What's the one money-saving tip you would give future brides?

[Guada_FN]

Hi Ladies,

Guada from Female Network here!

For those who are already married, what's the one money-saving tip you could give future brides?

Your advice will also be compiled in an article.

Happy sharing!

Guada

[airish_2]

-ALWAYS priority your needs over wants. (Don't be overwhelmed to the marketing and sales strategy of the vendor.)
- Trim your guest list.
- Open a bank account exclusive for WEDDING FUND
- Make sure to include your Honeymoon budget in your wedding fund.

[Tincywincy]

As for me and H2B, we made a list of everything we want and need to spend on including the prenup expenses. from there we decided on which of these items we're willing to spend more and which of these we don't want to spend much or anything on (venue styling for example has been removed from the list kasi we decided we won't spend a buck on this). from there we put a max budget for each item and we made sure we don't go over that (pero fail kame sa wedding cake by a few thousands lang naman pero we're getting a good deal na din kasi).

then once we book suppliers, we get the difference of our max budget vs actual cost, then whatever amount we save from each suppliers, diretso sa wedding contingency fund for OTD biglaang gastos. para in case we still have to put on extra budget for the contingency fund, hindi na gaanong shocking for us. LOL

[mindiegirl]

11 months after and the wedding high died down, glad that me and my husband both agreed to a small number of guests and were able to stick to it. It saved us a lot of money and we enjoyed our wedding. If you and your future spouse wants an intimate wedding, definitely go for it. It will save you not only the extra bucks but the stress as well. 

[marywater]

Do a thorough research and be more aware of the price range of the services being offered. Any supplier can say "Sulit na yan ma'am" even though there are far better deals out there. Talk to recent brides and maybe even consult them if the services you're getting are worth the price. I found great suppliers offering quality services at a much lower rate here at GT, and they were all wonderful. No regrets.

Go for the DIY route if possible. We had a book-themed wedding so it was only natural to have our invitations customized in accord to the theme. I was quite surprised with the quotation of all the suppliers. The sleeves/envelopes alone would cost us about Php30-50 each, although I could understand why they were priced that way. To significantly cut the cost, I bought specialty papers then designed, printed (used my printer at home) and even manually cut the sleeves/envelopes myself. I only spent about Php300-400 for my invitations for 50 copies.

[Tincywincy]

I agree sis marywater. actually kaya hindi na rin ako nag bridal fair kasi mas marami pa akong nakuhang way better deals sa suppliers mentioned on this thread kesa yung mga nasa exhibit. iba kasi pag past brides talaga yung kausap mo eh.

[marywater]

True Tincywincy-sis. I booked 2 suppliers from the bridal fair (Flowers and HMUA). The flowers were okay, but for the HMUA, it was the rotten apple in the bunch. I was thinking, I should have done more research and considered the recommendations here in GT. Lahat ng mga suppliers na nakuha ko dito did not disappoint.

[sdjulian]

Here's our tips:

CAke:

3 layered cake kinuha namin, pero we arranged with our cake supplier na yung totoong cake lang sa cake namin is yung part na i-slice lang namin for cake cutting, at yung iba gawing bite size cupcakes para sa dessert bar. yung ibang layers ay design lang na parang cake pero hindi edible, pero pag tiningnan mo parang bonggang 3 layered cake pa rin.


Suppliers: Go Local.

Lalo na for HMUA and PHOTO Video, andaming suppliers na malapit lang sa venue niyo. para makatipid sa OOT Fee at less chances of being late.

Hope this helps.

[peachlipstick]

Book based on an informed and well-researched decision.

There are times that b2bs and h2bs nasisilaw sa freebies and pressure ng "today only" offers and nagdedeposit na ng downpayment without doing proper research. Then after making the deposit they will check the feedback for the supplier and will be scared kasi the supplier has bad feedback.

The proper flow should be "research - ask for feedback - deposit" hindi "deposit - ask for feedback"

Oh and if you can, book early for the price lock. Hubby and I saved more than 100k just for booking our suppliers early. Like our videographer for example, we got them for 28k (booked and price locked 2014) but their 2016 rate was already 55k.

[rowan]

-To save time and money in bridal fairs, research about the participating suppliers first before going there. You'll not only be assured of getting a good deal, you'll also know if you're dealing with a trustworthy and quality supplier. It's so easy to get overwhelmed once you're there and commit impulse buying. 

-If you want to save on flowers, you can scrimp on the entourage flowers and just invest on your bridal bouquet. Why? You'll be holding your bouquet in most of your pictures.

[letters_to_cleo]

- Plan and save for at least a year.  Your initial budget peg will likely baloon by 50% by the time your wedding is held.

- Do not scrimp on these suppliers:
   - caterer
   -A/V

- I attended 1 wedding fair, my hubby attended 3 (because he is in Pinas and I am based abroad)  but ultimately got none of my suppliers from these fairs and instead relied on research and recommendations from friends and relatives and even friends of friends.  I was soooo happy with all my suppliers,  except my OTD coordinator who was so irritating during the wedding and was, in my opinion, incompetent. She was recommended by hubby?s friend and was a churchmate.  That was my only regret. Otherwise all went well

- I mixed up my suppliers with relatively well-established names in the wedding biz ( caterer, flowers, hotel, Photo and Video, host, photobooth) and up-and-coming ones (entourage and ninangs?gowns , personalized invitations done by an artist-friend). And that decision saved me a lot of moolah. My invitations alone saved my 15k.

- For hotel bookings for the wedding prep site, book in the name of the bride?s mother or the groom?s mother if they are already senior citizens. It will save you a lot of moolah. We saved 5k at our hotel because of this.

- I used my own personal car as the bridal car, it was white and roomy, and It saved me 10-15k. And honestly, di naman napansin na yung bridal car, so good decision na di na kami nagrent, though si hubby gusto pa magrent ng car for me. I said no, because I want the car that my father gave me to be my bridal car for senti reasons. Nakatipid pa kami.

-Book early.  Our host, caterer, wedding site, Photo video suppliers were booked one year in advance. 

-If magout of country kayo, check the wedding gowns abroad. Especially if you go out  of country ng  August -Sep, Jan-March na sale season, may mga sale ng gowns. Nalula ako when I checked  prices of gowns sa Pinas, sa Divi mga 50k, sa designers na midlevel 100-150k!  I bought mine on sale from 1.5k Euros to 750 Euros lang, since it was a wedding shop and I live here, I was able to have it adjusted din, so all in all with veil (which they gave for free) I paid 1.050 euros lang so 60k.

- Cake. Not really a priority. If you have dessert buffet na, yung cake di na mapapansin. So pwede na yung one edible layer na lang.

-

[bollin_pop]

Here's my top 3 tips
- Reserve early for your selected supplier/s.
- Never be shy to ask for reasonable discounts or if selected supplier/s will have upcoming promos or if they will participate in bridal fairs.
- Focus on wedding essentials! You can easily be swayed by wedding trends but wedding is about your union.

[iceheaven31]

i think besides all the supplier-research tips, the most important ones should be:

-stick to your budget (allotment) -->pramis ang daming suppliers na mura pero ok ang output.
-STICK TO WHATEVER YOU CAN AFFORD. --> ito talaga ang super pinaka importante. it's not worth borrowing money (or much worse: a bank loan  ) just to finance your wedding. one day lang yan, and you dont need to impress anyone. the worst thing that could happen is starting your married life with debts.
-create a bank account for the sole purpose of your wedding expense, and dont touch it unless you need to pay something wedding-related.