10 Best Money Saving Wedding Tips

So you just got engaged and began to go Pinterest crazy. Like pinning hundreds of pictures of cakes to venues, to invitations, and it gets you thinking...how much is this going to cost? Well, this happened to me, so I began to draft this list of my favorite wedding saving tips & tricks because hey a wedding is expensive and I am one frugal fiance. Below is 10 of my best money saving tips from saving money on bridesmaids dresses, to flowers, to cake and even venues!

Save Money/ Earn Money
First up is a list of my favorite ways to earn a little extra cash to help pay for my wedding festivities and honeymoon. 

• Get $40 in travel credit with Airbnb, perfect for your honeymoon! I am going to be getting an Airbnb for my honeymoon so that $40 sure is going to help! 

• Free airline tickets to your honeymoon destination for free! Consider opening an airline credit card (such as Alaska or American Airlines), use your card to pay for some of your wedding expenses and qualify for two free round trip tickets to your honeymoon destination. (Please research & use responsibly) 
• I am opening a credit card with Alaska Airlines and using that card to pay for initial wedding expenses, by doing so I will be able to use the bonus miles when I sign up to get free airline tickets!

• Get $30 off a dress from Rent the Runway. Perfect for bridesmaids dresses, engagement party dress and rehearsal dinner dress! Get designer dresses for as little as $15.

• Receive a free investment stock (worth up to $200) when you sign up for Robinhood. Literally, my favorite way to save & invest money!

• Free $10 Gift Card when you sign up for Ebates, earn cash back while your shop! Great way to save money while buying wedding decor & invitations! I use this website every single week. 

• Earn money while you grocery shop with Ibotta (plus cash bonus for signing up)!

• Get a Free Mrs. Meyers 5 Piece Gift Set  from Grove Co (cleaning subscription service!)

• Get $10 when you sign up for Poshmark, use code: EMADDOG. Perfect for purchasing wedding heels or jewelry at a good price! Hello, diamonds!

• Get $40 off your first delivery of Hello Fresh meal delivery service, honestly a life saver for saving time & money on dinners.

Free Wedding Invitation Samples

Sample kit from vistaprint.com

Some of these companies also send out free samples of Save the Dates, Thank you cards & more! Get an idea of what style you like and use that as you search for the right invitations.

• Vistaprint 
• Minted Weddings
• Shutterfly
• Magnet Street
• Elli
• Invitations By Dawn
• Paper Culture
• Shine Wedding Invitations
• Mixbook
• Basic Invite
• Fine Day Press

DIY Invitations

• Or even better DIY your invitations by creating them on Canva.com (a free online program), upload them to Vistaprint (pick the premium soft-touch option for the best quality & feel) and buy envelopes & stamps at Walmart. These basic DIY invitations could cost around $100 ($50 worth of stamps!) for 100 wedding invitations. The average cost for wedding invitaitons is over $1000!

Free (or almost free) Wedding Venues

Photo by Peary Photography from Chapel Dulcinea website

• Chapel Dulcinea- If you live near Austin, Texas this would be an amazing free venue option. Weddings are available 7 days a week and book up fast, so make sure and make your reservation asap. Note: a $200-$400 refundable fee is required to hold your spot.

• Your Local Parks- Weddings happen all the time at local parks and are simply beautiful, much less of a hassle and free!

• Local Farms- Farm weddings are suppeerrr trendy right now. Although advertised farm venues can be expensive, try reaching out to local small farms and see if they would be willing to rent for a small price space for your wedding. Imagine a ceremony outside of a barn or in a field? It's worth a shot!

• Backyards of Friends or Family- Another great idea is utilizing backyards and properties of family and friends. 

• Reach out to Facebook- Stumped on a cheap or free venue? Reach out to local Facebook groups and ask around for free or cheap wedding venues, someone may even let you use their backyard for a small fee! 

Free (or cheap) Food Items for your Wedding

• Have a potluck- This one is always a goodie, have your family and friends bring one of their favorite dishes and have the reception be filled with incredible homemade dishes. 

• Buy food from Costco- Grab a couple carts and fill them up with your favorite Costco foods. Bring your friends and family together and have a food making party for the wedding! The average cost of full-service catering is $12,000, your Costco trip would be a lot less expensive. 

• Buy drinks from Costco- Way less expensive they purchasing through a catering company or bar service.

• Pick up a Costco cake- A Costco cake costs $18.99 and serves 48 people. That's 39 cents per slice! This might be the cheapest possible way to serve a cake at a wedding (possibly even cheaper than making a cake homemade with all the ingredients). Costco offers both vanilla and chocolate half sheet cakes with 2 lbs of filling. Order in store with at least a 2-day notice. You could even DIY your Costco cake and add fresh fruit or flowers for a more expensive look. 

• Free cake tastings- Some bakeries offer free cake tastings if you purchase your wedding cake through them. 

• Don't mention a wedding- Weddings drive A LOT of sales and upcharging (wedding cakes on average cost about $200-$400), so instead of mentioning your wedding simply order a cake from your local bakery. At my local bakery, I was quoted $35 for a simple one tier cake with basic decorations. Use this cheaper cake as the cake that will be used for cake cutting and served to the wedding party and then buy a Costco cake and cut it up in the back for a very inexpensive way to have a wedding cake. 

Free (or cheap) Wedding Dresses

• Brides Across America- Free wedding dresses for military and first responder brides. 

• Every Girl Dreams INC- Free wedding dresses to low-income brides in Southeast Michigan. 

• Offer up/ Craiglist/ Facebook Marketplace- Some brides sale their wedding dresses for quite cheap on sites such as Offer up, Craiglist and Facebook marketplace. 

Free (or cheap) Bridesmaid Dresses

• Have bridesmaids choose to wear any dress in a color range. That way bridesmaids can pick dresses in their own closet, borrow from a friend or even check out second-hand stores and online marketplaces. 

• Rent Bridesmaids Dress- Get $30 off a dress from Rent the Runway, where you can rent designer dresses for cheap. For example, this super cute blush bridesmaid dress (pictured above) can be rented originally for $45 for a 4-day rental but get $30 off using our link and end up paying $15 for this bridesmaid dress! Make sure to reserve with plenty of time before the event! Make sure you get your discount by using code: FRIEND3088FAAFA49E at checkout!

• $76 Bridesmaids Dresses from Lulus. Lulus has a ton of bridesmaid dress options for quite inexpensive. 

Free (or cheap) Wedding Decor 

• Facebook Marketplace- I see brides offer up their wedding decorations on Facebook for super cheap after their wedding. 
• Goodwill and Second Hand Stores- Sometimes you can find the cutest decor for super cheap. 
• Friends/Family- Ask your family and friends to use their wedding decorations, most of the time they probably would be willing to share!
• Amazon- Find great deals on decor with free shipping using prime!
• Lights

• Just Married Banner
• Votive Candle

• Chiffon Fabric

Cheap Wedding Day Flowers 

• Plant flowers way ahead of your wedding- The most affordable option would be to plant your very own flowers such as roses and cut them before your wedding. Watch a few DIY flower arrangement videos on Youtube and tackle your own flowers for your wedding!
• Local Farmers Market- Have a friend pick up large bouquets of flowers at your local farmers market for the centerpieces at your wedding. At $15-$30 a bouquet, its a steal!

• DIY Flowers- Check out this online floral shop that sends you handpicked themed flowers for your wedding. You put together your arrangements and bouquets but get a great deal on flowers. 
• Fake Flowers- Another option is to buy fake flowers from your local Micheals, Walmart, Dollar store or Amazon! 

Cheap Photographer

• Family or Friends- Have a camera savvy friend? Ask your friend to take photos of your wedding in exchange for a small fee. 
• Local college- Photography students tend to charge less because they are building their portfolio. Check out local college bulletin boards or post on Facebook to see if any students are willing to photograph your wedding for cheap. 
• Check out Wedding Wired, a website filled with vendors for weddings. I saw photographers on this site for less than $1500 for full wedding photos. 

Free Wedding Planning Websites

• Zola
• Wedding Wired

Free Other Wedding Resources

• Free calligraphy and cursive fonts to use for DIY invitations
• Free website where you can design your own invitations

Well, there you have it! The ultimate list of wedding freebies, budgeting tips, offers and more! I will continue to add to this list as my search continues <3

Love, 

P.S. This blog post contains affiliate links. This simply means that this blog could earn a small portion of a sale, however, this does not affect your cost of any items.