As soon as spring begins, the wedding season arrives in full force. Receiving an invite to a friend or family members wedding is a touching experience, and the delight of spending the day celebrating the occasion is always something to look forward to.

However, the wedding season comes armed with one major problem: your bank account can suffer. From traveling and hotels to gifts and buying a new dress, weddings have a reputation for being expensive for very good reason. And let’s not forget the hen and stag parties beforehand.

If you have numerous weddings during one season, they can be financially draining for you. When you’re in your 20s and 30s, it’s common to have three or four weddings over a period of a few months.

Luckily, weddings don’t have to completely drain your bank account. There are ways to truly enjoy celebrating the newlywed without battering your funds. Here’s what you can do:

5 Tips to Get Through Wedding Season Without Going Broke

1. View them as your own occasions

It may sound bizarre, but people are better at saving if they have an emotional connection to the event. If it was your own wedding, you would be strict with budgets and planning., so treat any upcoming weddings as if you have an involvement.

Set yourself a budget for your accommodation, travel, gift, and outfit.

2. Split the costs

With destination weddings abroad or weddings that involve overnight accommodation, look at splitting the cost with others where possible. Look at options like houses and cottages on Airbnb which can sleep around 6 people, and all split the costs.

Plus, it makes getting ready for the wedding more exciting and can make it feel more like a little holiday break away with friends.

Why not look at splitting the bill across other aspects too, as well as travel and accommodation? From the planning stages of a wedding right through to the big day, it will involve spending money on various gifts, so why not discuss all chipping in together and getting a group gift? You’ll find you will potentially spend a lot less.

3. Do It Yourself

Whether you are honored enough to be a bridesmaid or are attending as an all-day guest, look at cutting out the cost of professional hair and makeup. Look at doing your own, as you can always spend a bit of time practicing during the run-up.

You will find YouTube is inundated with tutorials that show you step by step how to style your hair professionally or create pretty makeup looks. You can always invest in something key, like a pair of fluttery false lashes or a glitzy hairpiece, or maybe Hair design in San Bernardino that you can wear for both the hen party and the wedding.

4. Give a heartfelt gift

Most brides and grooms send a list of possible gifts to all their guests beforehand, outlining their preference of gift choices. This doesn’t mean you have to stick to it; it’s merely put together to help those out who may be struggling with ideas.

You can save yourself money on gifts if you really put some personal thought into it. Why not look at finding a photo of the happy couple during one of their first holidays together, and framing it? Or writing a poem about them and tying it up like a scroll.

A more modern-day gift these days is to enter the couple into a competition draw, or put a bet on lottery jackpots on their behalf. Imagine if they won? They would be over the moon!

When there is a lot of personal thought and feelings behind a gift, the newlyweds won’t think about how much you have spent, but instead will be overwhelmed at the effort.

5. Don’t feel pressured

Don’t be afraid to talk to the bride and groom about your concerns if you are really struggling to afford to attend. Just make sure you tell them in plenty of time. Perhaps you could compromise? You could attend the wedding, but skip the hen party, or vice versa depending on where the locations are.

If you’re a bridesmaid and are told you must pay for your own dress and shoes, try talking to the bride that you won’t be able to buy a wedding gift alongside the items.

If your friend is a good one, they won’t be happy knowing the funding situation is a struggle to you. If the newlyweds are good friends of yours, they will understand. Just be sure to communicate in enough time.