You have the ring and youve chosen a date. Now its time to get down to the nitty gritty in your wedding planningthe budget. According to The Knots 2016 Real Weddings Study, the average cost of a wedding in the US is $35,329. If you dont happen to have an extra $35K lying around, youll want to keep reading for some great advice from Reddit (aka: Weddit), by real people who were able to save a ton of dough planning their big day.Email your save the datesInstead of ordering cards and spending money on stamps, many engaged couples are opting for electronic save the dates.Redditor Squeaksy wrote, "We did Paperless Post for our Save the Datesthe read receipts were awesome and helpful and so user friendly ... Even our 90-year-old grandparents seemed to have no issues. And it was completely free if you choose the right template!"Consider non-traditional wedding attireResearch by The Knot found that in 2016, brides in the US spent an average of $1564 on their wedding gown, and grooms spent about $280 for their own wedding attire and accessories. But, not all wedding couples are willing to break the bank at the bridal shop."We don't really have a tight budget for our wedding, but I would like to spend that money on something more practical (like a house). I just cannot justify spending loads of money on a dress I wear once!" wrote Redditor kaweenpotato.Budget-savvy couples have gotten creative by choosing non-traditional apparel, searching unexpected retail stores, and shopping secondhand."I went to David's Bridal to find my dress and then searched the internet to find it used," explained Redditor ilizibith1. "I got the dress of my dreams from stillwhite.com brand new, tags still on it and everything. I saved $400 off retail price.""I found my perfect dress in the formal wear section of Dillard's for about $140," wrote Redditor TaliaLackey.Redditor -taradactyl- found suits for her future husband and his groomsmen for a steal. FH tasked me with finding the suits because there were no rentals to be had. Before FH even woke up the next morning I found a solution. Good ol' JCPenney to the rescue ... We ordered them with a 30% off coupon, so including tax and shipping the pants and jacket came to under $100."Don't get married on a SaturdayMost wedding venues have discounted rates for Friday, Sunday, and weekdays. If you are looking to trim the budget, switching from a Saturday wedding might save you a lot."We're doing a Sunday wedding. It's several thousand dollars cheaper and we're the only event at the venue that day (they do two weddings on Saturdays)," wrote Redditor b33r_engineer.Keep in mind, however, that weekday weddings can be a big inconvenience for guests.Redditor Jilltro confided, "I'll be honest, as a guest I hate weekday weddings, and I know all of my coworkers do too. If that's all you can afford and you're fine with a lot of declines, that's fine, but I would cut back on anything else possible or try to find a more affordable venue before I had a weekday wedding."See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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