Now more than ever, keeping your wedding or event on a tight budget is the norm. Clients are looking for ways to save and find the magical combination of cutting costs while not sacrificing quality. This month Bridal Guide magazine released an article entitled “The 101 Best Budget Tips.” At Significant Events, we always strive to save our clients money so that they leave their event with a sense of euphoria rather than buyer’s remorse! Here are a few of my favorite suggestions from Bridal Guide’s list:
1. Rent a Public Space for Your Event
Dallas and the surrounding suburbs have some beautiful public venues, including parks with gazebos, public buildings for rent, etc. Usually these venues rent for a small hourly fee (around $100.00 per hour) and don’t require a food and beverage minimum. You are allowed to bring in your own catering and often your own alcohol at these venues. Some of my favorites include Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake in Lakewood, Myers Park Event Center in McKinney, and Haggard Park in Plano. My only suggestion is to have a coordinator present! Most of these venues do not have a a facility manager on site and, if a problem arises, you will be on your own without an event coordinator present.
2. Do All of Your Photography Ahead of Time
Actually, this one isn’t on the Bridal Guide list, but it is one of my favorite tips! I know it is untraditional, but setting up a special moment for the bride and groom prior to the ceremony and doing all of the formal pictures before the ceremony, actually saves you time and money. Since the pictures will be completed, the bride and groom can arrive at the ceremony at essentially the same time as the rest of the guests and start dinner immediately. If the bride and groom have to stay at the ceremony for 30 minutes – 1 hour after their guests leave, they will have to provide appetizers and additional beverages for their guests.
3. Hold Your Event on a Night Other than Saturday
Not only will your venue charge a higher rate for a Saturday evening wedding, your DJ, photographer, and caterer probably will too, just to name a few. If your event will not have a lot of alcohol served and/or not alot of dancing intended, there is really not a reason to hold it on a Saturday night. An event during the daytime can also get by just serving hors d’ourves rather than a full meal, which will save money as well.