Everyone’s talking about it – how expensive the wedding industry is right now. While we can’t help that covid, the cost of materials, travel, the economy and more have affected the cost of business, we can still help you stay in budget. Read on for our five top tips on staying within your wedding budget for your Colorado or Arizona wedding!

1. Cut Your Wedding Guest Count

This will be the absolute best way to stay in your wedding budget – cutting down your guest count. Less guests obviously mean less food and drink, which usually make up the largest portion of your budget. However, it also means less TABLES. You won’t need as many rental items like linens, flatware, glasses, etc. along with centerpieces. Your tabletop items add up quickly, and even cutting just one table saves significant money!

2. Book Your Wedding Vendors in Teams

What do we mean by booking your wedding vendors in teams? Think vendors that can be paired together – hair and makeup, photography and videography, and different types of rentals. Hiring the same team for your hair and makeup means less admin fees, only one minimum service count to hit, and typically means their travel will be priced a bit more friendly as well. It makes their life a lot easier working together, but it also saves you so much time as well. Many photo/video teams offer a discount if you book them together, so search for that if you want a high quality product in your budget! And if you need rentals, avoid renting from multiple different companies if you’re on a budget. They will all have their own minimums and travel fees and that will add up quickly from multiple vendors.

3. Look for Vendors With Bucket List Destinations

Being based in Colorado for half the year, there are tons of photographers who are looking to add the beautiful Rocky Mountains to their portfolio. Often times, they will post which destinations they are interested in shooting, and will shoot it for free at that location (I’m not kidding) and will ask that you just cover their travel expenses.

This doesn’t just apply to Colorado, these vendors post about locations all over the US and beyond! If you see someone offering this in an area you could see yourself getting married in, reach out for more information. We’ve seen planners, florists, videographers, and other vendors post about their bucket list destinations as well. If you have your eye on a vendor and haven’t seen them post any info about this, it doesn’t hurt to ask!

4. Be Intentional With Your Signage

Lot’s of couples DIY their signage with the belief that they are “saving money” by doing it themselves. While yes, DIYing can save you tons of money, if you have a sign in every corner of the venue.. It didn’t save you that much money in the long run because you made WAY too much. They might be $50 a piece on Etsy, but by the time you purchase five or six.. you could’ve saved that money or spent it on something more meaningful.

We say, scrap the welcome sign, the card sign, and anything that’s self explanatory. Focus on 1-3 necessary pieces of signage like your seating chart and menus. Not only does this mean you save money because you’re purchasing less materials, but your time, money and energy goes into these 1-3 focal points and will give your wedding a much more luxe feel because they are a bit more extravagant than they would be if you spread yourself thin with a ton of unnecessary decor.

5. Hire a Planner for your Colorado or Arizona Wedding

We aren’t trying to toot our own horn, but a planner can help you create your budget based on your priorities, how much you want to spend, and will track the whole thing for you. There’s no “maybe that went over budget” or “I’m not sure how much I budgeted for that”. They also do all the research for you to find vendors in your budget with the style you want, and know tons of people! They may just know someone willing to shoot a location you’re interested in for free like we talked about in #3.

What did we miss? Fill out our contact form so we can start planning your 2023/2024 Arizona or Colorado wedding!