The bride budget: How to save for your wedding

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Congratulations, you're engaged! A wedding is an incredibly joyous time, but the planning can start to feel a little overwhelming, particularly when you consider all of the costs that go into creating the perfect day.

So, to ensure the lead up to your nuptials is nothing but bliss, we've put together an easy to follow guide on how to save for your wedding whilst still having an incredible day.

The first step is to establish your priorities with your partner early on in the wedding planning process. You don't want to end up in a situation where one of you is planning a grand event, whilst the other is looking into how to elope.

Being on the same page from the beginning eliminates arguments down the road about what is non-negotiable for you.

If your wedding is based in Victoria then hiring a financial planner in Melbourne would be a smart decision to help the engagement process run smoothly.

A financial planner will assist you in understanding your money matters and make certain that your special day doesn't put you into long term debt.

This will also ensure that your marriage starts off on the right track, being open and on the same page in regards to each of your financial statuses and what each of you wishes to achieve in the future monetarily, is imperative to a healthy union together.

We've all heard the phrase, "something blue, something borrowed and something new". This is a wedding tradition designed to bring luck to the happy couple.

There are so many ways to honour this sweet practice, but one economically savvy way is to make your "something borrowed" a wedding dress.

While they're a beautiful part of the day, a wedding dress is one of the biggest expenses. You're laying out potentially thousands of dollars for something that will only be worn once, so many brides-to-be are forced to either overextend themselves financially or miss out on their dream dress.

Borrowing or renting a wedding dress poses the perfect compromise. There are many incredible rental services offering incredible dresses for a significantly lower price point, this way you are able to find the dress of your dreams without having to take out a payment plan for the foreseeable future.

Alternatively, if you're somebody a little more sentimental and wish to keep your dress past the big day then opt for a family dress, if one is available, that way you're able to keep a tradition alive whilst also keeping your dress budget-friendly.

If there isn't a family dress available an alternative cost-effective option is to make your dress versatile, rather than a costume that is only worn once.

There are plenty of beautiful white dresses that can be reused for more than just your wedding, making them more of an investment rather than an item that will cause financial strain.

A great example of this is a classic silk slip dress; this minimalist style of dress is perfect for a wedding but understated enough to wear to another formal event or even a romantic dinner date!

There are endless advantages to getting married off-season and the financial benefits are one of them. When you get married during an off-season period such as June and July, there is far less competition between venues and locations giving you more agency in where you'd like to go, due to this lack of demand, prices are significantly lower than what you would find during wedding season.

A wintery wedding also decreases the likelihood of 'celebration fatigue' from the guests as your special day is not huddled in between many others every other weekend.

And, should you choose to have your honeymoon within one of the beautiful spots in Australia, accommodation and travel will be cheaper due to the decreased tourism, making your wintery wedding financially frugal, but no less fantastic.

Flowers may seem like a speck in the grand scheme of your wedding, but these floral features can rack up a hefty debt.

However, there are a few tips you can use to ensure that you minimise unnecessary costs. Whilst a great way to save money on the location of your wedding is to book off-season, the very opposite principle applies with your florals; look for flowers that are in-season to avoid costly import fees.

Flowers like roses and lilies are in season year-round, making them the perfect addition to your big day.

Similarly to booking your wedding off-season, try to avoid holidays like Mother's Day and Valentine's Day; though this may seem like the perfect romantic date for your nuptials to take place, this is an infamously expensive time to purchase flowers, even the in-season ones.

Your wedding is a time you'll remember forever, it's the date you finally got to say "I do" and make your love official, so why not spend it with those who mean the most to you?

An intimate wedding with a smaller guest list lowers the overall cost of the day and ensures you're surrounded by those who are just as excited as you are.

Having an intimate day also opens up various unique spaces that wouldn't be available to you with a larger guest list.

With the money saved from inviting fewer people, you can put this leftover money to good use, whether it's into smaller details for the day, contribution to your honeymoon or perhaps into a savings account for your future as a married couple.

Your wedding is such a uniquely exciting day in your life. It's where everybody that you hold dear to your heart comes together to watch you marry the person you love.

So, by taking the tips from this guide, you're sure to have a magical day that won't leave you reeling from it financially but instead beginning your future with happiness, and financial security, together.