In the United States, the average wedding can cost anywhere from $18,000 to $30,000, yet, for many couples, throwing a more frugal wedding is a necessity. Listed below are five items that you can purchase to help shave money off your wedding budget.
1.) Wedding Cake Topper
For a professionally decorated wedding cake, expect to shell out over $500 or even more depending on where you intend to throw your wedding. You can save a lot of money if you can find an amateur cake decorator to create your wedding confection and you buy your own wedding cake topper. While many see the wedding cake as the center of the wedding reception, in many cases a great tasting cake with a simpler motif can be just as eye-popping as an extravagant cake.
2.) Wedding Favor Boxes
Instead of pricy pre-made favors that often don’t even make it out of the reception hall intact, why not try a simpler favor? These heart-shaped pink favor boxes with acetate windows can be filed with tasty candies for an elegant and understated favor that will please your guests without breaking the bank.
3.) Sand Pouring Ceremony
In many weddings, the lighting of a unity candle is a cornerstone of the ceremony. Instead of going with the same old traditional cliché, why not try something different and unique? A sand pouring ceremony functions in much the same way as the unity candle, but instead of using candles, the bride and groom pour sand from two separate containers into one, symbolizing the joining of their lives. You can personalize the ceremony by using different containers and sand colors.
4.) Disposable Wedding Cameras
To shoot a wedding and reception, professional photographers will charge anywhere from $1500 to over $7000. While you will definitely want a professional to take your wedding portraits, leaving disposable cameras on your reception tables for the guests to take pictures is a fun and frugal way to get memorable photos of your big day. A photographer might work alone or with an assistant, limiting the number of moments they can capture, especially at a large reception. By giving your guests the ability to document the day, you not only get a plethora of pictures, but they can sometimes catch things that would have been missed otherwise.
5.) Wedding Bubbles
Rice has been the traditional choice to shower the wedding couple with as they leave the ceremony for their honeymoon, but in recent years more and more people have furnished bubbles to their guests. While not cheaper than rice, the bubbles are more environmentally friendly and offer an adorably whimsical back drop as you are making your exit from the reception.