How To Save Money on Your Outdoor Wedding

How To Save Money on Your Outdoor Wedding

Kay and Dan were super savvy when it came to sticking to their wedding budget. They wanted the best day but without it costing the earth. Here are Kay’s tips to helping you save money on your outdoor wedding;

For us it was about knowing where we didn’t want to compromise and then looking at alternatives for the rest.

The Cake

You can get so carried away on a wedding cake and this was one item we were definitely happy to compromise on.
We asked a friend to make a single tier iced cake. This was so we had a cake to cut on the evening. In addition to this a family member made lots of cupcakes which gave everyone a delicious sweet treat.

The Bridesmaid Dresses

The girls all like different styles and I wanted them to like their dresses. I didn’t want traditional bridesmaid dresses instead I wanted a printed fabric. After a lot of searching, I sourced the fabric I liked and spent the money on a local seamstress. This allowed the girls to choose the style of dress they were happy with too. They all looked beautiful. Creating our own bridesmaid dresses this way was another big saving as they were so much cheaper than anything else we saw.

The Bar

We did a DIY bar ourselves. A trip to the cash and carry and just charged the drinks out at £1, which helped to cover the cost. We did spend on hiring a couple of staff members from the arboretum tea room to manage this for us.

The Flowers

The bridal flowers we know we needed to have a professional do these. The saving came on doing our own table flowers ordering these from the flower market in Birmingham.

Evening Food

We did hire in a fridge trailer, which was a blessing. This allowed us to keep the flowers cool the day before the wedding. Chill all of our drinks plus keep our evening picnic boxes cool.
In the evening we made up boxes of cheese and crackers along with scones with jam and cream – these were a real hit.

Dessert

These were provided by our family and friends. They liked the fact that they had contributed to our day this way too.

Guest List

We were adamant on the guest list. If there is something you feel strongly about don’t let family try to persuade you. We only wanted family and friends we actually see and will continue to always see celebrate our day with us.

More Ideas and Inspiration

If you love the idea of having your own outdoor wedding, here is a little more inspiration for you;

Suppliers Involved

Tipis – Sami Tipi
Venue – Bodenham Arboretum, Kidderminster, DY11 5TB
Photography – Clive Blair