There’s so much to look at when your planning an event you always wonder where to start, well a good start would be for one what your financial situation is. This will then help allow you to look at your other options. If you are not wanting to spend a lot of money or not in the situation to spend a lot,
Once you have your overall budget worked out on what you can/would like to spend on your event, then try to break it down to each section. If you have no idea what certain things would cost contact a few businesses to compare the prices, so you have an idea as to what you are looking at. If things are a bit more expensive then you had hoped for look at what is most important to have on the day and what things you can DIY or save money on.
Budget saving options
1. Instead of purchasing a cake as these can be a bit pricey, you might have a family member or friend who is great at making cakes and can make this for you. Having a small cake and an arrangement of donuts is also a great idea and very low cost.
2. DIY’s are a great way to go on saving money, there are so many great videos on YouTube you can follow or searching on Pinterest and making a mood board is also another great way to get some ideas together to help save money. Some things may be a bit time consuming but if you can ask some family or friends to help which I’m sure they would love to you can get some really cool things done.
3. Have your event at your own home rather than a venue to again help save cost. Just remember there are other little things you then need to take into consideration such as supplying your own food and drinks. Doing this yourself rather than hiring a caterer will also help save cost but just make sure you are organised and have some family or friends helping you with food on the day and preparing what food you can the day before.
4. Fresh flowers can be a bit expensive but a great idea if you have the space and time to do this is you can go buy and plant some flowers you wish to have for your event so you can pick them from your own backyard, just make sure you do your research on the care process, how long they take to grow etc. Or if you go to your local markets you can find flowers that won’t break the bank. Keeping your used glass bottles/jars and you can paint these to make vases for the flowers to sit in.
5. If your open to the idea look at having a cocktail or buffet style event as these options are cheaper than your standard sit down 3 course meal events.
6. Look at what venues include in their packages, they could be slightly higher in price compare to other venues but if they include chair covers, centrepieces for your tables, DJ etc this could work out cheaper then you trying to source these things yourself and you could potentially get the venue with all decorations and music within the one package.
7. Candles are always a great addition to styling any event, you can find these at your local cheap store or going online and buying in bulk will save you money and give you an effective look for your event.
8. Finding people who are just starting out in an industry if this be a photographer a makeup artist etc these ones are always a bit more flexible on their fee and might be able to work a special deal out with you if it’s something you are willing to look into.
9. You can look into hiring out an outfit rather than buying a new one, this could cost you half the price than it would if you were to buy something new just for the one night.
10. Try to design your own invitations and get a local print company to print these for you to save shipping cost or design these and send them out via email for things like your save the date cards or RSVP rather than printing.
Hopefully these ideas have helped you with your next event, there are lots of different things you can do to save money but still have a great event, try and be organised in giving yourself time to look into things and to do researching.
Happy event planning!
