This post contains affiliate images. When I dreamed of the perfect wedding for my daughter, I really didn’t think about how much it would cost. That’s why I needed to find these 7 ways to plan a magical wedding on a budget!

Wedding Costs Can Be Staggering

Like the cost can be staggeringly out of this world. We just don’t have the funds to throw an extravagant wedding, so we decided to do as much DIY as we could for the wedding. Here are 7 ways to plan a magical wedding on a budget!

7 Ways To Plan A Magical Wedding On A Budget

Plan A Wedding On A Budget

Shave That Guest List: One of the biggest money suckers in planning a wedding is your food and drink. The more people you invite, the more grub you have to provide.

Don’t invite people you don’t know for the sake of pleasing someone else. This is your wedding, so invite only those people closest to you. We were able to cut our guest list to just 75 people.

It’s OK To Ask For Help

Ask For Help: Do you know someone who is a great amateur photographer? Someone who can sing or play a musical instrument? Don’t be afraid to ask friends and family to help in lieu of a wedding present.

My youngest daughter is a great singer, so she will be sharing her gift at the wedding. Chelsea’s cousins are great cooks, so they are throwing the rehearsal dinner at their house.

Where To Shop For The Floral Accessories

Flowers: Here is another area that can really hurt your budget. We have an awesome farmer’s market less than 3 miles from Chelsea’s house.

We are buying the flowers there and making the bouquets ourselves. We are cutting this part of the budget by 2/3.

Sprucing The Place Up

Decorations: Chelsea wants a more rustic look for her wedding, which fits right in with the old train station we found for the venue. We are making as many of the decorations as we can.

What we cannot make, we are getting from Oriental Trading. This company is THE place to go when you are planning a wedding on a budget.

Where To Say “I Do”

Venue: If you are going to do most of the wedding on your own, seek a venue that allows you to bring your own food, decorations, etc.

We found a cool historic train depot in Atlanta that was thousands less than other venues we found. I was able to get a great price that fit right in our budget.

Eats And Drinks

Food and Drink: If at all possible, reach out to friends and family to help with the catering. We have a pool of people who are offering to bring food, cutting our budget by at least $1,000.

We are stocking the bar ourselves, so that is another huge savings for us. We are making 2 signature drinks and offering beer, wine, soft drinks or water. Much of this we are getting from Sam’s Club.

Looking Great For Less

Dresses: There are a few great options to save you lots of bucks on the dresses. There are places you can rent your wedding dress or buy them used. If this is not something that appeals to you, many bridal shops have clearance dresses.

Don’t be afraid to do some digging in that sale department. You can save THOUSANDS on a dress when you buy it on sale.

For the bridesmaids, consider buying dresses off the rack at a department store rather than a bridal shop. I can sew, so making the dresses is another money-saving option.

Making The Space Beautiful

Decorations: When we were talking about doing our own decorations, we weren’t sure where to start. Chelsea had an idea of what she wanted to do, but not a clear vision. After spending a lot of time on Pinterest, we had a better idea of what we wanted to do.

What you will need to make the Purple Ombre Painted Mason Jars we made for the tables. They are the same jars we made in my post, DIY Ombre Painted Mason Jar Planters Craft:

• 3 Wide Mouth Mason Jars
• 3 Acrylic paints in varying shades of purple from dark to light
• 1 Can of white spray paint or primer
• Foam brushes

Here are all the supplies you need to make your Ombre Painted Mason Jars and Glow in the Dark Jars:

        

 

Step 1: Spray paint each mason jar with the white paint or primer. This will allow the acrylic paint to go on more easily and evenly. Allow drying at least 30-45 minutes.

Step 2: Using your foam brush, paint one of the mason jars with the darkest color. Repeat with each mason jar, with each paint, until you get to the very lightest color.

Allow drying at least 30-45 minutes before painting your next coat. I paint 2-3 coats in total. If you want to paint stripes, just use painters tape as I did in my Patriotic Painted Mason Jars.

Easy Mason Jar Glowing Fairy Lights

For some of the tables, we knew we wanted to make our own lighting, and Caitlin found a cute idea to make DIY Mason Jar Glow Stick Lights for the tables. They are super easy to make too!

All you do is cut 3-5 glow sticks in the color of your choice and bleed them into your mason jar. Next, you add glitter and shake, shake, shake! The result is a quaint glowing light that is perfect for our rustic wedding theme.

What did you think of these 7 ways to plan a magical wedding on a budget? Have you planned a wedding on a shoestring budget? I would love to hear how you did it!

Here Are More Great DIY Ideas:
Easy DIY Fabric Flower Pots
Easy DIY Halloween Candy Jar Craft

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