It’s not uncommon for long-married couples to gloat about their simple, cost-efficient weddings. But for many couples getting married today, trying to keep things simple still comes with a hefty bill.
Depending on their wedding location and the skill, experience or popularity of their vendors, some couples find themselves paying a premium price. Some photographers can easily charge $10,000; D.J.s, $5,000. Quotes for many venues start at $20,000. These costs alone come to $35,000 — and that does not include catering, outfits, rentals and décor.
According to a study conducted by the wedding planning website The Knot, the average cost of a wedding ceremony and reception in 2024 was $33,000. The Knot surveyed about 17,000 couples who had married in the United States last year.
As wedding costs continue to soar, many couples have searched for ways to save money. There are the obvious options, like eloping or having a courthouse wedding, but those are not always a feasible option for some couples.
As a first step, Aysha Jalal, the founder of Yesmin Events, a wedding-planning company in New York, suggests that her clients pick a few non-negotiables. “Prioritize your must-haves, and set a budget,” Ms. Jalal said. Everything thereafter gets reduced in priority. Many couples, for instance, choose to prioritize the photography, which would allow them to memorialize their wedding days.
In interviews with a dozen couples who were married in the past year and who prioritized affordability, some wedding savings tips came up often, like choosing a date in the off-peak wedding season, from November to February, or booking a day other than Saturday. Some couples avoid mentioning that their event is a wedding — leaving out words like ‘wedding’ or ‘bridal’ when booking catering or purchasing dresses — as a way to save money.
On top of these common tips, here are eight creative ways couples saved money on their weddings.
Offer a Livestream
Sherelle Thomas, 31, and Torian Harris, 32, knew weddings were expensive, but they were shocked when they could not get the budget for their dream wedding under $30,000.
Ms. Thomas, a teacher in Atlanta, came across a company called Castvu, which livestreams weddings and events. She said she realized that she could have her “princess wedding” while still having all of their loved ones tuned in. The eight people closest to them, including their parents and best friends, attended the wedding, which was in March at the Stanley House in Marietta, Ga. But more than 100 family members and friends watched the entire wedding ceremony online. The livestream service cost the couple $800, and they did not have to rent out a big event space or serve food and drinks for a large group.
This came with one other perk: “Now, we can rewatch our special day anytime we want because the entire thing was recorded,” Ms. Thomas said. The couple spent less than $10,000 on their micro-wedding, including a splurge on her dress, which cost about $3,000.
Guests tuned in from around the world, and many held watch parties. “They understand the economy is not doing its thing right now,” Ms. Thomas said, “and everyone was so happy to see us happy.”
Buy Your Flowers from Trader Joe’s or Costco
Lauren Crane, a 26-year-old content creator, said she was quoted around $5,000 by florists for her Malibu, Calif., wedding with Bryce Crane, a 25-year-old marketing manager, in June 2024. Instead, the couple, who live in San Clemente, Calif., bought 15 bouquets of white roses from Trader Joe’s for $180. They had called the store a few weeks in advance and picked them up the day before the wedding.
The couple placed them in vases from Walmart, Dollar Tree and Michaels, which served as the centerpieces, and they even had extra flowers, Ms. Crane said. She splurged on the bouquets for herself and her maid of honor, purchasing them both from a florist.
“There was a minimalistic simplicity with white roses,” Ms. Crane said.
For their August 2024 wedding in West Bloomfield, Mich., Nik Pollina, a vintage store owner, and Fred Pulzello, who works with Ms. Pollina, found a floral arrangement company that sent them what they needed, and they made the arrangements themselves.
Ms. Pollina and Mr. Pulzello, both 31, also decorated tables with candles rather than flowers, which was a cheaper alternative that also provided an elegant aesthetic.
Think Outside the Box for the Venue
The Cranes, who attended Pepperdine University, used the backyard of an Airbnb in Malibu as the venue for their 80-person ceremony and reception, with permission from the hosts. The couple rented chairs and tables, moving the chairs after the ceremony to the dinner tables for the reception that followed.
“We tried to limit our rentals and use nature to our advantage because we were surrounded by a canyon,” Ms. Crane said.
Taylor Maki, 32, and Jorge Melgoza, 40, who are from San Clemente, Calif., tried finding Airbnbs that would host their 70-person wedding, to no avail, so they held their wedding at her parents’ backyard in Auburn, Calif. The couple rented tables, chairs and décor from the same company for about $2,000.
State-run venues like museums and libraries can offer major savings compared with private event spaces. Madeline Young, 27, and Elijah Swanagan, 29, leaned into that approach for their July wedding at the Admiral’s House in Charleston, S.C., a former Navy property they booked for $6,000.
Good Food for a Great Price
For appetizers during their cocktail hour, the Cranes purchased two large charcuterie boards for about $600 from a local catering company, with dinner served 30 minutes afterward.
For dessert, they had doughnuts instead of a cake, with a variety of flavors from Sidecar Donuts, and a personal cake for the two of them for $60. (“Once you tell a bakery you’re doing a wedding cake, the price skyrockets,” Mr. Crane said.) It was a small cake, but they still got the photos.
Ms. Maki, a project specialist, and Mr. Melgoza, who works in operations, had food trucks at their wedding. They paid about $2,000 for tacos from Chando’s Tacos Truck, with four types of tacos — chicken, pork, carne asada and veggies — along with rice, beans, elote and toppings.
Easy D.I.Y. Invitations
Ms. Young, who works in marketing, and Mr. Swanagan, a payroll specialist, saved hundreds of dollars on their invitations by making them themselves. Ms. Young downloaded a template from Etsy. Since she’s more detail oriented, her invitation consisted of six pieces, including an invite card, a detail card and the envelope. Quotes for invitations had started at $2,000, but she paid just $150.
She bought envelopes from Amazon, and she customized text from a template on Canva Pro. She printed her invitations using the website for Avery, an office supplies company. “It’s so self-explanatory it’s almost silly,” Ms. Young said.
Rather than printing invitations from the site, she printed postcards when she realized that they were the same dimensions, but much cheaper.
Ms. Young’s wedding planning involved a lot of D.I.Y. She took advantage of craft stations at local libraries and leaned on local Facebook groups for support and answers to her questions, including a group for brides in Charleston, which recommended affordable vendors.
A Small Ceremony and a Big Dinner
“People think they have to do all of their events big,” said Ms. Jalal, the wedding planner, who typically works with South Asian clients who have multiday wedding celebrations. “But maybe you can do some that are smaller and then some that are bigger.”
One of her clients hosted an intimate reception that “was all decked out with décor, photography and food, because that’s the wedding that they really wanted,” she said. On a later day, they hosted a separate dinner for extended family, “so that they could feed them, say hello, mingle.”
Secondhand Wedding Outfits
Ms. Maki purchased her wedding dress for $50 from Brides For a Cause, a nonprofit group that accepts donated wedding dresses and resells them to raise funds for women-focused foundations. Mr. Melgoza bought his suit secondhand for $150, and he got it tailored and altered for $80.
Some brides wear their mothers’ gowns to tell a family story. Renting suits and gowns is another affordable — and sustainable — option.
Lean on Your Loved Ones
Ms. Pollina and Mr. Pulzello, the couple who were married in West Bloomfield, were able to lean on friends and family for help with their wedding. Her mother was their planner, a friend made their invitations and another friend was the D.J. Yet another friend acted as their day-of coordinator and hosted the rehearsal dinner at their home in Birmingham, Mich. Instead of hiring a videographer, guests collectively took videos for them.
Though they were self-conscious about whether it might be a burden for their loved ones, the couple learned quickly that many wanted to help.
Weddings are a community event, after all.
Sadiba Hasan reports on love and culture for the Styles section of The Times.
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