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Tip Store: Weddings: Planning

​Hundreds of Ways to Save if You Plan Ahead

I am planning my own wedding and just a few tips include my wedding dress which I picked up at a once yearly bridal sale - where I was lucky to find my size and something l liked - for 80% off the normal price. I am making my own invitations and printing them on our computer as there are literally thousands of free fonts to download. The heavy invitation paper I picked up at Officeworks in the reduced pile for a fraction of the usual cost and I will only be spending money on postage to people I know I will not see before the wedding. I purchased 100 tealight candles for the table decorations from a cheap shop for $4.95. I will be making my own wedding cake from a recipe downloaded free from the Internet and I purchased the cake boards at a Lincraft clearance for $2 each. I have a neighbour who grows day lilies and she will be giving them to me for free to use on the tables and I am going to arrange the flowers for the bridal party myself by purchasing them from the local flower market the day before the wedding and keeping them in our spare fridge. My sons all wanted to wear kilts as my partner is Scottish so I have been scouring the thrift shops and found kilts for all of them for only a few dollars each. I purchased the flower girl dress for my daughter for $4 from Target at their end of season clearance, reduced from $29. I have a friend offering to take photos for us and someone else is bringing a video camera. Our rings I picked up on sale at the local jewelery shop at 50% off and they even resized them for free! My maid of honour is wearing a formal dress she already has because luckily it matches our preferred colours. I am making bombonierre myself as I scrapbook and it is so easy to make little boxes from the huge range of scrapbooking paper available and fill them with sweets that we purchased in bulk at a discount from the Confectionary Warehouse. We are supplying a limited amount of alcohol but at a great discount which we negotiated with the manager of the local pub. There are literally hundreds of ways to save and if you are creative, or know someone who is, then you can save a fortune for your big day.
​- Contributed by Lucinda, Inala, 22 April, 2005

​Do As Much As You Can Yourself

Do as much of the preparation for the wedding yourself, I made my own cake, only had a single tier but that suited me, bought silk flowers from a warehouse to decorate, did most of the catering myself as ours was a small do, we had a garden reception at home, look for sales for shoes etc, got mine in a sale way before the wedding, and stick to the budget, it would be nice to have everything catered for, new, big, but the future without debt is a much more appealing idea.
​- Contributed by Marlene, St. Clair, 22 April, 2005

​Great Wedding Saving Tips Mean Huge Savings

My sister and her husband saved a huge amount of money on their wedding by using these tips: 1. Ask around: they asked friends for help and found someone who was a paper supplier. This meant the cost of their stationery was a $25 bottle of wine, instead of $350 as priced at the store. Their rings were made by a jeweler friend of a watchmaker friend. 2. Make your own: My sister made their own invites, order of service, place tags, thank you cards and so on. She borrowed a guillotine (swapped for a box of chocolates) and enlisted the help of the bridesmaids to help put everything together. She also made all her hen night and kitchen tea invites and thank yous'. Everyone commented that they looked lovely, and a few people even asked where we had had them made. Imagine their surprise when they were told that they had done it themselves! 3. Discount suit: They headed to a factory outlet to buy the husband's wedding suit. They worked out that it would be cheaper to buy it than hire it, as his work at the time held several formal functions a year and they had many friends who also had the marriage bug, as well as other 'suit-worthy' occasions. They paid $400 for an Yves St Lauren suit that was originally priced at around $900. 4. Check out the cost of decorating: They bought their own decorations, rather than hiring as it worked out cheaper and ended up with gifts for people as well. The tables were decorated with a simple square vase, black pebbles and a few lilies that our friend's florist threw in as leftovers from making the bouquets. We bought the vases from Priceline and asked for a discount as we were buying 10. We received 10% off. We bought the stones from Spotlight, (cheaper than other decorating stores). After the wedding, the vases made excellent gifts, and the people who received them know they were a part of our wedding, so are extremely pleased to receive them. 5. Look around for coupons and discounts: We found coupons for discounts on the veil, the music and so on. 6. Borrow, barter and befriend: I borrowed the maid of honour's diamond necklace (something borrowed). We bartered the wedding magazines with a friend for some of hers – this way they both got to read twice as many mags as each of them paid for. One of my friend's sisters was training to be a beautician, with another friend's sister a hairdresser. They came to my house, did make up and hair for the Bride, me, my Mum, two bridesmaids, my mother-in-law, and two flower girls at a fraction of the cost of other ‘professionals'. The result was just as good, if not better, as everyone was so relaxed. They even helped Mum make lunch for us all! 7. Ask friends for help: Instead of paying over $500 for a car and driver for five hours, they hired a BMW for the weekend ($350) and asked friends to be the drivers for the day, as well as using their car as a second wedding vehicle. They were thrilled to be a part of the wedding day, and hiring the car meant we could have some fun the day after the wedding too! They bought $22 worth of ribbon and my Dad put it on the cars in the morning. 8. Beware of hidden extras: When talking to our wedding/reception venues, they tried to 'sell' us lots of hidden extras that would cost more. For example, chair covers, extra decorations, and so on. They decided to spend on some things (red carpet and fairy lights) and not others (chair covers). Also, be aware of menu changes and price increases between the time of booking and holding your reception. Most venues will honour the old prices, if they have gone up, but it always pays to ask. It all comes down to thinking things through. It's so easy to get swept up in the romance of it all, or thinking that because a friend did something, you have to as well. It's YOUR day, and you only need to do or have what you want.
​- Contributed by Kaye, Dianella, 24 April, 2005

​Lots of Wedding Planning Tips

Speak to your local Tafe floristry students; I bought three huge three foot arrangements for my wedding to decorate the chapel for $60.00 each normal retail would have been at least $200.00 each. So a massive saving of $420.00 and the students got exposure to doing different arrangements in classes and I had free delivery to my venue after they had finished them. (The teachers used my arrangements as assessment pieces and so I knew that the quality of the work would be the very best that the students could do.) If you have you own computer make your own invitations and save around $300.00 by doing them yourselves rather than a professional printers/stationers. Plus you have more control over numbers, without having to do set reprints. Buy your dress on sale from eBay or online and save a bundle. Good websites to buy gowns on line include saleguide.com.au, ebay.com.au and classygowns.com.au. Get talented friends to donate their service and time instead of wedding presents. If you have a bridal party get them to pay for the hire of their outfits. Bridesmaids can have the same style but different colours if you get their dresses on sale. Instead of expensive wedding shoes why not try inexpensive embroidered Chinese slippers, your feet will thank you. Consider a money tree/wishing well instead of presents and invest the money into an high interest account for your future. If your have all the stuff you need for your home then why not have a honeymoon registry. If your honeymoon is going to be really out of your budget then consider getting an entertainment book (available from the Cancer Council - in Victoria, other states will have to check.) and use the discounted accommodation worldwide and nationally, state by state as well as two for one vouchers, meal discounts, theme parks attractions and activities. That is what we used for ours and our $3000 honeymoon went down to about $1500 saving at least fifty percent. If you are going to use a venue and they give you a list of preferred suppliers, please check that if you use them that the venue is not getting kickback for that promotion. Get the best price for venues by inquiring for availability based on a "birthday party" rather than the magic markup word "WEDDING". Compare venues side by side with someone who can be really objective and won't let you get caught up in all the bridal fever. Don't waste time on order of service booklets and fancy menus as most people leave them behind or they throw them away. Most of all stay positive and enjoy your day, as it will hopefully be the happiest of your life.
​- Contributed by Leigh, Yallambie, 27 July, 2005

​Saturday in Spring Alternative

Choose a day for your wedding which is not a Saturday in spring or summer and you should get discounts on reception, photographer etc. Shop on eBay for your dress. Lots of stores sell brand new dresses for a fraction of the store price, and there are second hand dresses, some not ever worn. Photographer. Get friends to take as many photos as possible and only hire a photographer for a small time frame. See if the photographer has rates where you supply and develop the film yourself. DIY floristry. Capital cities have flower markets twice a week which is where the florists shop. Hire a local hall and do all the food and alcohol catering yourself. Book everything as far in advance as possible.
​- Contributed by Michelle, Speers Point, 22 April, 2005

​Think About What You Really Want Your Wedding Day To Be

Before all the hype starts, remember you are not only planning your Wedding Day, but more importantly, planning your Married Life together. Sit down with your fiance and decide what particular things will be very important for you to remember in years to come. For me, I really wanted great photos and a gorgeous veil to pass on to my children (how many of us actually want to wear Mum's old wedding dress?). So I bought my dress 2nd hand and saved heaps, had a lovely veil hand-made by a friend (a lovely keepsake) and had a couple of friends organised to take some terrific photos. I bought my wedding cake pre-iced (but not decorated) for $60 and after the wedding, my Dad and the groomsmen added their 'buttonholes' to the tops of each cake before the reception guests arrived. Once my bridal party arrived, we all added our bouquets to the cake table and it looked fabulous! We put disposable cameras on some of the tables and the guests took loads of fabulous candid shots - great memories of the day! Using our home printer and some nice paper, I made my own matching invitations, placecards, order of service booklets etc for a fraction of the cost of getting them printed (around $65 for 130 guests). Finally we had our reception at a golf club, which was much cheaper than other 'wedding' venues and the meal was wonderful...not to mention the great wedding photos we managed with such well-maintained lawns! Our friend owns a luxurious home on the Gold Coast, so we did a house swap for 7 nights for our honeymoon - they were happy as we live in the country! And it cost us nothing! All in all, we had such a great fun Wedding Day without a big debt to come home to, a perfect start to our marriage.
​- Contributed by Simone, Aratula, 22 April 2005

​From Disaster to the Perfect Wedding

I have to share my story. I was in dire straits 2 weeks before my wedding. My matron of honour was supposed to be organising all the stuff like getting me a ring pillow, organising a red carpet, the chair covers, everything pretty much that my partner and I wanted for our ceremony. We were all set until she dropped the bombshell - she hadn't done ANY of it. I nearly cancelled the wedding I was that upset. I rang my celebrant (Pauline McKennay) and she was fabulous. She calmed me down and said not to worry. She gave me the number of this new business (Ceremony Secretz) and said they organise all that stuff for weddings. I rang and the lady was a gem. I got the carpet, chair covers and chairs organised there on the spot and I asked if they sold ring cushions or knew where I could get one (they are not that easy to find - our local wedding cake place doesn't even stock one sort) - anyway she said no they didn't sell them, but better, they hire them for a small fee - I think mine cost me about $4 to hire and it was beautiful - it had butterflies on it. They had heaps of different ones and my goodness I was just so happy. So thanks to the help of those two women, I was married on March 3rd this year. Anyway, I am so so so so so happy with these two people that I wanted to share them with you all. I swear you won't be disappointed if you use them. I've even had coffee with the celebrant since. So, with their permission - here you go ladies.. - www.paulinemckennay.com and www.ceremonysecretz.741.com
- Contributed by Michaelle, 13th March 2007
Websites
​www.paulinemckennay.com
www.ceremonysecretz.741.com

​Wedding on a Tight Budget

We recently got married on a tight budget and everyone is still raving about it. We had 80 guests, provided a 3 course meal and drinks, decorated a hall, bought and made our flower bouquets, bought the wedding cake.....all for around $1,000.00. The cake was a two tier mud cake from the Cheesecake Factory and cost $60.00. I paper punched bells and angels and scattered them along the tables, I placed ivy down the centres of tables and bought $2.00 candles from The Warehouse and placed 2 on each table. I bought a pack of blue and a pack of gold serviettes and placed them in the alternate glasses (which looked stunning), and my flowers were bought from Bunnings and made into beautiful bouquets. The caterers provided the meals for $11.00 a head for the adults and $6.00 a head for the 25 kids. I bought most of my supplies from Campbells including the alcohol. A great day was had by all and considering my first wedding over 20 years ago cost my poor parents over $10,000.00......relatives and friends that went to both weddings raved about this one and how much more fun was had.
​- Contributed by Judi, Bendigo, April 26th 2005

​Wedding of My Dreams and it Didn't Cost the Earth

I just had the MOST AMAZING wedding of my dreams (in my eyes) and we didn't spend very much at all and the few people we told were shocked! at how little we spent. Try and do as much as you can yourself. Use all your contacts to death. Try and get student everything, for example photographers and florists. Both mine were students and they were wonderful and about 1/3 of the price. I also found a flautist/harpist busking in the street and asked her to do my wedding and she did for $50.00! I bought everything I could from handcraft markets - centre pieces, flower girl dresses, the candles etc. We had a beautiful barefoot beach wedding and I came on a boat and we released butterflies, all these things made it special and I am so proud of it. I have been to many weddings and believe me money doesn't buy taste.
​- Contributed by Tash, 15th June 2005

​Use Your Contacts and Have the Wedding You Want

Of course, this only works if you've got extremely talented friends, or if you don't mind things being less than glossy-magazine-worthy. And honestly, is it worth trying to achieve the latter??? I've have friends doing the flowers (which will be bought from a warehouse... even cheaper than the markets), making the cake, providing cars, singing and playing during the ceremony, helping set up the reception venue, and even catering the reception. My mum is making my dress, a friend making the flower girl's dress, and I'm 'going French' with the bridesmaids dresses... they're wearing nice dresses that are not identical, but 'tone in' with my colour scheme. I'm saving over $1500 (quoted by a professional caterer) by using teenagers I know to serve at the reception. This also frees up some table space, as we're having a large wedding and inviting kids. The $1000 quoted for fruit juice and soft drinks is unnecessary, I can buy them all myself from the supermarket for around $250 (that's for 150 people, and I'm being generous). Most supermarkets reduce brands once a month, the only issue is storage. My reception is in my church's hall, so 'rental' is just a donation which will probably also cover the use of sound equipment for the ceremony AND reception (I hope!) The internet is a wonderful thing - I Googled all the party/wedding places around Sydney and came up with a long list (for linen, chair covers, crockery, etc). It's definitely worth ringing around for quotes, and a lot of hire places will do one for you online. There are little details to ask about - I'm getting $2 each off chair covers because I'm putting them on myself. Most hire places let you have the stuff Friday -Monday, so you have time to set it all up (as long as the venue is free earlier!). My searches revealed places that have special deals if you pick the stuff up yourself, book before a certain date, or are getting married during 'dead' times. I was offered 25% off the cheapest quote I received, purely because I'm apparently getting married at an unpopular time of year! And who's going to say no to 25% off a $1000 bill?? I was 'set free' when I realised that most of my stress was coming from trying to keep other people happy... Personally, I'd be happy with a bbq in the park, but I was worrying about people turning up their noses at that and feeling ripped off. I was scared to shorten the guest list because I didn't want to offend people so I had this massive wedding budget in front of me and it was all for stuff I couldn't care less about! My fiancé and I are looking to buy a place, and we can't afford to spend the equivalent of a deposit on a house, just on one day... which we're told we won't even remember afterward! So I've let go of my need to please others, and I'm trying to do the best I can with what I've got. Of course, I'm going to offend people (I'm dreading the day our invitations come out!!!), and it's not going to be a picture-perfect day. But it will be perfect for my husband and I; we'll be amongst people whom we love and who love us, and we won't be coming home from the honeymoon to a $25,000 debt!!!
​- Contributed by Emily, 21st September 2005

​Shop Around and Save

The biggest tip I can say is to shop around. I can get all of my invites for under $60, I can decorate 7 tables with artificial rose petals for under $20. I was even able to save over $1000 on our honeymoon by phoning and booking over a year in advance - and by telling them that I was on my honeymoon (I got a free room upgrade and a discount off their price for staying 5 nights). And this is all in November, so its not classed as a 'dead' time of the year.
​- Contributed by Melissa, 4th October 2005

​Simple and Cheap

This won't suit everyone, but we are holding the whole thing in the backyard: the ceremony and the reception. We are making it more a big party, I am not skimping on beauty though! Luckily Iam a bit of a decorator. I am getting a couple of big white carports from Super Cheap and lining the inside of the big gazebo with $1.95 metre satin clothes lining. Lots of flowers from wholesalers and fairy lights. For the photos I am setting up a background. I will grab a couple of shrubs from the markets and more of the fabric on a frame. After the ceremony there will be finger food! Oh and my favourite part...I am burning oil burners and candles with my favourite oil in them...just to add some sensuality! I cant wait.
​- Contributed by Beck, 20th January 2006

​Huge Savings on Wedding Wants at Year End Sales

I saved a packet on my wedding by making the most of the end-of-financial-year sales and close-of-business sales. Wedding stationery: 200 blank place cards, 100 pretty invitations and envelopes - a total of $5 for the lot at a newsagents clearance sale. Wedding dress (1920's style evening dress) $25 at David Jones clearance. Bridesmaid dress was $30. Beaded hairband $5. Shoes $15 a pair. Cake decoration flowers $5. Bridal bouquet, 2 handmade silk lilies $15 at craft store shutdown sale. Groom and groomsman borrowed their suits from friends who play in a formal orchestra . Cars - we asked friends to drive us in their cars, which they kindly did. Photos - 5 different friends and family who wanted excuses to use their digital cameras. Invited all friends and family who helped to a BBQ when we got back from our honeymoon. The BBQ was a fraction of the cost that we would have had to pay for those services our friends provided.
​- Contributed by Katrina, 27th August 2006

​Wedding on a Tiny Budget

I'm in Melbourne and my wedding isn't for another year, but I have already done so much research as we are on a tiny budget too, and yet I still want to try and manage my perfect big wedding! So here are a few places I thought I might share: Re: Cheap chaircovers - the cheapest place I have found in Melbourne ( and they have a minimum order of 50) is for $2.95 including sash from Balwyn Events - http://www.balwynevents.com.au. They said they would fit them for me, but I am not sure if they always do it - it might depend on location and how many you are ordering. Venue: I really wanted a Saturday night wedding, so instead of going through a wedding venue I have opted for a town hall - most of the inner city suburbs have grand old town halls that are just gorgeous and so long as you are fine about hiring and organising everything yourself ( I love organising!) it will turn out a lot cheaper than paying $60+ per head at a wedding venue. Catering - Golden Roast http://www.spitroastcatering.com.au have great buffet prices including desserts and coffee etc - with the amount of people I am having , mine will turn out at about $10 per head for food, and I have been to a wedding that has employed them and the food was quite good. I am still looking at other caterers, but they are high on my list so far. Good luck with the bargain hunting everyone!
​ - Contributed by Kym, 15th February 2006

​Good Ideas We Used for Our Wedding

Flowers - go to your local market 10 days before the event and buy them before they have bloomed. Our lilies usually retail for $6.50 per stem as "wedding flowers", but bought bunches of 5 stems for $4 unbloomed (plus, you can do deals when buying a lot). I have 7 bunches of pink Orientals and 15 bunches of white Asiatic for UNDER $120 - not bad! Also, be sure to NEVER MENTION that you are doing stuff for a wedding - we used the family reunion or going away party trick and it saved us a bunch. Ask for the lowest cash price, and tell them you will shop around. I was quoted $800 for the cake I wanted, but ended up getting it for $190 from a local competitor. Lunch time weddings / afternoon teas are cheap also. We are having an arvo at a reception centre with small numbers, but because they have a massive wedding that night, ours is super cheap as the kitchen will already be running and staff would be there anyway. Doing things last minute has saved us a bunch - if we booked this stuff 12 months in advance, it would have cost a mint as it would have been obvious it was for a wedding, and that wedding "premium" would have been charged. Best markets are in areas that don't serve tourists, such as the Dandenong market - we saw roses for $4 a bunch (comparative retail florist price would have been $25+)
​- Contributed by Cassie, 27th February 2007