As a photographer based in Montana, I fully admit that weddings can be hard to plan when on a bit of a budget. Especially in the year of 2024 as inflation and prices are, well...pricey.
Here are my top tips to plan a wedding this year while keeping your budget within a $5K-$20K range.
Consider a micro wedding in Red Lodge along the Beartooth Pass or Hyalite in Bozeman! For a much cheaper (possibly even free) you can get married in these areas without the steep cost of a wedding venue. (At minimum, venues often charge about $5k)
Have a friend officiate. This typically isn't a huge investment anyway, but it can be another way to cut a bit of a cost.
If you desire to have a large wedding with all of your friends and family, check and see if you have anyone that you would feel comfortable asking if you could get married on their property. If it's someone who's a bit more distant from you, you can always offer to pay them something for their trouble, but it will still likely be far more affordable than a venue.
Consider a morning wedding! One of the fastest ways to make a wedding expensive is when you have several guests to pay for dinner. Not that we don't want our guests to enjoy themselves, but by considering a morning wedding, you can reduce costs by catering lunch or maybe even breakfast instead of a full course dinner!
This one is for those of you with family members who are brave of heart! Ask family members to cook. Offer to pay for their groceries, or ask for their cooking as your wedding present. This tip definitely isn't for everyone and that's okay, but I have been to weddings where the best food I've ever had was cooked by the family members of the groom.
Get married on a weekday! One of the best ways to get the vendors you love at a more affordable price is being willing to get married on a weekday. Be sure to ask if they have weekday discount!
Consider getting married November-March. True, it's not quite as beautiful, but there are several vendors who are willing to give you an off-season discount! (Again it might be necessary to ask the vendor directly if they have any off-season discounts.)
This isn't necessarily a tip, but something that might be beneficial to know- at least in the USA, bookings are down for almost all vendors. Now this bummer for us, is a good thing for you! You have more vendors to choose from, and although this definitely isn't true for most vendors, there may be some vendors who would be willing to offer a discount in order to get one more booking.
I hope these tips helped! You're doing great!
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