Weddings are an expensive business but we see a lot of unnecessary waste! Today’s tip (which might sound dull but can save you a lot) is to thoroughly check the contracts that you’ve signed with your suppliers. Make sure you note down any deadlines by which you are chargeable and meet them.

 A few examples of what we mean are:

1. Confirm final guest numbers to your venue in good time – you will not then be charged for guest meals that are no longer needed
2. Confirm final number of tables to your florist before they place their flower order – if you were quoted for 12 table centres but now only have 10 tables,  you should be able to amend this down and save some money, ditto for buttonholes
3. Make sure that you avoid ‘rush charges’ on printed stationery items by getting organised and gettings things done in plenty of time – things always take longer than we all expect allowing for checking proofs etc
4. Make sure that you plan your timetable carefully and don’t overrun time-wise; some musicians in particular will charge extra for running over-time so allow contingency time within your day of about 30 minutes where nothing is planned so that you can recoup time if you are running over schedule towards the end of the night.
5.  Avoid ‘waiting time’ with your transport-providers by not booking them until 15-30 minutes after your music finish time if you intend to stay around and say goodbye to everyone.

 With a little bit of attention you can save a fair bit of money which can go towards those extra little touches which make things so memorable!