Looking for an affordable wedding in Spain?

Here is Fiestasol´s guide to keeping things in budget and making your dream wedding in Marbella a possibility.

affordable wedding Spain

Save on printing costs – with some couples spending thousands on their wedding invitations, menus and orders of service – this is an expense that is just not worth the investment in today’s digital age. Amazing design websites like www.canva.com offer thousands of templates for wedding invites, save the dates, menus and table plans. For a very small sign up fee, you can design everything yourself and email all correspondence to your guests.

Orders of Service are just not worth the printing cost – we pick them all up off the floor at the end of ceremonies. You can easily pin up the details on a pretty board for all your guests to see as they take their seats.

Another tip is to write up your table plan on a pretty mirror in chalk pen and it looks beautiful.

wedding blessing ceremony Spain

Wedding favours. Another item that often ends up on the floor during the wedding reception after a few glasses of Champagne. With costs of between €10/€15 per person – it´s much more cost-effective to keep it simple. We offer a guest relief station with fans, chilled towels, parasols and flip flops for €6/person.

Wholesale drinks

At Fiestasol, we allow our couples to buy in their own drinks wholesale. Many hotels and restaurants charge very high open bar fees, but in reality alcohol prices are very reasonable in Spain. You can buy an amazing bottle of wine for €5 or €6. The average spend for all your wholesale drinks for the entire wedding is €15/person whereas most hotels will charge €15/hour per person just for the open bar after the meal. A huge saving and a great way to have an affordable wedding in Spain!

Consider an off-season wedding

The months of March, April and October are some of the most beautiful months of the year in Spain weather-wise. Some would argue much nicer than the extremely hot months of July and August. Marbella wedding venues, particularly villas and private estates, charge much lower prices during this month and you could save thousands.

Wedding Car

When brides ask us to book a wedding car for them, we always ask the same thing – will anyone see you arrive? Many of the Marbella wedding venues we work with have a road access that is not visible from the ceremony area. A classic Rolls Royce can cost over €600 – whereas you can book a simple but luxurious Mercedes for €150.

affordable wedding car Spain

Have your wedding blessing on site

While there are some very pretty chapels and ceremony sites in Marbella, consider the extra charges involved. A chapel rental fee is usually around €300/€400 plus the cost of transporting the guests in buses to the reception venue. At Fiestasol, we set up your blessing area for free with chairs and an altar table.

Use flowers that are in season and recycle!

This makes a big difference to your flower spend. Peonies are in season in May and June whereas orchids are not and can cost twice as much. Ask your wedding florist for advice on this. Wedding venues in Spain are often in stunning gardens, so flowers can be kept simple and stylish.

It is also worth moving flower arrangements to different locations at the wedding and doubling up on their use. Ceremony arrangements can be used in the dinner area and altar flowers can be moved to the top table. If you are in a church, pew ends can be brought back to the reception venue and used on cocktail tables. Your Marbella wedding planner can do this all for you on the day.

Wedding in Marbella

Serve your wedding cake as dessert

By the time your guests have eaten all their canapés and their wedding meal, wedding cake can often be left uneaten. Why not double up and serve your wedding cake as a dessert? Most wedding cake makers can offer a huge selection of flavours – so you can serve whatever style you like as dessert and save on your catering bill.

Make a DIY photo-booth

Many couples book photobooths as a fun activity. It creates great memories on the day and produces more informal images than the official photographer´s. Why not buy or borrow a couple of polaroid cameras and string the pictures up for everyone to see and laugh at on the night. A great memento to have after the festivities are over.

affordable Wedding in Marbella

There are so many ways to have an affordable wedding in Spain, ask your Marbella wedding planner for more ideas! Read our Blog post about how to know whether your wedding planner in Spain is the right one for you.

For an even longer list – have a look at the suggestions from Brides Magazine