We have a heap of helpful tips to help you save money on your wedding. Being thrifty or having DIY weddings can be fun and less costly that a traditional wedding.
Save money on your wedding
Setting a budget is key to saving money on your wedding.
- List all the expenses. We have made a list for everyone that includes those extra costs you might forget about.
- Set a maximum.
- Build a buffer for unknown expenses.
If you have any other expenses that you think we should add let us know! We are all about helping people and making things easier.
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Click HERE to download our wedding budget list that even has sections to compare quotes from other vendors and a guest list to help you keep track of those attending.
Do you need more help? Check out our other pages dedicated to wedding planning.

The Date

Get married on a Friday or Sunday. Saturdays are the busiest day of the week everyone wants to get married on a Saturday but vendors can only work so many events.
The basic rule of supply and demand dictates prices for all vendors will be higher on this day.
By just changing the day you can save 10-20% off traditional prices. At Only DJs Melbourne our prices are considerably less on these days.
#Supportlocal
Support local vendors if possible. On average a wedding may have up to 14 vendors for their wedding according to Wedding wire.
If you can support a local business and avoid a $50-100 drive out fee. This is a great way to save money easily.

Location Matters

Hold your ceremony and reception in the same location.
Not only is this easier on your guests who can mingle after the ceremony but it saves you spending hours commuting to different locations.
You can easily save between $300-700 alone not having to pay for transport for more than 2-3 hours.
Reception Style
Traditional 3 course sit down dinners are out and canapes/cocktail weddings are now in.
You can save big money per head by just making this little change.
Wedding receptions charge $150 – $200 per head, whereas if you hire a cool food truck you may pay as much as $70 per head as a maximum.
Hire a catering van that provides RSA staff. You pay just for their services and don’t pay the markup as you’re supplying the drinks. Try to find specials or multibuy discounts.
This might not sound like much, but saving 10-15% off $1000-1500 of alcohol can definitely add up.
Another tip with alcohol is to keep it simple, you’re not a jar of Nutella, you can’t please everyone. Try to have one red, one white, and just one spirit along with basic soft drinks.

Have A Surprise Wedding

Try a surprise wedding. This is such a fun way to start your married life. The other great thing is that you’re not expected to invite that third cousin twice removed
For more information about this fun and exciting money saver click HERE.
Have A Winter Wonderland Wedding
Getting married in the off season is a great way to save money.
Venues and vendors always offer better rates for off season.

D.I.Y IT

DIY it! The choice of how much you want to DIY is up to you. This is a fantastic way to have a wedding and enjoy it with close friends and family.
In 2016 we performed for Sam and Jodi’s wedding.
They did this by a small farmhouse overlooking the bay in Melbournes South East.
Sam is a chef and prepared an amazing grazing table and had a colleague provide the catering. Jodi organised a celebrant, photographer and us to DJ. The night was a huge success.
Getting second hand items off Facebook forums such as Wedding Goods Buy Swap Sell Melbourne or DIY/Budget Weddings Australia is a great way to give something a new life and save money.
Invitations
Use an E-invite service. This is not only a greener option for the planet but it also saves you a lot of money on postage and printing.
Sending out save the date, invites and RSVP’s with traditional post can cost upwards of $400 for just 100 guests. E-invites are significantly less and let you track everyone.
The drawback is that computer illiterate family may not understand or receive the invitation.
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What You Shouldn’t Try To Save Money On

Photography
Photography is one of the most important things to spend money on when planning a wedding.
Remember, the cake gets eaten, the flowers will wilt, only the photos last forever.
A fantastic photographer is worth their weight in gold.
If they are able to capture a moment that are gone in the blink of an eye that is what really matters.
You don’t want to miss that photo of your grandmother with a proud smile on her face, a teary father, or the groom’s reaction to seeing their gorgeous bride.

The DJ

This might be an area where you are considering to save some money. DON’T!
There are three main things that people will remember from your wedding one of them is THE MUSIC!
A great DJ will make your night and a horrible DJ will ruin it.
You may also be considering Spotify or a streaming service but this too can cause a problem.
- Will you be using the venues in-house speaker system? These are normally designed for speeches only and won’t do the job well. Most Venues have this set to a maximum of 50% at best.
- If you are using a streaming service, what happens if or when the stream stops? Will you have physical media as a backup?
- How will you coordinate the music for your First Dance. Cake cutting, Father-Daughter Dance, Mother-Son Dance, Entrance & Exit? This must be exactly on point for a wedding.
- Who will be providing a microphone? If you are using the venues equipment chances are your videographer won’t be able to plug in to record your speeches. If you are DIY-ing it and providing your own microphone, who will adjust the volume for those low speaking people or when you get microphone feedback.
- If you plan on using your own speakers we have one very important question to ask, are they tested and tagged? This is a requirement in Australia for Electrical Safety and Venues won’t allow equipment to be used that isn’t tagged correctly.
- Do you have the time to set up a playlist for 5 hours? If you’re planning your wedding, you’re already under the pump, save yourself the hassle and book a professional who can have your dancefloor packed all night.
The best way to save money in this area is to ask the DJ to MC as well. This might not sound like much, but it will save you a lot more than a professional MC.