I can make to keep costs low?
Probably outdated but my parents both agreed "don't tell the florist it's for a wedding and you'll save 20%".
Got any more? Planning to have the ceremony in Sydney if that helps.
Cheers
Planning a wedding shouldn't be stressful if both parties pull their weight. This means that no one should need to take time off just to plan or get some of the wedding stuff ready. Take time off if you want to chill (this I recommend).
I've seen couples try to save money and by doing some of the stuff themselves and ended up needing to take time off work in order to do so. There are always means to simplify it.
Wedding invites? Send digital copy and just get one or two proper physical copy if parents want to have it for sentimental reason.
What helped for me was a Kanban board to track progress of all items. Have 2 post-it colours to assign it to each party and list out all tasks to get there. Stick it on an empty wall or do it even digitally. The person assigned is in charge or moving the progress forward (not doing it alone).
What helped for me was a Kanban board to track progress of all items. Have 2 post-it colours to assign it to each party and list out all tasks to get there.
Great idea, I reccomend the same approach when going through a divorce.
It’s usually one party who actually cares about the details though. Much easier and safer to stay out of it!
we had wedding with 60 guests. people on average gifted us $150 per person
wedding was at a beach venue on Sunday lunch, ceremony was on the grass outside. photos were nearby.
venue and food was one price
weddingy decorations another price
dj an extra price
photographer only. no video.
and we had a celebrant
all up was close to 30k
but then i won an eclipse cross and sold it for 30k
so my top tip is … win a car and sell it to pay for the wedding.
Didn't take long for race to come up eh
lol
Culture. But sure, you go with race, if that floats your boat.
@bargaino: Asia is a huge continent though, with a lot of cultures. When you say Asia, it definitely seems more like a race based generalisation.
Didn't take long for race to come up eh
As Scotty says, 早起的鸟儿有虫吃
not asian
but a nice beachy wedding.
Could just not get married. They either end in divorce or death. /s
if you're asking on ozbargain, you probably shouldn't be getting married.
I’ve been to plenty of weddings and I’ve never noticed whether the flowers match the napkins or whether the meal was the 5 course or the 3 course or even if the beers were local or imported. Don’t think you have to impress the guests, they are there for you not for the food or the drink or the flowers.
You don’t even need a sit down meal; snacks and drinks and a DJ and some speeches will keep people going
Absolutely. Skip the sit down meal. Do canapés and drinks only, standing tables with some chairs about. Most people can eat enough from canapés anyway, and then no waste from the meals.
Do desert German style: Get a cake that people will actually eat, and get family/friends who can cook to make some cakes too. Put them all out at the appropriate moment with coffee & tea and have people help themselves.
Do what you want, not what family expects or wants. Imo, weddings are a waste of money. It's not about that day, but about all the years after it.
Biggest tip as mentioned above is limit numbers. Have a small wedding. Too big you don’t get to talk and see everyone, no time to actually sit back and enjoy it. Our wedding was 45 people and it was amazing.
Limit family, don’t invite those cousins you never see etc
That doesn't work for every cultural background unfortunately.
I always hate these threads mostly because 'weddings are personal' and is budgeting on one is also personal
you will always get the token comments
'just elope'
'back yard wedding'
'dont waste money on a wedding spend it on your honeymoon/house'
etc
here is the thing you sit with your partner and discuss what you want out of a 'wedding' get a rough idea of what you would be willing to spend and go from there getting quotes that work 'within your budget'
otherwise if it is a 'money saving exercise' the useless advice is the 'right advice' just elope or go to the wedding registration office etc
Congratulations on your engagement
I like your comment. Very profound but should be already be obvious
get your wedding rings from aliexpress.
my wife and I had a preference for "white" gold.
we bought "white gold" from a reputable jeweller in melbourne for a couple of hundred bucks (i forget exactly as it was 20 years ago)
anyway , we were travelling OS and were concerned about losing them so I bought a couple of wedding rings off aliexpress for ~$2 each.
side by side the original/"genuine" and the aliexpress ring look identical. only the "stamp" on the inside marks the genuine as genuine.
I should have bought them from aliexpress originally.
Friends got titanium bands from AliExpress to use as wedding rings cost them couple of dollars.
Do you have a link or some examples?
Elope. Have small ceremony then come back and have a party for all. Put what you save into the mortgage
Weddings shouldn't be about making or losing money, but if you're asian and have plenty of asian friends, you'll probably get most of the money back (or make a profit).
opposed to having lots of 'white' anglo Aussie or English mates who probably wont even give you a gift….
I've been on quite a few bridal parties and been around when the money counting is done afterwards. I've got to say that I've noticed that the smallest red pockets mostly seem to be from non-asian corporate colleagues and distant relatives. I think the non-asians don't necessarily understand the culture so that's fine. The distant relatives are a different story… sometimes it just seems like they feel obligated to go. lol
Asians tend to 'give good gifts' but it goes both way there is an expectations to give back when it is your turn 'which is fair enough' - however most Asian i know and im half asian my self 'write down' the gift or value of the gift they got so when it is that families turn they give a gift of similar value
Europeans or other ethnics generally have the common curtesy to try and give a decent enough gift that covers the cost per-head the older generation are probably more generous i know a few italians that got amazing gifts from there family close and extended.
Aussies or more so English descendants have the the attitude they dont need to 'give anything of great value' as it is 'your wedding' you pay for it - it is why they are often have 'back yard' or registry weddings because the bulk of guests will eat and drink there fill but give a fairly low value gifts if they give a gift i at all. It is why us Ethnics tend to joke you need to 'bring you own food to an Aussie wedding' dont worry about a gift. - it is something to note when 'cutting' people from your wedding list they will be the 1st to chop as they tend to be the tightest - i actually worked with one lady who openly admitted she had a net worth well above 20m in property but would never give more then 50 bucks as a gift for her and her husband to a wedding and could care less if people complained or were not happy. Personally i'd be ashamed of myself if i was 'that cheap' but each to their own i guess….
not saying any particular 'way is correct' but it is important to know what you are getting and what to get for the different cultures it is also important because these things translate to other events like birthdays, christenings etc
@Trying2SaveABuck: Irish Scots here - always gift the suspected cost pp invited. $150 per head, 2 ppl invited, min $300 gift (we'd probably go $500).
Cant account for bad social etiquette, regardless of culture.
@Benoffie: in fairness just because Irish people are 'white' doesnt mean they are anything like the English - they are probably some of the most jovial, warm people on the planet.
Perhaps because of the way the British treated them they have a history of 'real' hardship and oppression that doesnt get recognized enough
Lol, Italian here and yes my wedding was nearly free as I got married in Italy and majority of guests (Italians and Australians) gifted us money that covered the restaurant.
You have too choose your list of people you want first, then decide if you are providing food and or drinks and go from there.. we budgeted around 10 people (height of COVID) and was just under budget) had a nice Stradbroke island wedding up high at a private residence with decent food plenty of alcohol provided by the in-laws and local seafood and had a place big enough for all to stay. Research plan and pay !
Sign a pre-nup
Set a realistic budget and work backwards from there. Don’t spend more than you can afford!
Have a good chat with your fiancé about their expectations of the wedding too. Different things are important to different people.
Sorry to any photographers out there but consider negotiating a cheaper price. I did this with a couple of popular photographers that happened to have last minute availability and just negotiated less time and photos. 3 different photographers were willing to drop their price and that way I got to go with a well established photographer.
I didn’t even use a florist, just got some bunches of flowers and put them in vases on the tables. Did my own simple bouquet with roses.
I didn’t get a hire car, we decorated our own cars.
For a destination wedding consider that you’ll also have to pay for accommodation so maybe stay local.
Even though it’s about you not your guests, try and make sure they have a good time as this means you will too. Most our budget was on food and drinks, this was affordable since we had a smaller wedding.
+Ask a friend to take photos/videos
+Instead of going to a florist, get flowers at the flower markets at Flemington
I thought the flower markets did not sell to the general public?
I've gone and got stuff from there before - it's been 5+ years, but I don't think anything has changed
+Ask a friend to take photos/videos
As long as your friend is somewhat decent with photography. Last thing you want is to spend $$$ on the wedding and only have shitty blury photos and video to remember by.
I did photos for a friend wedding it's bloody nerve wracking and takes the fun out of attending. The actual professional photographer showed up to the wrong location another park with the same name on the other side of the state like half a days drive on the wrong direction.
I managed to get a few decent photos and always get a kick when I visit them and see the photos I took up on the wall. I spent a few hours after the wedding fixing them up and getting them printed etc.
Friends doing photos/videos basically guarantees you won't get a photo worth framing etc though.
A better compromise might be friends doing videos + a photographer for 2 hours.
A friend asked me to do their wedding photography and I refused!
I didn't want to be responsible if they didn't like what I'd taken and potentially destroyed the friendship.
I've also seen the amateur videos - if you are happy with that, fine… we had a professional (have to admit it was 27 years ago, and only $350 for him to for the full day from me getting ready to the end of the reception) and we loved it. Really just wanted to see how it all went.
I guess I should have clarified - I meant if you could get a friend/family to do it who WANTED to do it + enjoy that thing
A lot of younger people these days have pretty decent photography and video skills given the rise of tiktok + instagram. I know a lot of people interested and have done this thing AND have done a great job at it, but I guess it depends on who you are around
But obviously, if you wanted professional grade photographs, ofc you need to pay for an hire a professional lol
You get for what you pay for -
I think ultimately, this whole conversation comes down to what you value and what you don't, and if you don't care about something (like me and photos, and marriage in general), then cut down on that… each to their own.
Spending $24K on flowers alone. This is the wedding I will be attending today, very close with the family.
did they buy the whole shop
you would have thought so
I spend $300 on renting linen napkins for the night. Wasn't my choice, added very little to the "aesthetic" in my opinion, don't do that.
Don't fight with each other so much that the wedding gets pulled off.
skip the wedding photographer.
Our wedding photos were nice, but nothing special considering how much it cost. You know what our favourite photos were? The random ones people took with their phones during the night. Encourage people to take as many photos as they can. I also went to a wedding where there was a disposable camera on every table and apparently the results were fantastic and way more authentic than a professional photograph
Agree. Skip a photographer.
I got married 15 years ago, so before the average person had a phone with a great camera, we had a professional photographer and as cliched as they all were, the photos turned out pretty good.
How many times have I looked at those photos? Once, the day we picked them up. That's it. In hindsight it was a waste of money.
These days everyone has a phone and many will bring a camera, there will be no shortage of digital photos for you to have and remember the day by and the simple truth is you can probably count on one hand the number of times in your life that you will get that photo album out and look at it.
Thats assuming you are happy with a few small printed photos or seeing them on a small screen.
For anything else you need a decent camera.
So cool!
I have to agree with this, or at least, make sure you and your photographer are really on the same page before the day. We tried to explain to our photographer that we basically just wanted our photos to be us just acting naturally. On the day though, he immediately started guiding us into posed and really forced photos. In the moment we felt so overwhelmed that we just went with it.
Our favourite professional photos ended up being the few random ones that he took as we walked between locations together, as well as some of the outtakes where we'd just start giggling while posing.
Congratulations on your wedding! First, venue is super important in saving. Some golf clubs are very reasonably priced, have good views and plentiful onsite parking. Food and flowers make the wedding. Cheap food is ok as long as nobody is hungry and dietary needs are met. If you have a group of girlfriends willing to help you can get flowers delivered and they set up in the venue. Otherwise it's impossible to conceal from florist. Just get cheaper one that deliver like wholesale or market.
For cake find a good Patisserie it's cheaper than separate wedding cake maker. There's good one at Lane cove
Agree here. We generally didn't try to skimp for our wedding but we bought our cake from a patisserie in Mosman and it probably cost 1/3 of an equivalent cake from a "wedding cake maker".
Hi , this is random but do you know the name of the pattisserie in lane cove?
The only stupid and expensive mistakes are things that you regret. If you want to spend 20k on red roses and are happy with that, do it! If you’re inviting 4th cousin Barry and girlfriend Jemima because that’s “expected” of you, that’s a waste and you’ll regret it.
Pick the people you care about. Invite them. It’s your day, and it will be the most fun you’ll ever have- I know my wedding was!
No need for stress. Stay off instagram and Pinterest etc, they’re poison. Do it for you how you would like it.
Marrying a westerner, as Andrew Tate puts it…
The best money save was getting married at the registry. Then a dinner with closest family and friends. Although, my wife got a 30k ring which she gets to keep forever.
Current budget trend is an outdoor wedding and hire a pizza van and ice cream cart.
Pro level is to find a park with a Dominos and a McDonald's with working soft-serve near by.
I mean this comment seems a bit tongue in cheek, but honestly there are heaps of parks with great views around Sydney Harbour that you can book for a nominal fee from local councils. Observatory Hill is one of many very nice spots!
Not a big one, but if you're doing doing a wedding and reception all at the same venue, make sure they're planning on feeding you lunch.
Our venue, despite operating a lunch service, refused to give us any food. My wife was getting ready from around 9am and had nothing other than their own snacks until the canapes were served around 4:30pm. I got there a bit later requiring less time to get ready, and eventually we left the venue and went somewhere else to get some lunch because they wouldn't make us anything. (Obviously we would have got the girls something if we'd known, but we didn't).
So worth planning it out with the venue to make sure they actually treat you as a human being that requires food to function. Also make sure you get this included for free, you'll be paying plenty already.
Way back in '95 I got married in Marylebone register office (London) for a grand total of 15 pound. We were married at 11am and 5hrs later we landed in Scilly for a 4 week honeymoon. Luckily a friend was a professional photographer. Spend the money on the honeymoon not the wedding.
finally someone sensible here.
Cancel the wedding use the money you'll save for a house deposit. Imagine looking back at the money you wasted when your relationship goes sour in ten years time.
when your relationship goes sour in ten years time.
If that's the preordained outcome, why bother wasting the 10 years? Just get out of it now and go through life solo.
Biggest mistake is to tell the missus no. Just enjoy it. If you are lucky, u do it once. Why stress over whether its a bargain.
I don't get it. You tell us you're getting married, then ask about stupid and expensive mistakes to avoid. Avoid divorce, don't get married. Honestly, it's more costly than anything else. Including house burning down and medical treatments, both of which are insurable.
My son just got married in Vanuatu earlier this month and they chose elopement with just the 2 of them. This package cost $8000 including flights, accommodation, a dinner and the wedding organisers dealing with paper work, styling etc.
Did not include photos, hair and many other things. The hair experience was not good as they could not handle caucasian hair. We've had the same problem in my Fiji. we are yet to see if there are hiccups in the legal paperwork.
Yesterday we had a celebration at a beautiful park here in Brisbane with 31 guests. We used a picnic co so they did the styling. I got a seperate caterer. I got a cake from the Cheesecake Shop and added a posh topper.People were telling me how beautiful the cake was! Total cost $4100 + my.son spent about $700 on alcohol. We had proper china, beautiful glassware etc. We got lots of.lovely comments and people mixed and chatted beautifully. We paid
$150 for games, but people just wanted to drink and chat.
The picnic thing is very popular here right now. There was a large wedding party next door but theirs was a dinner and ours a lunch, so it wasn't an issue. We were completely oblivious to the fact that the park was very busy. The weather was perfect and the setting was so beautiful.
Adding a ceremony at the park would have been a cinch and there would be permits, legal and celebrant costs plus flowers. I think this would have been better than the cost of the actual.wedding Vanuatu.
I felt sad for them because they had no support on their wedding day. The bride had an area to get ready in and she was all alone. The groom the same.. At their dinner they were alone so did some calling/messaging of the parents and other close people on their wedding night as they are feeling very alone.
Simple elope.
Bear in mind most suppliers are not that stupid. They’ve been around the block a few times and can figure out pretty fast if it’s for a wedding. You won’t save money by just avoiding using the word “wedding” when everything else suggests it’s for a wedding.
The biggest way you will save is if you do it on a weeknight, keep the guest list small and don’t do the whole nine yards (eg. Skip the videographer, the designer gown, the photo booth, live band etc).
Yeah, don't tell the florist it's for a wedding.
It's just your everyday function where you need a floral bouquet with three matching, but smaller ones, four buttonhole arrangements, and ten table centrepieces delivered to a reception venue.
They'll never figure it out.
no guests, no reception.
immediate family only, a civil ceremony in a park. picnic lunch/BBQ. done. $1000.
Not going to save you money but keep track of everything you put a deposit down for and when the remaining balance is due, try and keep your total outstanding balance easily in view. I did this and found it really important because planning usually starts a long way out, almost everything involves a deposit then the remaining amount is due around the same time for everything.
Really adds up when almost everything wedding related involves the word thousand.
This.
Dont bother with wedding planning books, just use excel to keep track and auto calculate total expenses.
Some of your friends, maybe even close friends, hate weddings / have social anxiety / won't want to go.
Give these friends an option to congratulate you without the stress of receiving an invitiation.
Assuming your fiancée is a female, make sure she can change a tyre. #staywoke
food and venue will likely be biggest costs. consider renting a holiday house on the beach and ordering food from a catering company, then buying your own grog. make a playlist and play your own music. order flowers from a flower market and decorate yourself. obviously this is all quite a bit of work but it'll save you money and give you a place to sleep that night.
-Some things you can DIY to keep costs down, i.e. made our own wedding invitations (or you can do it all virtual), seating chart was printed at OW and then we bought a cheap frame.
-Having the reception in the non peak periods (autumn/winter), wedding other than Saturday can also bring the cost down.
-Venues can give you list of recommended vendors and will do a good price with them. We had a photo booth and DJ included in our package.
-Also worth asking if you can get a discount if you pay by cash. Saved about 5-10% with this.
-FB marketplace to pick up second hand wedding things like decorations, champagne buckets
-We skipped on wedding favours since I personally don't care for them.
Overall it is personal choice, heck you may not find getting a DJ or paying extra for spirits but I did since these contribute to having a good night.
Avoid getting married in the first place.
I'm getting married tomorrow, having around 100 guests. So I'll let you know on Tuesday. lol
My experience over the last few months of planning has been, spend money on the things that are important to you, be it dress, suit, rings, etc. Get quotes from multiple vendors, we got a few crazy quotes for things that were thousands of dollars cheaper elsewhere. One example a small boutique type florist flower quote was 8k, we ended up going with a bigger business that deals with larger events (more volume), they've been awesome and it's costing us under 2.5k for the same thing. Basically I found most smaller boutique type businesses (that are usually all over insta) were always very high quotes, don't get sucked in and shop around.
Try not to go way over the top, have a genuine wedding that reflects who you both are. Trying to compete with others in size/scale/cost or trying to show off is just going to cost you heaps and it's not really going to make your wedding any better.
Join a few Facebook groups, my partner has been on them for months and she's got a heap of good tips and recommendations from other people on them.
Congratulations :)
Congrats!
A Monday wedding! Is that because of the p/h on Tues?
Absolutely, gives people an excuse to take the Monday off work and have a super long weekend lol.
Also the venue we wanted had no free Saturday nights till April next year. XD
When everyone wants to share their version of your perfect wedding - just say "that's not us" which is a nice way of saying no!
Another thing with florist or business is to be careful with who you go with and your deposit. Not sure if it still applies, but there could still be supply issues. A small florist I was about to give my business to ended up closing down. Lucky I didn't have to worry about chasing my deposit or to find out on the day of wedding.
It's a party, don't spend too much on it, you can use the money for a downpayment on a property or something.
Don't spend any significant $ on the clothes either, there's no point after the wedding in keeping them.
I know that you want to be selfish for the wedding; however, you are at the centre of it anyway, it is your day, don't regret spending tens of thousands to impress others. Most don't care and won't speak with you after anyway.
The biggest mistake you're making is having a wedding. Save the money, it's not required to get married.
Specific savings for mine, TL;DR Decide on DIY, second-hand or cut things out altogether:
General and mentioned by some already:
save the agro, save the money. elope
Venue cost us $6000.. Venue was better then my brothers wedding that cost $22000
We purchased all our vases and mirrors etc from the wholesaler in auburn behind Harvey Norman (forgot the name). Then we sold them for a profit.
Hiring that stuff was more expensive.
Just enjoy it.
Half the people you invite you really wont know 2 years after your wedding so keep your invites list tight.
People like to drink at weddings.
But packages arent that expensive if you call a lot of places. We very got lucky with ours.
Pier 1 Sydney for 15k 40 guests.
Dont sweat small decisions that dont matter like expensive stationery etc.
Each to their own. But to me the big mistake people make is spending a fortune on a wedding, for the majority of attendees they won't remember it in a month as it is just a free party. Go to an amazing location and get married with just family and a few of your closest friends, for the cost of a wedding you can do similar to us and have your wedding on a beach in Hawaii with just family and friends and have a truly awesome luxury time while still saving money.
SIMPLE DON'T GET MARRIED OK.
Don't bother with a videographer. You'll never watch it, and especially no one you know will ever want to watch it.
Photographer fair enough. Those albums will get a look at at least once.
This.
What Are The Stupid, Expensive Mistakes I Should Avoid Making When Planning The Wedding?
Turning up on the wedding day