Ah, wedding season… happy couples pledging their love,
handwritten invitations, chocolate fountains, the chicken dance… and your
wallet, wasting away! It seems like all weddings happen at the same time, and
as fun and exciting as they are, each summer you can end up paying the
equivalent of a couple of mortgage payments on clothes, travel and gifts. You
don’t have to break the bank this wedding season! The following tips will help
you save a lot of money, while still showing your soon-to-be-married friends
and family a lot of love.
Save on Gifts
1. You know that everyone registers for gifts at Bed, Bath
& Beyond, but you may not be aware that this store has a lot of
opportunities for saving money. If you sign up for their mailing list you will
receive coupons for 20% and $5 off your purchases, and these are no ordinary
coupons. Even though they have expiration dates listed on them, the store will
accept them indefinitely. Keep an envelope and hang on to them all year for big
savings during the summer. Other small print you can ignore is the “one coupon
per purchase” line. Normally they will accept one coupon per item.
They will also accept competitor’s coupons.
Get a head start on savings! Leave a comment below with your most creative and cost-effective wedding gift idea and you could win a $25 gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond.
2. The wedding registry is not just a shopping list. It is
an insight into the couple’s styles and desires. It is meant to be a guide for
you, not the law. Once you have looked over the registry and gotten an idea of
what the bride and groom are looking for, go elsewhere for good deals! Stores like
Marshalls and HomeGoods have great things for newlyweds like picture frames,
crystal vases and linens at much lower prices than brand name department
stores. Using the registry you can find something you know the couple will
love, at a much better value.
If you find something just perfect on the registry, try
searching for the same exact item elsewhere. If you find a better price for it
at a different store or online, buy it at the better price. As a help to the
bride and groom, call the store where they are registered. Tell the store that you
bought it but the registry is still showing that it has not been purchased, and
they will most likely take it down. It requires a little fibbing but the bride
and groom will avoid having to deal with returning duplicates after the
wedding. (Just make sure it is exactly the same item!)
3. You are only one person, but you are not alone in the
financial struggle to survive wedding season. Certainly other friends and
family are trying to save money and give the bride and groom something
wonderful as they enter into their life together. One way to afford a great
gift is to go in as a group. With strength in numbers, you and friends or
family can afford something bigger and more expensive, even something that may
not be on their gift registry.
4. The best gifts are from the heart… and hands. If you have
a special talent or hobby, you may want to consider making a wedding present
instead of buying one. A crocheted blanket or a handmade photo album are gifts
that mean more to newlyweds than china, and will save you a lot of money.
The gift of your time and skills is invaluable. Another
option may be giving the couple a service that you specialize in. If you are a
gardener, help them plant a garden at their new home together. If you like to
cook, prepare the couple’s first meal together. Whatever you do will show them
you care, without breaking the bank.
5. If you follow all of these tips, you will certainly save
some money for yourself, but what about giving the gift of savings to the bride
and groom? A great gift to give is a new skill that you learn to help prepare
for the wedding. Your new skill and the savings you create can be the gift.
Take a calligraphy class and help address the invitations. Take a class on
flower arranging. Learn how to do the wedding day makeup. You could even have a
makeup party with the bride and bridesmaids to learn which blush compliments
your skin tone. You will all gain a new skill, spend time together, and save
money!
If you’re the best man and not interested in the difference
between Metallic Mauve and Windsor Rose lip color, there are many other skills
you could pick up to help out with the wedding. Take a class on mixing music
and offer to DJ the reception. Or become ordained for free online and perform
the ceremony! (The Universal Life Church has an ordination application at their
website at
http://www.themonastery.org/?destination=ordination .)
You could also offer to photograph or videotape the wedding if you have those
skills. Whatever you do it will be especially valued because of your gift of
time and effort. (Just make sure to give your gift to the bride and groom early
in the process or they may already have chosen and booked a vendor.)
6. Something old and
something new… We tend to focus on the second part of that adage. The newlyweds
are moving into a new home and we buy them new gifts for their new life. But
weddings are a perfect time to reflect on the past. If you are family of the
soon-to-be newlyweds, a family heirloom can be a very meaningful gift, and
costs you nothing.
Another possibility could be the presentation of something
old as something new. If you find a shoebox full of the groom’s childhood
baseball cards, you could put them together as an album. A slideshow of
pictures from the couple’s youth is also a free and meaningful gift.
Save on Travel and
Planning
7. The bride and groom will often reserve a block of rooms
in a hotel for their guests at a discount. This can be a great opportunity for
savings, but don’t assume it is the least expensive option. Before booking your
room, check online for hotels in the area, or even the same hotel. You may be
able to find a cheaper room.
You also may want to wait to reserve your room: the best
deals may be available closer to the wedding date. This is a riskier option,
but if rooms haven’t filled up the hotel may run a sale to entice travelers to
stay with them. Be careful with this tip! If you wait too long you may have a
hard time finding a room to stay in at all, or you may even find that room prices
have gone up.
8. Weddings are always expensive for guests, but sometimes
they are simply too expensive. Even if you are frugal with gift giving and
party planning, it still costs a lot, especially if you are traveling. If
you’ve already bought two blenders and four dresses this summer, and your
freshman year roommate invites you to her wedding on the other side of the country,
it may be time to say, “I love you… but no thanks”. This may be hard to
consider: you want to spare no expense on your friends’ and families’ special
days. But if it is simply out of your price range, they will understand. Be
sure to send them a heartfelt note conveying your well wishes and the fact that
you will be with them in spirit.
Another time you may have to say “no thanks” is if you are
invited to be part of the wedding party. This level of involvement requires so
many more expenses: the dress, the shoes, the jewelry, the hair, the shower and
bachelorette party (or the suit, the cufflinks and a bachelor party and four
rounds of drinks). If you can make it to the wedding, but can’t afford to be in
the wedding party, you can be involved in other ways. Be honest with the bride
and groom. Tell them you would love to celebrate with them, but you don’t want
your own tight finances to hold back the rest of the bridal party. When you say
“Thanks, but no thanks,” ask the couple how else you can help them on their
special day. Maybe you won’t be one of six ladies in pink this time, but you
can still help out with the guest book, or setting up for the reception. There
are so many things going on to plan a wedding. If you chose to take a smaller,
less expensive role, you will still be a huge help to the bride and groom and
show them you care.
9. Sometimes, you cannot say no (and you don’t want to!).
There are still plenty of ways to plan great bridal party activities at a
fraction of the cost of traditional plans. Goodbye Vegas, hello good old
fashioned girl’s nights in. Plan a slumber party with a Sex and the City
marathon and homemade cosmos. Men can go camping or just find less expensive
bars. Spending time with friends is what it’s all about, not
spending money with friends. Personalizing the event and focusing
on what’s important, friendship, will make a more memorable (and economical)
party.
10. One area where you can save a lot of money is clothing.
If you are not the one in white (and even if you are) you do not need to be
spending an arm and a leg to look good. For ladies, a simple, inexpensive black
dress can go a long way. If you are worried about wearing the same dress
multiple times, make it new by dressing it up. Different jewelry, shoes, wraps
and accessories can make your little black dress into as many different little
black dresses as you need. Another option that is good advice for any time of
the year is shopping in your friend’s closets. If you all have a few weddings
to go to this summer, and everyone owns one great dress, take turns!
If you are a man looking for a good suit that will last you
at least one year, check out local department stores. You don’t need to get
into a Hugo Boss to look like a sharp wedding guest. For example, Target has
very nice black suits for under $100. No one will be able to tell that it’s
from Target and you will have done your wallet a favor.
One of the reasons why weddings are so expensive is because
of the “spare no expense” mentality that surrounds them. We let our emotions
drive our wallets and we end up broke by the end of the season. These tips are
intended to provide some creative alternatives that will allow you, as a guest,
to make the wedding day special and valuable, without depleting your savings. We
recognize that some of these tips may seem controversial because they are a
violation of modern wedding etiquette. But remember that etiquette is always
about giving the best of yourself and having grace, it’s not about how much you
spend. These tips will allow you to save money and show the happy couple you
care.
Please respond and let us know your own tips for surviving
the wedding season. We would love to hear them!
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