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Few newlyweds will admit to having financial regrets after spending a small fortune on a single party. You’re euphoric, you’re exhausted and your brain – and heart – have a vested interest in believing every penny was well spent.
It doesn’t help that talking about wedding budgets is polarizing. Some people view any amount spent on a party as a racket – the average Canadian wedding costs about $32,000 – while others justify any expense by placing it under the banner of a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.
Before getting married last week, my partner and I exhausted the well-known ways to cut costs: trimming the guest list, choosing weekday nuptials and putting faith in friends and family who offered up their various talents at discounted rates, including our photographer and DJ.
But a few of the best savings strategies came from places I didn’t expect. For those on a budget, here are my two cents on what to skip and where to splurge.
1. Skip: the videographer. Hire a camera rental and editing service instead.
When I discovered the price tag for reliving our wedding speeches and dance-floor moves in high definition could cost between $2,000 to $5,000, my immediate response was to strike the line item altogether.
We ultimately opted for an all-in-one video rental and editing service. For a few hundred bucks, we received two cameras, asked a few trusted friends to film the day and sent back the film in a preset box for the company to edit.
The final product won’t be as polished as what you’d get with a videographer, but it captures the memories. The overall cost was just more than $500. And best of all, the cameras become party props as guests take turns filming the day from their point of view.
2. Skip: the gold wedding band – at least for now.
As my partner and I looked for wedding bands that fit our taste and budget – even floating the idea of melting down family heirlooms – the price of gold rose 65 per cent during the past year.
In the end, I simply used my engagement ring – delivered safely down the aisle by my two-year-old nephew – while my partner opted for a metal placeholder from Manly Bands. We decided to keep saving for rings we truly love for our first-year anniversary.
3. Spend: a great (and ideally hilarious) officiant
The ceremony may be the most important part of the day for the couple and their families. For everyone else, it can be a snooze fest on an empty stomach.
Since we weren’t marrying in a church – and didn’t have friends ready to step into the role – hiring an experienced officiant turned out to be one of the best investments.
The price tag ranges from about $300 to $600. Ours landed toward the middle of that range and was money well spent.
Our officiant arrived early, helped keep everything running smoothly, and had some of us in the room laughing till our makeup smudged while still summoning tears at the right moments.
4. Skip: expensive props. Print your own game instead
Photo booths, personalized matchbooks and signature “his and hers” cocktails have become such fixtures of millennial weddings that it’s easy to forget they’re by no means necessary.
While we did pay to rent a hodgepodge of lawn games: cornhole, Jenga Giant and mini putts – about $100 in total – to keep guests entertained between photos, they largely sat unused.
Instead, our guests mingled over drinks and social bingo cards we printed in Canva. Along with Etsy, the platform offers a range of free or inexpensive digital wedding game templates.
The bingo squares we used contained a fact about another guest, and people had to mingle or shamelessly eavesdrop their way to a completed card. Once we added a nice bottle of wine as the prize, the grand total for this part of our night cost us about $50.
5. Skip: the full-time band. Hire a DJ and add a musical highlight
While it’s well-known that DJs tend to be considerably cheaper than live bands, you don’t always need to choose one or the other.
In our case, a Scottish piper band took over the stage for a 30-minute set and had nearly every guest on the dance floor, at the fraction of a cost of a traditional band. Once finished, the DJ – also a close friend – took over and kept the momentum going.
Traditional wedding bands often require three- or four-hour minimum bookings. But smaller specialty acts or jazz bands often offer shorter sets for a fraction of the cost.
What were the expenses you found worthwhile or a waste at your own wedding or one you attended? Drop me a line at mpostelnyak@globeandmail.com
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