Planning the details of your big day is fun, time consuming and sometimes costly! We've been there to clean up plenty of weddings and we always seem to see the same things being thrown away at the end of the night. So today we are sharing a few tips on how to save on your wedding and avoid tossing lots of lefties at the end of the night. 

PROGRAMS

Programs are beautiful, but after the ceremony they serve little purpose. Programs are often something not a lot of guests grab and they end up in back in a box and sent back home with you. Cut down on both your budget and carbon footprint by printing about 50% of your total guest count. 

CAKE

Oh cake. Unless you are planning on a diet of dessert only for the first month of your marriage, you'll want to manage your dessert order a bit more carefully. Consider only ordering desserts/cake for about 75% of your guests. 

FLOWERS

Flowers are an incredibly important part of your wedding day decor. Skimping on the flowers isn't necessary something I'd recommend, but there are ways to manage the waste that is inherently associated with them. It is such a shame to toss them all at the end of the night, and we completely agree.

Consider giving them away to guests at the end of the night. We often move centerpieces to another table at the end of the night for guests to take on their way out! Create a little sign letting guests know they are up for grabs and they will all get out to good use! You could also reuse them for a brunch the following day or donate them to a retirement home or hospital!

FAVORS 

I can't tell you how many weddings I've been to that ended with wedding favors scattered all over the place (or boxes and boxes of extras that just get put back into the couples car). An easy way to remedy this problem is to skip the favors all together, but if you must have that wonderful little favor, order only enough for about 50-60% of your guest count. 

SIGNAGE

We love signage - but there is no need to create a sign for each and every piece of your wedding. Consider consolidating a few things together in one (for example: welcome details plus your Instagram hashtag) to save some space. After the wedding you may have the opportunity to use a few of these signs as home decor afterwards! A lot of wedding signage can be re-used as a way to inject a little love and personality into your place. Consider hanging statement signs in your living room and your "Mr." and "Mrs." chair back signs on the ends of your headboard in your bedroom.

I'd love to hear how you plan to cut down waste on your wedding day. Leave your tips and tricks in the comment section below.