Weddings aren’t just big days, they’re big business too.
The average wedding costs at least $ 36,000, the federal government’s Moneysmart poll found, or more than $ 65,400, according to a survey by Bride To Be Magazine
If these amounts make your mouth water, take courage. With a little lateral thinking, you can spend a lot less money and still celebrate your big day in style.
We asked three savvy Australian brides how they made beautiful weddings for less money.
“We traded live music for playlists and a formal meal for wood-fired pizza”
A vineyard wedding may sound like a chore, but Bec Dymond, a Canberra teacher, managed to get a wedding well below the average cost of an Australian wedding.
Her secret: finding a place where weddings rarely took place – “so they wouldn’t charge a premium for such events,” says Bec, 30.
Bec and her then-fiancé stumbled upon the vineyard at a couple of wineries in Murrumbateman, New South Wales earlier on, “and we thought it was just beautiful,” she says.
The venue offers wood-fired pizza as well as cheese and sausage platters.
“We had tables and chairs for everyone, just no seats,” says Bec.
“And the venue staff just came up to the tables and brought out three or four different pizza options.”
Bec’s bridesmaids wore dark blue dresses of their choice, while Bec was picking up a no-bridal white designer dress from a department store. (
Delivered: Alex Pasquali
)
Dessert consisted of cakes and sweets prepared by relatives and friends of the family.
By choosing a naturally beautiful venue, Bec and her husband also saved money on flowers and decorations.
“We relied on the natural beauty of the rural setting with trees and rolling hills,” says Bec.
The limited edition flowers they bought were presented in used glasses from op shops, she adds.
“And I went to a $ 2 store and bought some decorative paper bammers.”
Bec decided not to buy a more expensive traditional dress. Instead, she waited for the Boxing Day sale and chose a white designer dress from the non-bridal section of a department store.
“I liked that this was casual enough to wear again, but it was still white.”
Bec allowed the bridesmaids to choose their own dresses, adhering to a navy blue color scheme, so everyone could choose an outfit that suited their body type.
“We said we give each bridesmaid $ 50 to keep their costs down, and if they wanted to spend more they could,” she says.
How to save money on your wedding
With the average Australian wedding costing around $ 30,000 or the price of a small car, we asked you for tips on how to do it for less. Here is what you told us.
Continue reading
The guests then danced the night away – to playlists, not to DJs – on an improvised dance floor that Bec made out of two large carpets.
“Dance floors were pretty expensive to rent when we went to see this – we looked at hundreds, if not thousands of dollars – so we decided to pay less than $ 400 for the two carpets instead,” she says.
By saving money where they could, Bec and her husband were able to pay full price for the things that mattered to them: a professional photographer, make-up artist, cars and coaches for guests.
Bec’s tip for engaged couples looking to save money?
“Think about what you can do yourself that doesn’t take a lot of extra time,” she says.
“It can take two hours to create a playlist, but it will save so much!”
She also recommends thinking “out of the box” for venues that match your priorities.
“At the end of the day, when there’s good food, good wine, and a fun place to be, you’ll remember – having a great time with family and friends – not that the sparkling curtains were just right.”
Total expenditure: $ 19,000 for 95 guests.
Become part of the ABC Everyday community by joining our Facebook group.
We avoided “wedding vendors”
Camille Gray, a Sydney psychologist, married in 2001 at a beach resort in southeast Queensland.
Camille says the venue’s location near Brisbane Airport was not only convenient for international guests, but was also “much cheaper and nicer than everyone staying in Sydney in August”.
In addition, the organization of the entire wedding in one place saves transport costs between the ceremony and the reception.
Camille Gray arranged a relaxed but beautiful wedding in a single location on the beach where guests could swim in the ocean. (
Delivered: Camille Gray
)
The resort’s restaurant was initially reluctant to host a wedding, so Camille’s mom convinced her by offering “just one set menu, a table for 30, that’s it”.
Fortunately, the resort staff eventually warmly welcomed the idea – one staff member even offered to play guitar on the beach during pre-wedding drinks in exchange for a bottle of gin.
To keep costs down, Camille’s friends also helped. A musician friend played a song on the guitar while Camille walked down the sandy corridor; someone else put on make-up for Camille.
How to have an inexpensive wedding in style
How much does it cost to get married and does it have to be?
Continue reading
During the ceremony and reception, the resort’s photographers, young art college graduates, snapped photos for far less than the cost of a traditional wedding photographer.
“They loved it as they usually take photos of tourists feeding dolphins, so we got an amazing prize [and they] did a great job, “says Camille.
The couple kept the table setting simple: they procured glasses from operating theaters, used tea lights, and draped long strands of ivy over the tables.
The couple also eschewed traditional wedding cars and opted for a less conventional mode of transport.
“The bride and bridesmaids arrived on a submersible covered in fish paintings,” says Camille.
While she had to do “a lot of negotiation and lateral thinking” to plan the low-key wedding of her dreams, Camille said it was “really beautiful” in the end.
So nice that the venue’s marketing manager paid close attention to how he planned it – and the resort is now marketing itself as an upscale wedding venue.
Total expenditure: $ 12,000 for 45 guests, with 30 for dinner
Weddings in 2021
It is likely that 2021 will be a record year for weddings due to the pandemic, and despite the ongoing uncertainty, there is a silver lining – they could become more affordable.
Continue reading
“We chose a little-known venue with BYO alcohol”
Caitlyn Lengkeek from Yarrabilba in Queenland married her husband in 2019.
The 30-year-old ABC producer says he saved about $ 10,000 by looking beyond large resort-style venues. Instead, they opted for a privately owned venue in a rural town outside of the Gold Coast that was licensed but allowed the couple to bring their own alcohol.
“It was just a beautiful farmhouse in the back of Kerry where the owner converted the back of her home into a wedding location,” says Caitlyn.
“She had her own ceremonial place with an arbor, and there is a beautiful dam.”
Caitlyn also asked friends for favors to help out with the bartender and print invitations while her best friend, a pastry chef, baked the wedding cake.
Caitlyn eschewed chair covers and other traditional decorations and decorated the tables with handcrafted Star Wars-themed terrariums. (
ABC: Jessica Hinchliffe
)
She also allowed bridesmaids to wear their own dresses in a specific color scheme.
“They put them all up for sale and spent less than $ 100 each,” she says. “And some of the groomsmen have reused suit jackets from previous weddings.”
Ultimately, Caitlyn and her husband saved money by sticking to what they wanted in a wedding.
Party favors, chair covers, neon signs, photo booths – they all ended up on the pile of “don’t need it” (or “the damn bucket,” as Caitlyn calls it, borrowing a term from Bridechilla podcasts).
“Just because the wedding industry tells you you need it doesn’t mean you need it,” she says.
By skipping the non-essential things, you can save enough to choose things that really matter to you, says Caitlyn. In her case, it was her dress that she still had on offer.
“I think the dress was worth $ 3,500 and the store cut it down to $ 2,800 because I said my budget was $ 2,000,” says Caitlyn.
She was happy to wear a dress that made her feel great – and cried tears of joy when she tried it on.
“Because I’m a curvy woman, I was really scared of the whole dressing process,” she says.
But when she found the right dress in a bridal shop in Brisbane, she said: “It was the best experience. I felt safe”.
Total expenditure: Approximately $ 15,000 for 70 guests.
ABC Everyday in your inbox
Get our newsletter for the best from ABC Everyday every week
