You’ve got the venue, you’ve got the dress and the date is set, so this wedding is going to happen no matter what! But there are still a few things to consider when you’re budgeting for your wedding – that’s the accessories.
These are the little things that all add up and soon take up a chunk of your clothing budget, especially if you’ve got bridesmaids and ushers to kit out as well as yourselves. But how can you save money on jewellery for your wedding? Here are some DIY ideas and money-saving hacks…
Wedding rings
Let’s start with the most important. This is one element that you won’t want to scrimp on as your wedding rings will be with you throughout your lives. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make savings on the important jewellery for your wedding. By choosing carefully, you can still have the diamond wedding bands of your dreams.
How can you get diamond wedding rings on a budget? The answer is simply: man-made diamonds. Much more sustainable than traditional diamonds, with none of the negative impacts of outdated earth mining processes, diamonds like those from Infinity Diamond Jewellery are lab-grown.
The resulting diamonds are chemically identical to earth-grown diamonds and are visually the same – so much so that a professional couldn’t spot the difference – BUT they’re around a tenth of the price of a natural diamond. So, if you still want that diamond wedding ring but don’t want to blow your whole wedding budget on it, a lab-created diamond could be the answer.
Bridesmaid hair accessories
If you’ve invited your nieces to be flower girls at your wedding and you want to include your best friends as your bridesmaids, you may have quite a few heads to adorn with flower crowns. So, rather than asking your florist to hand-make lots of floral hairbands, instead you can save money by buying faux flower bands online.
I recently bought a batch of these lovely flower headbands and they look great for weddings, festivals, parties, you name it. You can buy them individually for about £4 (much less than a florist’s arrangement) but if you’re buying multiples, the price can be reduced to around £1 per flower crown.
Then, if you want to add any extra flowers to tie in with your particular theme and personalise your wedding, you can use a hot glue gun to attach faux silk blooms to the existing band. This can even be an activity for the hen party; craft activities work really well in groups and each bridesmaid and guest can customise their own flower band.
Buttonholes for the ushers
I’m not kidding when I say that buttonholes are so expensive when you order them from a florist. Why are buttonholes so expensive? Well, it takes a long time to bind those tiny little bouquets – they’re really fiddly – plus, the florist needs to buy a whole rose stem for each buttonhole, and they don’t come cheap!
I could suggest that you buy a bunch of blooms from the supermarket and make your own buttonholes BUT I think you’ve got more important things to be sorting out on the morning of your wedding day than spending ages on making miniature flower arrangements.
So, my suggestion is faux flower button-holes. When it was my sister’s wedding last year I got some for all the ushers and the groom from a local floral supplies shop. They were tiny white rose buttonholes and it worked out that they cost less than £1 each.
They were sorted out weeks before the wedding so that was one less thing on the never-ending wedding to-do list. The added bonus is that they can’t wilt so they looked lovely all day and, because they were so affordable, everyone who wanted a buttonhole could wear one.
Parents of the Bride and Groom
It’s traditional for small gifts to be given to the parents of the bride and groom, and these are often accessories for the big day. Handkerchiefs and neck-ties for the mothers and fathers are embroidered with a message or the date of the wedding to commemorate the event.
These can be pricey to buy, as customised embroidery is a costly process however, if you’re at all creative you can have a go at embroidering the message yourself. In fact, it’ll probably mean even more to your parents if you’ve spent time carefully hand-sewing your chosen design – initials, poem, occasion date – onto the accessories.
Another important element to consider for your parents is the outfits they’ll wear. Elegant Mother of the Bride dresses are often a similar colourway to the bridesmaids’ dresses to fit in with the wedding theme however, the design of the dress will be different to suit your mother’s tastes. Think flowing, graceful and timeless. Another option is to let mum wear her favourite dress and add accessories like a hat and shoes in a colour that coordinates.
Likewise, you’ll want to treat your father to a new tie or bowtie and pocket square in a colour that matches the theme. This helps to create a cohesive look for the whole bridal party without having to spend a small fortune on a new suit. Your dad can wear his existing suit and just add the tie or a new waistcoat to add a splash of the wedding colour.
I hope these ideas will help you to cut the cost of some of your big-day essentials. What other ideas do you have for saving money on your wedding accessories and jewellery? Let me know your tips in the comments below, I’d love to hear what you did at your own wedding to stick to your frugal budget.
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