*This post was written in collaboration with Wedding Photo Swap and Prom Dress finder.

The pandemic was responsible for the cancellation of a lot of plans in 2020. Looking ahead to 2021, we can be a lot more optimistic, as recently we have just had the third vaccine approved for use in the UK. I don’t know about anyone else, but my attitude after the pandemic is that I want to go everywhere and do EVERYTHING. It’s hard to try and find any positives about being stuck in all of the time, but it’s certainly given me a new lease of life and the motivation to say yes to absolutely every single invite that comes my way, and I am sure I am not alone in that.

For couples that have been engaged for a while, this situation has probably given you an extra bit of motivation to get the big day booked. But understandably, money is tight in the wake of everything that has been happening, so here are a few tips on saving money on your wedding day. 

Use a photo-sharing app

I’m not being funny, but have you seen how AMAZING new the pictures are on Samsung phones? My Mum has one and it is basically photography quality. The majority, if not all of your friends will have a smartphone, so instead of paying out for a pricey photographer, why not get them to take pictures? The beauty of services like Wedding Photo Swap is that you can get several different pictures of the same thing, from a different angle, like the all-important first dance. 

Haggle

When I tell my Filipino friends the price is the price on anything you buy in the UK, they laugh. For some reason, our great nation has totally bypassed haggling culture. But with everything that has been happening recently, businesses like wedding DJ’s and venues will be finding that they probably need to lower prices anyway. It’s important in the economic wake of the pandemic not to take advantage of small businesses that might be struggling, but it is also important to note that they would probably rather make some money than no money. Venues attached to hotels are a really good start because you can try to strike a deal with them for the actual wedding venue if you get a certain amount of guests to stay at the hotel. 

Think outside of the box for a dress

I’ve heard multiple dress stories from some of my married friends. Some of them set eyes on the perfect dress immediately, some feel they settled and didn’t like their dress on the big day and some people I know didn’t even have a “traditional” wedding dress. Want to know one of my big secrets? Prom dresses. You will actually find that prom dresses are incredibly similar to wedding dresses when it comes down to it. Use a site like Prom Dress Finder to go through some options and I can guarantee you that you will be impressed by the amount of choice.