Outdated wedding expenses you can ditch

Published on 28th June, 2023 at 04:08 pm

Sticking to a budget can be one of the trickiest parts of planning a wedding – especially as there are often hidden costs. So, what are some outdated expenses you can ditch from your budget to help save you money?

Reading time: 4 minutes

In this article you’ll learn: 

• What wedding expenses are outdated and what the alternatives are.
• What a bride and groom should never skimp on.
• How your FREE Personal Assistant benefits can help you source great quotes for your wedding vendors, and how a qualified financial planner can help you prepare for your big day!

Say goodbye to party favours

According to Cape-Town event and wedding planner Tatum Morley-Saieva of a|WEDDING by Tatum, an invitation to your wedding is enough of a gift for your guests and wedding favours add up rather quickly. If you have to offer a favour, a slice of wedding cake is a lovely gift to send home with your guests.

“The wedding cake often goes to waste, as guests are already dancing by the time it’s cut. Ask your caterer to cut your wedding cake up and put it in beautiful takeaway boxes for guests to take home.”

Curious to know what other couples have spent on their wedding, and how they budgeted it? We asked, here.

Keep flowers simple

Big bouquets of white roses are beautiful, but they’re also expensive. Hydrangeas and sunflowers, for example, are just as pretty and you can use fewer stems for a special arrangement. Lots of leaves and greenery are on trend now and cost-effective. When you combine this with loads of candles, you’ll be able to create a super stylish look.

Scrap the dancefloor

“Most venues have perfectly good floors for your guests to dance on, which means there’s no need to demarcate a dancefloor area,” says Morley-Saieva. “You can simply arrange your floorplan in a way that makes the dancefloor area obvious.”

Go paperless

A pretty invitation in the post is outdated. Digital save-the-dates and invitations are the way forward – they’re easy to send out, and cost-effective, too.

Printed menus on the tables also aren’t necessary. Including an A2 or A1 print in the venue is more than sufficient.

Consider a destination wedding

Planning a destination wedding (away from home) could be less expensive than planning a traditional wedding if it includes a smaller guest list or reception. “This is a great alternative idea to a traditional wedding,” says Jyoti Gopee, a financial planner at Pinnacle BlueStar, authorised by Sanlam. “It takes a lot of financial pressure off everyone, too.”

What should a bride/groom never skimp on?

“Food and photography,” says Morley-Saieva. “Your guests will remember your wedding from the food you served, while the bride and groom will remember their day through beautiful wedding photos. Choose a professional photographer whose style you love, and who you can afford. You’ll have those photos for the rest of your life.”

Get creative with cost-cutting by shopping around. Use your free Personal Assistant benefit, available on the Sanlam Reality App, to source quotes straight to your phone.

At the end of the day, what truly matters?

“You don’t need to consult your entire family and have an extravagant wedding with 150 guests, a three-tier wedding cake and a live band simply to keep up with the Joneses. These days this isn’t vital – the bells and whistles will only create unnecessary costs,” says Gopee.

“Speak to your partner and decide what’s necessary and what’s not depending on your values and beliefs. Only then can you decide what’s negotiable and what truly matters,” she says. “You can use the money you save on lavish and outdated wedding expenses to start your life with travel or a deposit towards a property. It’s not as easy to earn or recover money as it was 15-20 years ago, and you need to bear this in mind when planning your wedding and future,” Gopee concludes.

Planning your wedding? Meeting with a financial planner can help you save for your big day and invest for your future together – without overspending. Book a meeting now.