20 Easy Ways To Trim Down Your Wedding Budget Without Upsetting The AppleCart!

Ask yourself: what are my top three dream elements? Is the food most important? The decor? The lehenga? Craft your budget around what you want, to splurge there and cut back on some things that aren’t as important.

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1. Pre-book: This is a no-brainer. The earlier you book, cheaper the rates. Vendors as well as venues will be more than happy to accommodate you if you are booking a year early or even more. This also gives you more time to plan! Say 8 months to a year is a good time plan. 2. Get wed out-of-season: Tying the knot out of the peak wedding months – Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan – these can help save you a fortune. Also, rainy months like July - August can work too - if you have an indoor wedding. 3. Cut down the guest list: Focus on inviting the people who mean the most to you. This will slash your catering cost, invitations’ cost and even the amount you will spend on centrepieces and travel. Have a reception for the ones you don't want to call for the wedding. 4. Serve lunch or brunch instead of dinner: Little known fact: Dinner menus at your banquet will always be costlier than lunch menus. Demand for dinner venues is higher, and you can get a sweet deal by shifting around your timings a little bit 5. Days of the week: Get married on a Thursday rather than a Saturday. It truly helps! Weekdays are always the best idea - catering, venue...everything works out. 6. Decor costs: There are tons of ways to save on decor. Re-using your stage as your mandap for one, investing in printed linen so you don't spend on flowers is another Also read: Pro tips on how to cut your decor budget 7. Ask for party makeup: If its your engagement , and you don't really love heavy makeup anyway, simply tell the makeup artist you want to do their regular party makeup packages which they do on guests. They are way cheaper, and still appropriate enough 8. Do It Yourself: Get a bunch of friends to do your mehendi and small function décor. You can also ask some aunt or friend who has their own business to give you favours on a discount. You can make flavoured butter or mix spices and make your own candles - why not? Also read: 3 DIY Decor themes under Rs 10,000 9. Swap out costly flowers: Did you know peonies can be five times more expensive than roses? Get in-season and non-imported flowers. 10. Small changes to your outfit= Budget Beauty: There are a number of small hacks via which you can get your dream outfit for much lesser. Read the article linked below Also read: How to get your bridal outfit for much lesser 11. Open Bar Vs Signature Drinks: You don’t need to do a full open bar. Just provide a few signature drinks, house wines and beers. Pick and choose. 12. Get freebies: If you've booked 10+ rooms in your wedding venue, your bridal suite should be gratis. Also, convince the hotel to throw in a free shuttle bus pick up and drop to the airport or station. 13. Food budget: If your caterer won't budge on her price, ask if she could throw in a food or drink station. Since staffing is a station's biggest cost and servers have extra time before and after dinner, a pre-meal martini bar or sundae station is an easy give. 14. First copies: Hop on to Kolkata or Jaipur and get first copy lehengas at ½ price! Ditto for jewellery. Opt for local jewellers vs a Nirav Modi signature cut. Read our guide on how not to get fleeced while shopping. 15. Skimp where you can: Opt for less ceremony decorations if you're getting married in an already-beautiful venue like a private villa or a grand church. Choose a beautiful venue and that means, less decor. Check out non-wedding retailers where you can pick up things and gifts from them and they won’t charge you a bomb! 16. Invitation costs: Forgo as many separate printed pieces as possible – if all the information is easily accommodated on one card itself. Skip the calligraphy - printing addresses on envelopes costs a fraction of the price and still retains all the personality of the card. 17. Destination weddings: If you are having a destination wedding, invite only a select number. of guests. Also, cut down on extra gifts and frills - just put a minimally made gift bag in rooms and make sure service is kickass. 18. Wedding Planner Vs. Day Co-ordinator: Plan your wedding the way you want and then just hire a day-coordinator to manage the affairs on the D-Day. That way you’ll end up saving loads of money and enjoy your day without worry! 19. Corkage fees: See if your venue allows you to bring in your own booze. If so, negotiate to fix the corkage fee, which is usually 500-700 Rs per bottle. 20. Cake worries: Order a small one or two-tiered cake to cut . This one can be a small 2-3 kg cake and be very fancy. In the same flavour, order a supplementary cake which is  a larger sheet cake (hidden back in the kitchen). This way you spend way lesser as you only get the fancy cake for cutting, but the one that is distributed is the regular sheet cake. -Written By Apoorva Pagar