The average cost of a wedding can be $20,000 or more! Save your wallet and save the big day when you use outdoor wedding ideas on a budget to save money and still have the wedding of your dreams.
Weddings can be extremely expensive. Luckily, there are many ways to budget for the big day so that your wedding is all about the love between you and your partner, and not about getting into debt. Use some easy-to-do outdoor wedding ideas on a budget to make your day special without breaking the bank.
How to Plan an Outdoor Wedding on a Budget
Are you trying to plan an outdoor wedding idea on a budget? Finding a budget friendly planning process can be tricky. The wedding planning process can look about the same, but there are some key differences when a wedding planner is making the budget a higher priority.
To plan a successful wedding on a budget and make sure you saved money, you'll want to follow these steps, so you don't forget anything and mind the costs.
Step 1: Set a Wedding Budget
The very first thing you'll want to do is set your wedding budget. How much do you want to spend overall or on each item?
This budget might include sections like how much you want to spend on the wedding dress, other wedding dresses like the bride's maid dresses, wedding venue, wedding planner, wedding cake, and more.
Or your budget might be one lump sum that you know you can spend on the entire thing. In this case, you'll want to continue on to a step 1.5 by dividing this lump sum into parts.
Divvy up your available wedding funds into the different parts of the wedding you know you want. That way you'll know how much you can spend on each item at the beginning.
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Step 2: List a Wedding Checklist
Create a master wedding to do list including anything you can think of, including budget items, wedding shopping, and more. It might even help to separate your outdoor wedding idea on a budget to do list into 2 lists, 1 list for the budget items and another list for all the other tasks involved in making a wedding happen.
Wedding planning apps and wedding planning websites can make this process really easy. It can also help to create a shared Google Doc and use the checkmark bullet marks to make your lists and share them with all involved.
Step 3: Set Your Wedding Budget Priorities
Once you have the 2 primary things you need to make your big day happen (a checklist of to do items and a detailed budget) you can start setting your wedding budget priorities straight. By having strict budget priorities you can make plans and purchases official. Start by making all of the necessary purchases first and only spending more if you have extra room in the budget.
Find a wedding dress in your budget, find and book a wedding venue in your budget, get a wedding cake ordered within your budget. Once all the spending is done you'll be able to relax more, have most of the wedding ready to go, and be at ease knowing you didn't go over budget because you meticulously planned how much you would spend on each item.
Easy Outdoor Wedding Ideas on a Budget
Need some outdoor wedding ideas on a budget to get you started? Don't worry, there are so many budget wedding ideas to choose from. Hosting a wedding outdoors can be a great way to save money while still having a beautiful wedding venue out in nature.
1. Low Budget Small Backyard Wedding
Having a low budget small backyard wedding can save you money and keep the guest-list to a minimum. Smaller wedding parties are more intimate and can make the wedding planning process for your outdoor wedding idea on a budget that much simpler too. Instead of paying for a million guests and a gigantic wedding venue to fit them all, keep the guest list small and remake someone's backyard into a gorgeous outdoor wedding venue you and your guests won't soon forget.
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2. Low Budget DIY Backyard Wedding Decorations
Keep the budget even lower for your backyard wedding by making DIY wedding decorations. This can be a fun way for the wedding party to bond as they make decorations by hand. Take inspiration from Pinterest and visit your local craft store for inexpensive supplies. You'll be surprised by how much you can save when you go the DIY wedding decor route.
3. Low Budget Wedding Dresses
Wedding dresses are getting more expensive every day. Thankfully there are many options available for low budget wedding dresses. Instead of buying a wedding dress, you could rent one instead! You can also pay to have a wedding dress altered if you have a dress already in the family you could use. Paying for dress alterations will be much less expensive than paying for a brand-new dress that will probably also need alterations of some kind.
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4. Budget-Friendly Wedding Cake
Get a budget-friendly wedding cake easily when you just make it yourself. If you aren't concerned with having a colossal wedding cake with all the frills imaginable, then making your own low budget wedding cake is a piece of cake! This outdoor wedding idea on a budget is yummy and cost efficient! All you need are the boxed cake flavors you love, some icing, and the tins you want for stacking the wedding cake pieces together.
5. Low Budget Wedding Planner
The best low budget wedding planner is yourself. Instead of hiring an expensive wedding planner, just plan your wedding yourself! You can even utilize your bridesmaids, your parents, or your maid of honor to help you out. Create a group folder with everything you and your fellow wedding planners need and divide and conquer at no cost to your wallet. This outdoor wedding idea on a budget will bring you all closer together and save you lots of money on expensive wedding planners.
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6. Skip the Wedding Favors
One of the best outdoor wedding ideas on a budget is to skip the wedding traditions that aren't important to you anyway. Some weddings include something called a wedding favor. This is like a party favor, where you give guests a little gift or trinket. This can be as a thank you for coming, a thank you for the gifts, or something fun to keep the guests entertained. There are many inexpensive wedding favors to choose from, but by skipping this tradition you can also save a lot of your wedding budget for more important things.
7. Keep the Guest List Small
This outdoor wedding idea on a budget might seem rude to some, but could provide a more intimate experience for everyone. The more guests you invite the more money you'll need to spend, the more time you'll need to prepare the outdoor wedding space, and the more space you'll need to begin with. By keeping the guest list small you also keep your budget small. With a smaller guest list, you don't have to send as many invitations, you don’t have to provide as many tables and chairs, and you don't have to provide as much food and wedding cake.
8. Send a Digital Invitation
Another easy way to save money on an outdoor wedding idea on a budget is to send out digital invitations instead of printed wedding invitations. Printed wedding invites are nice, but they are hardly necessary in this digital age. Instead save your money and send out a digital invitation via email to everyone who is invited.
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In Conclusion,
Your wedding is a magical day. Make it all the more magical by saving money and keeping the money you do spend on the things that matter most to you.
