Congratulations — you’re getting married! But for many, a wedding is a significant expenditure and can cost as much as a down payment or a brand new car — or even much, much more. Unfortunately, more than a quarter of all couples go into debt to pay for their wedding, but with the right approach you don’t have to be one of them. 

It all starts with making your budget a priority. Figure out how much you have to work with, or how much you’re prepared to spend, and go from there. As long as you keep your budget in mind and you don’t splurge on the wrong things, you should be able to have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank.

The best part is that the more money you save on an affordable wedding ceremony, the more money you and your partner will have as you start your new life together — money that can be used to buy a home or take a fabulous vacation somewhere. Even if your budget is small, you’d be surprised what you can do with a shoestring budget, and you won’t have to rob your savings or max out your credit cards to make it through the big day.

1. Consider a Local Wedding

While an exotic destination wedding or a nice California beach ceremony sounds great, you better be ready to pay an arm and a leg. Not only will your venue, caterer and everything else cost significantly more in an exotic location, but you’ll also have to get there, which could run you thousands of dollars, to say nothing about what your friends and family will have to pay to travel and be there with you. Simply put, a local wedding is the quintessential affordable wedding — ceremony and all.

2. How Will You Pay?

It’s not exactly common, but almost 10 percent of weddings are paid for entirely by the couple getting married. On the other hand, 10 percent of weddings are entirely paid for by someone else, whether it’s the couples parents or another relative. However, it’s the middle 80 percent of weddings that use a combination of contributors, which can be confusing to budget for until you know exactly how much you have to work with. But just because someone’s throwing in some money doesn’t mean they get to make a bunch of requests — you’re still trying to plan an affordable wedding ceremony, and it’s your job to keep everything in line.

3. Create a Budget

Once you’ve figured out who the main stakeholders are, it’s time to create a budget. The budget will be your guiding principle, and about half of couples report staying on or under budget when it comes to their wedding. But it’s the other half that blow their budgets wide open that you’ll want to avoid emulating. A wedding ceremony on a budget is possible only if you’re committed, which is actually a great way to practice budgeting with your partner as you embark on your new life together.

4. Resist the Urge to Invite Everyone

Your old college roommate or friends from high school may be nice to see, but every single person you invite to your wedding will increase your costs. Not only do you need to find a place for them to sit, but you need to also feed them and create additional wedding favors and other items. If you invite too many people, you might also clip your venue’s capacity, which can quickly turn an affordable wedding ceremony into something much bigger if you need extra space or you have to switch venues.

5. Go With a Thrift Store Find

You don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on your wedding dress or suit. Thrift stores carry tons of beautiful, vintage wedding dresses and interesting suits and tuxes that are sure to be a hit on your wedding day. Forget about getting the same dress and styles that everyone else uses — a thrift store find is a great way to rock that bespoke item that you won’t be able to find in a modern, big-box wedding store, and a professional tailor will be able to make it fit like it was made for you.

6. The Cheapest Venues are Free

If you or a family member has that one-of-a-kind backyard or outdoor area, there’s no more affordable wedding ceremony than one where the venue didn’t cost a thing. You’ll probably have to do a bit more decorating to enhance the feel, but various wedding rental companies will have everything you need to get started for a small fee. 

7. Get Married During the Winter

We all know that spring and late summer are the most popular times to get married, but if you shift your wedding to the off-season during the winter or late fall, you could save a bundle over an on-season wedding. The added benefit is that you won’t be competing with all the other couples for those prime wedding dates, which should make it easier — and cheaper — to lock down a venue.

8. Don’t Do Saturday

Everyone gets married on a Saturday — for good reason, too. It avoids the workweek and after the wedding there’s a day for recuperation before everyone heads back to work. But if you book a Friday or Sunday, you could save a substantial amount with an affordable wedding ceremony that doesn’t take place on a Saturday. Like an off-season wedding, you’ll also find that it’s easier to book a venue and lock down your catering and other vendors when you’re flexible with your day. The same goes for weddings during the week, so if you and your guests can get away on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, you can save even more over a Friday or Sunday.

9. Have the Ceremony and Reception in the Same Place

But by far the best way to have an affordable wedding is to have the ceremony and reception at the same venue. Instead of booking two different spaces — one for the ceremony and one for the reception — most wedding venues can actually pull double duty, saving you time and money when it comes to your wedding. It’s also much easier to plan a wedding ceremony and reception that happen at the same place, and you won’t have to pay two sets of staff to make sure the event goes off without a hitch — except, well, yours.

If you’re looking for an affordable wedding ceremony and reception area in Las Vegas, look no further than Occasions4.us. We’ve partnered with most luxurious golf course country clubs in and around the Las Vegas area to bring you an affordable weddings without compromises. We take care of everything, from the ceremony to reception and all the stuff in between, so you can concentrate on your big day, not pick up a second gig as a wedding planner. Learn more about how we can help you cut costs while still organizing a beautiful wedding to remember with a group of professionals that have seen and done it all. Check out our wedding packages and browse our photo gallery to get ideas for your big day.