Q&A | Budget[BACK TO ALL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS]

Planning a budget wedding with only R10 000. Can it be done and still be original?

Planning a budget wedding can be done, with a little bit of homework and a lot of budgeting, you can plan a wedding on much less. The trick is to keep it simple but personal, eliminate all the unnecessary frills and focus on what’s vital for the wedding to take place.

Lets start with DIY decor projects, this will reduce costs dramatically instead of buying decor items from a retail store.

Having a home wedding will also reduce on venue hire costs. If your house is not suitable, then call in some favours and ask neighbors, family or friends if they would be willing to host the wedding

Catering is one of the biggest costs involved, so look at options of maybe having a morning wedding, where you can provide a Champagne breakfast, this will also reduce your drinks bill as you will not have to provide the different varieties of alcohol that you would have to provide for in an evening ‘party’ environment. If you are adamant on having an evening wedding, have a cocktail party providing snacks and nibbles instead of a full 3 course sit down dinner.

Don’t go overboard on flowers , have one or two main arrangements then introduce interesting candles or pot plants into the mix.

Your wedding dress can be hired for the event, these days the quality and selection of hired wedding dresses are extremely good. You can look at other options like purchasing a shop bought dress or having a simple elegant sheath dress made by a dress maker.

You were worried about having a unique/original wedding, this will not be an issue if you provide the personal touches of all the handmade decor items and favours as mentioned above. Think and plan carefully and you could have a beautifully unique wedding on a shoestring budget.