By Priti Raichura
Wedding planning isn’t straightforward, and if you’re trying to plan in the midst of a global pandemic, you seriously deserve a pat on the back. It’s been a tough time for everyone, but especially those trying to plan the most important day of their life.
Now that we have a better grasp on how to handle planning during a pandemic, it has become a bit more streamlined. However, as a result of all of these added concerns, new areas of attention, and financial losses from 2020, some suppliers have increased their costs.
If you’re in the midst of planning your 2021 or 2022 wedding, it’s true that you might be facing higher prices than if you were wedding shopping in 2019 pre-pandemic. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend your life savings on your wedding.
Here are some expert-approved tips on how to cut costs on planning a wedding post-pandemic.
Hire a Wedding Planner!
While forgoing a wedding planner and attempting to coordinate all of the planning that goes along with your big day yourself might seem like a good way to cut costs, it’s actually a fast way for them to add up.
Reputable wedding planners have relationships with vendors so they can not only better negotiate on your behalf, but also utilise their industry discounts. You’ll also save money because your wedding planner has the experience and inside knowledge to guide you through all your decisions and what your best options are including what’s cost-effective and/or a good value for money.
If you give your wedding planner a budget, they are more likely to stick to it than you would alone because of their enhanced knowledge of how to plan a wedding.
Reduce Your Guest Count
Cutting your guest list ahead of time will certainly help you cut costs. So much of the planning process is guest-count related, so when you reduce your guest count, all of those costs also go down. Over the past few months, we have certainly seen a lot of live streaming across all of our weddings, and this too has helped keep guests happy, and cut down on a lot of the added costs associated.
Pick a Less “Desirable” Date
Of course, a Saturday night wedding might be more preferable, but it will also cost you the most money when compared to any other day of the week.
A weekday, for example, will often save you money on not just your venue, but with other vendors too. In addition, picking an off-season wedding date for the area you’re getting married in will also help your costs as those dates will also be in low demand.
Choose a Venue That Offers Flexibility
If you haven’t yet decided on your venue, look for a space that offers some flexibility.
If you have a small guest size, it could be challenging meeting high food and beverage minimums so keep your eyes open for a venue that doesn’t have one if it is better for your budget.
Try Splitting Costs with Other Couples
Here’s a creative way to save some costs: Try coordinating with another couple getting married at your venue or in the local vicinity that you can share certain items with.
For example, flowers are very often thrown out after a wedding but your venue, planner, and floral designer, may know of another couple with a wedding the next day that can utilise the same design and you can share the costs. Maybe, your planner can help two or three couples collaborate and get better discounts with caterers, car hire suppliers and so forth.
Host an Outdoor Wedding
During the pandemic, hosting an outdoor wedding gave couples the option to have more guests attend their big day. It was an attractive choice for those who usually would have chosen a traditional indoor space. However, as of 19 July 2021 the majority of legal restrictions on social distancing were lifted and weddings, in theory, could go back to ‘normality’.
Despite this, hosting an outdoor wedding could still offer nervous couples the reassurance they need regarding the safety of their guests. And, it could be the perfect solution for couples who are are struggling to book their chosen date at indoor venues. Take Advantage of Remote Planning
Planning a wedding can be a time-consuming process which may involve many in-person meetings with wedding vendors or planners. During much of the pandemic, thanks to technology most of these meetings were still able to go ahead, virtually.
However, although most restrictions have now been lifted, there’s nothing to say that this method of connecting no longer has a use. For some parts of the planning process, an in-person meeting or viewing is necessary but for the occasional check-in or design meeting, it’s always worth asking whether the meeting can take place online. It could end up saving you time and money.
Make Your Celebrations Tech-Savvy
With the pandemic mostly putting a halt to large weddings and international travel, many couples resorted to livestreaming their nuptials so eager friends and relatives could still witness their big day. However, going forwards, many couples are still finding that livestreaming offers an attractive alternative to a large guest list and flying in relatives that live abroad.
Livestreaming your wedding is also a great way to record, save, and backup your wedding. The good news is that we are all becoming more accustomed to virtually attending events and hanging out with one another, so having your wedding online is becoming more and more normal.
For more information on wedding planning and events, contact our award–winning team: www.pritiraichura.com
