Crowdfund Your Wedding – A Guide to Fundraising for Your Big Day

It is no secret that the average cost for a wedding runs into the tens of thousands – and, whether that is pounds or dollars it is still a massive amount of money wherever you live!

Planning your wedding should be a fun, happy time – a cause for celebration. Unfortunately, for many it can become a source of stress, anxiety, frustration and disappointment with budget and finances often being cited as one of the biggest worries (alongside dealing with family).

According to a Zola survey, 40 percent of participants described preparing a wedding as “extremely stressful” while 71 percent thought it was more nerve-wracking than other major life events.

Learning how to manage stress, prioritise what is important and plan your day your way can make the whole experience much more enjoyable.

And, while we can’t give you expert advice on dealing with family (we wouldn’t dare!), we can offer some tips and advice about the financial planning of your wedding.

For some, planning a wedding is a long adventure. For others there is an urge to officially become married as soon as possible. Whichever route you take, and however long you have, starting to assess and plan costs as early as possible will always help.

If you are planning your wedding, here are the most expensive costs you can expect for your big day

• Venue hire, catering and entertainment

• Bridal and bridesmaid attire

• Groom and best man attire

• Photography and media

• Transport and accommodation

• Honeymoon

It is no longer expected the parents of the bride will pay for the wedding, particularly as couples are now marrying at an older age and may already be living together and have children or blended families, or may not even have a bride.

Some families and cultures do still continue this tradition, but it is gradually becoming less common.

There are several ways couples usually finance their wedding.

• Savings

• Loans and specialised wedding fund plans

• Family assistance

• Sale of assets (for example two single home-owners, selling one property)

• Crowdfunding

• Other lending

Weddings and wedding etiquette have moved on considerably in recent years – particularly since the advent of social media, live-streaming and crowdfunding as well as couple (and family) dynamics and identities changing too.

Gone are the days when it was deemed rude to ask for money as a wedding gift and only a proper wedding registry would be considered correct etiquette.

Most people simply want to ensure they give something useful and appreciated to the happy couple and a donation of money is not only welcome, but is one of the few wedding gifts that you won’t need to return, plus, it really won’t matter if someone else has given you the same gift!

And, if you don’t want money for yourselves, but would like to nominate a special cause or charity to receive the donations instead, crowdfunding provides the perfect platform for this too!

Wedding Crowdfunding Campaigns with GoGetFunding couldn’t be easier. Not only can you create a beautiful, unique crowdfunding page within minutes, you have a whole host of features that can make your page an effortless, rewarding and personal experience for your donors too.

Here are just some of the features our Wedding Fundraisers love:

• A unique link to your Wedding page – remember to include it in your invitations on announcements so people know where to find it!

• Privacy (if you don’t want you campaign to be public, you can password protect it and only share the password with those you want to see it)

• Automated Thank You emails – so you never forget anyone (that would be embarrassing!)

• Personal messages at checkout, to show your gratitude

• Unlimited photo uploads to keep everyone up to date can build excitement – particularly for families and friends who may not live locally.

• Options to add videos, links and stories (in more than one language)

• Reward section – which many of our wedding fundraisers use as a mini wedding registry so donors can donate towards something specific (sample below)

• Team membersrwhy not get your bridesmaid or best man to look after your page for you? Simply add them to your team and they can manage everything while you take care of other wedding matters or simply relax a little!

• Update section where you can update details about the wedding and people can reply in the post. For example, need to know if people want chicken or fish at the reception? An update post allows you to add pictures of each meal and invite people to choose what they want in their reply. Your updates are automatically emailed to your followers (so encourage them to follow to ensure they don’t miss them!)

• Donor options – such as anonymous donating, hidden donations (so only the happy couple can see the donation) and comments (hidden or public).

• Downloadable donor information– just in case you want to send personal thank you cards or simply keep it as a memory of your wedding.

• Unlimited photo uploads to keep everyone up to date can build excitement – particularly for families and friends who may not live locally.

• Multiple donation options (depending on your location) including PayPal, card payments and bank transfers.

• Countdown button to your big day, so donors know exactly how long they have left to donate (and how long you have left to get married!).

If you are financing your own wedding, finding ways to make savvy wedding decisions can make even the most modest of budgets go much further too. Here are just some examples:

• Consider hiring or buying pre-loved (or sale) wedding dresses and suits

• Choose a weekday wedding date – this can literally save you thousands on venue fees, catering, transport, entertainment and accommodation.

• Make you own invitations. You can personalise as much as you like, and there are a wide range of beautiful, free templates online.

• Find a friend or family member or a local up and coming photographer with a keen eye to take photos and videos at knock down prices.

• If you are able to hold your ceremony and reception in the same place, this can cut transportation costs.

• Contact your local music university and ask for student graduates to perform (at a fraction of the cost) which they can add to their portfolio too.

• Know a trusted baking enthusiast? Perhaps they can make your wedding cake as a gift! A win-win!

Your wedding is YOUR day

Planning well ahead can take away some of the stresses.

Having a central webpage where people can keep up to date with details, donate, share messages and join in with the pre-wedding excitement can bring the people who mean most in the world to you, together in celebration!

Planning well ahead can take away some of the stresses.

What are you waiting for? start writing your guest list and planning your big day!

If you are planning your wedding, why not create your Wedding Fundraiser today? And don’t forget our experienced fundraising coaches (who also happen to LOVE weddings) are always on hand to help you make your campaign beautiful, donor friendly and completely unique.