5 money saving tips for your big day! - Part II

Hi brides and grooms!

As promised here are 5 more money saving tips for your big day! Enjoy and feel free to share any more tips you may have in the comment section below!

6. Rent or custom make your gown

I recently inquired about a designer gown from a Nairobi-based wedding dress retailer and much to my shock, the beautiful gown was going to set me back a cool KES 170,000! I don’t know about you, but I feel this is way too much for a dress that you'll only wear for a couple of hours and probably never again. A better option would be to rent your gown for as little as KES 15,000 or have a gown tailored to your specifications which you can later re-sell or rent to other prospective brides.

7. Rent silk flowers

Flowers form an integral part of wedding décor. However, fresh flowers can be pricey – a single luxurious looking wedding table centerpiece costs a minimum of around KES 5,000, translating to KES 150,000 for a 300-guest wedding with 30 tables! Hiring silk flowers, however, will only cost you about KES 800 per centerpiece amounting to KES 24,000 for a comparable guest list! Additionally, silk flowers are durable and sturdy; fresh flowers, on the other hand, are prone to wilting, tearing or falling apart before you even walk down the aisle!

Yes these are silk flowers! Aren't they beautiful?!

8. Send out e-invites

Physical wedding cards cost anywhere between KES 25 to KES 400 a piece, depending on how elaborate the card design is. This means you could spend as much as KES 120,000 for a 300-guest wedding list! What’s sadder is almost all those invites will end up in the trash bin right after the wedding! Want to save money and save trees? Consider sending out e-invites for your event via email or WhatsApp! You can even create your own invites online at https://www.greetingsisland.com/ - I used this site to create the below gorgeous invite!

I created this gorgeous e-invite on https://www.greetingsisland.com/

9. Pick an atypical venue

Wedding venue hiring is a major wedding expense with venues costing anywhere from KES 50,000 to KES 200,000, depending on the number of guests and location. It is important to note that hotels, restaurants and wedding garden venues will typically charge higher rates because events and functions are their primary source of business. However, hiring school grounds, church grounds or even a friend’s compound will cost significantly less, if not free, because any income earned from hiring their space is secondary income.

10. Find Fresh Faces

Don’t be afraid of hiring upcoming vendors for your big day! Firstly, they are likely to be more affordable because they are still building their portfolio. For example, an upcoming photographer may charge KES 50,000 compared to a more experienced one who may charge three or four times more that amount. New vendors are also more likely to deliver beyond expectation with the aim of creating a good business reputation so that you can recommend their work to your networks. However, being a leap of faith, I would caution against hiring upcoming vendors without seeing the quality of their work first.

Happy Planning!

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