Easy Ways to Save Money on your Wedding Day

If you’re in the middle of wedding planning and looking for ways to cut down costs we’ve got some tips for you! Check out six cost-cutting ideas below: 

1) Consider a Weekday Wedding

You’ll be able to make some great savings by choosing a weekday date - at Baylys’ Farm we host weddings on Thursdays at a discounted rate. Not only does this help with the budget, but you’ll also find you will have more date availability to choose from with your venue and vendors. It’s also a great way to kick off a long weekend of celebrations and relaxation with your guests. You could host a casual day-after function on Friday at a local restaurant and then spend the rest of the weekend exploring the Bay of Islands.

2) Streamline the Guest List

Unsurprisingly, the amount of guests you invite will have a big impact on your budget. Items such as catering will be priced per head so the more people you invite = the bigger the cost. Maybe a good excuse to decline your parent’s request for those twice-removed cuzzies? 

3) Minimal Styling

There are heaps of ways you can get crafty when it comes to your wedding styling, such as DIYing your table decor or repurposing the ceremony flowers for your reception. We often have couples choosing to keep their table styling super minimal and let our Bay of Islands ocean backdrop do most of the work! 

4) Ditch Printed Invites for a Wedding Website

The costs of printing and mailing physical invitations can add up, so why not create a wedding website to collect RSVPs from your guests instead? There are so many great templates available that make the process of building a website super easy, and you can also add way more information than you would be able to fit on a printed invite. Win-win! 

5) Be Your Own DJ

If the budget doesn’t quite stretch for live music all day long you could consider collating all of your favourite songs into a Spotify playlist and have this playing for the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. We’ve even had couples DIY DJ their dancefloor, but we recommend nominating a playlist protector for this!

6) Simple Beverage List

And finally, as a BYO venue you are able to bring all of your own drinks for the day and we do not charge a corkage fee. This gives you plenty of freedom when it comes to choosing your beverage list, which is a huge cost-saver. If you would like to keep the budget as low as possible when it comes to beverages we recommend sticking to beer, wine and pre-made cocktail options (we have plenty of weddings with Pals on the drinks list, and they’re always a crowd pleaser!). Even better, keep an eye out for sales in the period leading up to your wedding and stock up when you see a bargain.

If you’d like to learn more about our packages and hosting your wedding day at Baylys’ Farm please don’t hesitate to get in touch via our enquiry form or email.

Photo by Moments and Waves Photography: @moments_and_waves_photography

Florals by Parlour: @parlourevents_