With South Africa’s wedding season picking up again from September, brides and grooms across the country will be embarking on the exciting but all too often stressful journey of planning their upcoming nuptials. From wedding dresses and suits to cakes, décor, food and more, the wedding of your dreams can easily become a costly nightmare if you aren’t careful.

Luckily, a thrifty, can-do attitude and these useful hacks are all you’ll need to create the ultimate and most memorable wedding on a budget and with minimal stress.

Make lists

The first and arguably most important step when it comes to planning your wedding is creating a list – a spreadsheet that you can access across all your devices works best so you can easily jot down an idea or check off a to-do item on the go. Try to make note of every last planning detail you can think of, from venue hire, bridesmaid and groomsmen details, food, entertainment and more – the more you have written down, the less you have weighing on your mind and stressing you out, freeing up mental capacity and energy to deal with other things. You can also find wedding planning spreadsheet templates online.

Go digital

Sending out e-vites – digital save the date cards and invitations – are a great way to save money and time (considering most people will simply throw your beautifully designed, expensive invitation in the trash once they’re done looking at them). There are tons of wedding websites that allow you to not only do this but create beautiful story boards of your unique love story to share with your guests.

Get thrifty

The global wedding services industry was valued at a whopping $160.5 billion in 2020, and it’s no wonder considering how many couples get whipped up in the fantasy and are willing to overlook the hefty prices of wedding attire and other services. Keep your wits about you – avoid retail prices by shopping sales. Check classified sites like Gumtree for beautiful dresses and dapper suits, many of which will have only been worn once and often just for a short while. The pre-loved and gently worn wedding dress market is also huge and buying a second-hand dress or suit can save you tons of money. Get creative with alterations and dainty add-ons to add your own touch of personality to your attire ahead of the big day.

Make it DIY dreamy

With hundreds upon thousands of DIY wedding videos to check out on TikTok – from //www.tiktok.com/@mehtapab/video/7101655379095948590?is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7101655379095948590">floral arrangements to using //www.tiktok.com/@ameliaa_bedelia/video/7018585944047619333?is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7018585944047619333">wooden slabs as your guest book to later repurpose as a tabletop in your new home – there’s no reason why you can’t make your special day as magical and unique as possible using your own creativity and skill, while keeping within budget. Consider going DIY instead of paying suppliers an arm and a leg to do it for you.

Recruit your friends and family to help

It takes a village to make a dream wedding happen, so why not rope in your friends and family to help you out with planning and executing the big day? Save yourself the time and hassle of liaising with venues, caterers and other suppliers by delegating the task to a sibling. Have your friends source ideas and quotes for entertainment. Choose a loved one to officiate your wedding, or to co-ordinate your wedding entirely.

From taking advantage of tech to thrifting your wedding attire and recruiting loved ones to help wherever possible, give yourself the gift of a stress-free wedding that does not break the bank and leave you with debts long after the big day is done.