This is, for many women at least, who have dreamed about the big day for most of their lives, the most important day they will have. The problem is, your Prince Charming is not Bill Gates or Cyril Ramaphosa and your Dad is broker than you are. It’s not uncommon and the reality is that many young couples, on a restricted budget, have to try to have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank! In this, the first part of a mini-series that will hopefully give you some really useful tips on how to do that, we look at 3 main factors – The budget, getting ideas and the venue.

1. Create a budget – Even if you are one of those people who have never budgeted in your life, now is a good time to start! It is absolutely essential to ascertain what you, as a couple, can comfortably afford to spend. The event you then plan needs to fall within that budget ….don’t do it the other way around ….decide on how many people you want and where etc … then figure out what it will cost. Set your amount first. Secondly, make a list of what you are going to need to pay for. Thirdly, eliminate what you can’t afford and finally (and most crucially) STICK TO THE BUDGET! Great help can be found to create and list a budget from online wedding planner resources and venues.
2. Get ideas – Secondly, talk to friends who have been married and go online to get great ideas. Uncle Google is your best friend when planning a low budget wedding as there are many sites like Pinterest or Valverde wedding venue, where you can get low budget ideas on just about every aspect of your wedding. Here are 2 quickies just for starters – a) Ask your guests for their gift up-front in the form of money to help pay for the wedding (Don’t think it is ‘cheap,’ it leaves others who will marry after you with the option to do the same!) – b) If you find the guest list is running into hundreds, limit it to just family and very close friends. Be ruthless about this. Reducing the size of the wedding is the biggest saving.
3. Choose a venue that will help – You will get those sites that will tell you to just marry at home or do the whole thing on a beach or something, but remember the title of this article is ‘have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank.’ There are excellent wedding venues like Valverde Eco hotel that will give you all the elegance and beauty you need, but will help with many aspects of saving costs. These include both of the above, in that they have an excellent wedding planner which sets out a well planned budget …and they have blogs and great tips in the planner to give you plenty great ideas. Further to that they help in practical, big cost saving ways, like offering complimentary decor items so that people can do their own centre pieces etc …and talking of decor ideas, one of the most expensive wedding cost items can be the flowers. I know someone who, having been quoted thousands of Rands for flowers, bouquets and corsages, went to the fresh flower market, paid a fraction of the price for the flowers and had a small get together where everyone helped put the required pieces and arrangements together …total cost? …about R300!

Watch out for part 2, where we discuss savings on the ring, the invitations and whether it is worth having a wedding planner. In the meantime you can contact us for free advice and consultation anytime … and start by using our online wedding planner e-book to plan your cost effective, but still beautiful special day!