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Free Save the Dates by Aura Print: Scale Up, Not Back

Free Save the Dates by Aura Print: Scale Up, Not Back
6 October 2022
Free Save the Dates by Aura Print: Scale Up, Not Back

With Aura Print, You Can Scale Up Instead of Scaling Back

Let’s face it: the current cost of living crisis is leaving many feeling helpless and overwhelmed, and the almost-wed are no exception.

At Aura Print, we’re stepping in to help lighten the load in the way we know best: with exceptional wedding stationery . Not only are our Save the Date’s exceptional, but right now they’re FREE. Yes, you heard us right, they’re totally and utterly FREE. No jumping through hoops. No stress. Just FREE.

We’ll be outlining all the details in this blog, from the How’s to the What’s and Why’s, with some savvy saving advice nicely sandwiched in-between. If you’re just here for the FREE save the dates, not the sandwich filling, let your scrolling finger take you to the bottom of the page – no hard feelings, we promise.

So don’t go anywhere (unless you’re making a brew), close down Pinterest, get comfy and settle into offers and advice that you won’t want to miss.

statistics related to cost of living crisis and wedding planning

Being Engaged is Supposed to be Joyous, so why is it so Stressful?

Information supplied by Google Trends show that since May 2021, online searches for “cost of living” have increased almost 8-fold, leaving many Britons to figure out how changing their spending habits can help stretch their unstretchable salaries, reduce their stress levels, and picture a winter where, on the coldest days, it might just be possible to turn the heating on for an hour or two.

But where does wedding planning fit when you’re having to cancel your Netflix subscription and gym membership just to make ends meet? Let’s discuss.


Recent Study’s Show the Full Extent of Wedding Cutbacks

A recent study by SmileDirectClub tells us that, amid the cost of living crisis, almost half of Brits have felt the need to significantly cut their original wedding budget. Their press release states: “a new study into British couples planning to get married in the next three years can reveal that 44% of newlyweds-to-be have drastically reduced their wedding budget due to the cost of living crisis”.

While brutally slashing the budget for your dream wedding isn’t ideal, it’s far preferable to racking up often needless debt because, after all, is it really worth it? Will you overspend just to walk down the aisle with that nagging voice telling you that, after this is all over, you’re going to have to hunker down and chip away at your credit card bill?

No? Well, let’s look at how you can cut costs without tarnishing the dream.


Scale Up with 5 Awesome Cutbacks

5 ways to scale up with awesome cutbacks

So, your wedding needs to fit into a meticulously spliced budget? Well, you’re not the only one. The DIY Brides Boutique provide some wonderful information on planning DIY and micro weddings, saying “when you take away the stress of being the centre of an event that hundreds of people are attending, you get to focus on what matters, your love, and the beginning of a new and exciting stage of your life."

So, in short, just because you’re working to a smaller-than-ideal budget, it doesn’t mean your wedding won’t be the fairy-tale you always imagined. On the contrary, it’ll probably be better!

Here’s how you can shave some zero’s off your wedding budget without compromising on brilliant:


1.By Cutting Guest Numbers

The unfortunate truth is… the more guests you have, the more your wedding will cost. It certainly isn’t one of the best parts of wedding planning, but sometimes it just has to be done, especially when you’re strapped for cash.

Start by creating a ‘guest tier list’, with your closest friends and family at the top of the pyramid, and your Mum’s Best Friend’s Auntie Pat who you met once but your Mum wants there at the bottom of the tier. Handle the situation with sensitivity and build your list from the top down, whether you have room for 15 guests or 100, it’s a job that needs doing and you’re the only one who can do it.

Honestly though, as lovely as it is for everyone and their plus-one’s plus-one to attend your wedding, no one wants to see you stepping toward crippling debt for the sake of a three course meal and a boogie. From that perspective, those who don’t make the cut should understand your reasons and if they don’t, well that’s just not your problem.


2.By ditching the traditional 3-course sit-down wedding breakfast in exchange for a classy, varied, local vendor buffet

Yes, I just used ‘classy’ and ‘buffet’ in the same sentence. While you may be picturing cocktail sausages with a bit of cheese and mini sandwiches on stale Hovis, I’m here to tell you you’re picturing it all wrong.

As long as your wedding venue is happy to support this kind of catering, it WILL save you money and chances are, if you do it right, your guests will prefer it to the run-of-the-mill chicken dinner. A buffet style lunch can incorporate your favourite local indie vendors, from your favourite Vietnamese Pho joint to your city’s deepest, most delicious pizza place, all in one place. Check which vendors have food vans and which are happy to supply directly to your venue and you’ll be on the road to putting together a buffet that’ll knock the socks off the fussiest of in-laws.

But why will this save you money? Basically, a buffet means less venue staff members to serve your guests, ensuring you’re not paying the wages of more people than necessary. Hiring outside, local, independent food vendors and serving on eco-friendly disposable plates will reduce the clean up and make you feel great about distributing your money to small businesses that you love!


3.BYOB & BYOD

Chances are you’ve heard of BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze) but what about BYOD? Well now, we’re here to let you in on a little-known trend that’s about to take the alt wedding scene by storm (so we think, anyway).

BYOD, or ‘Bring Your Own Dessert’, is an awesome idea whereby your wedding becomes one big episode of Bake-Off. See which of your guests are willing to volunteer their baking services (a great alternative to a wedding gift), set out a dessert table and have the family foodies do the rest. Not only will this save you money, but what better way to bring two families together than through a mutual love of dessert? The grooms Auntie Karen will be hunting down Bethany, the baker bridesmaid, coaxing her lemon meringue pie recipe after a few glasses of sherry.

If your venue allows BYOB, your guests are guaranteed to save a fortune. Asking your guests to bring their own alcohol may sound stingy however your guests will LOVE this, spending £7 on a bottle of red wine instead of upward of £20. Just make sure there’s enough room to store cold drinks and there’s no chance of drink thievery. Outdoor, rustic weddings often do this well, filling boats or wooden baths with ice and providing name tags for bottles and cans.


4.Honeymoon Staycations

Now, you may not consider your Honeymoon a ‘wedding expense’, however if you are opting for a honeymoon within days of your wedding, it should be on the expense list (unless family have chipped in as your wedding present, then perfect!).

While the white sand and crystal blue seas of Santorini or Hawaii sounds incredible, if you’re determined to honeymoon on the cheap then the UK is far from the worst place for a staycation.

Install a homestay app such as Airbnb and browse their incredible range of unique stays, from hot tub cabins at the foot of the Isle of Skye’s Cullin mountain range to luxury homes on the Cornwall coast. Just remember, whether you’re in Paris or York, you’ll be starry eyed newlyweds.


5.DIY Decorations & Wedding Stationery

DIY wedding decorations are THE BEST way to show your personality and individual styles. From placeholders styled like gig tickets to homemade mason jar centrepieces and home-grown flowers, delete your Amazon app and do it yourself!

Google ‘DIY weddings’ and you’ll be presented with approximately 56,200,000 search results, from DIY wedding success stories to how-to guides and idea lists that, if printed, could probably stretch from Glasgow to London. Basically, the internet is not short of ideas, and neither should you be.

As far as DIY save the dates go, you can forget all about that, because we’re here to supply stunning save the dates, free of charge. All you need to do is choose your favourite design, supply the information you need on your save the dates and choose from our long list of finishing options. Easy peasy.


FREE Save the Dates: The Who, What, When, Where and How of it all


Selection of wedding save the date designs

You’ve learned that we’re giving away FREE Save the Dates and hopefully we’ve given you a few ideas on ways you can save a few pennies in other areas while planning your big day.

This is a nationwide campaign with the hopes of saving couples a bit of cash during the current cost of living crisis. We understand that the stress of mounting bills on-top of the expense of wedding planning is leaving couples in a position where many are either ditching expensive hotel venues for registry offices or, in many cases, keeping the engagement ring and forgetting about the idea of marriage entirely.

While remaining humble, as a company we’ve been lucky enough to see some growth, which is why we’re keen to support those struggling to make ends meet in any way we can. After spending some time looking into the effects of the cost of living crisis and finding shocking statistics on the effect this is having on soon-to-be-newlyweds, we decided that we could save couples cash by offering them FREE save the dates.

You probably have a lot of questions about our ‘FREE save the date’ promotion, so starting with the Why and taking you from the Who to the How, let’s explore the details…


Aura Print: Not Just Your Average Printers

Hi. We’re Aura Print and we’re so glad you made it to our corner of the internet!

Since our beginnings in 2007, we’ve been humbly providing printing solutions for businesses and individuals in not just Huddersfield & Yorkshire, but across the globe.

Our goal is to consistently offer the very best service, trumping all our competitors when it comes to design, print and finishing options. We’re here to offer the most premium print, the most luxurious embellishments, and the most professional service, and we’re so glad you’ve joined us.


What Can I Order and What’s the Catch?

With 18 professionally designed Save the Date templates to choose from, all you need to do is select the one that fits your wedding aesthetic and we can walk you through the rest.

You are free to choose your invitation size, paper type, paper thickness and quantity (yes, you can order AS MANY AS YOU NEED), and then head through to the checkout. We’ll email you out a quick form allowing you to personalise your save the dates, including bride & groom name, venue, date and any other important details.

Saving upward of £100 on your save the dates, all you’ll need to pay is a small delivery fee and then your stunning, FREE save the dates will be on their way to you.

What’s the catch? There is no catch. While we’re positive you’ll adore your FREE save the dates and would absolutely love it if you came back to us for the rest of your wedding stationery, there’s no obligation. Order as many FREE save the dates as you need, with full customisation, designer, and customer service support. What’s not to love?


When Can I Get my FREE Save the Dates?

We want you to be confident in knowing that your order of FREE save the dates will be produced and turned-around in the same manner and timeframe as all other orders. You can expect your FREE save the dates to be dispatched within 2 working days of proof approval on a next working day service.


This offer is currently UK-wide, so as long as you live in the UK you can order your FREE save the dates today.


Sounds Awesome, How do I Get my FREE Save the Dates?

To order your FREE save the dates, head to our order page today . Still got unanswered questions? Contact our friendly customer service team today, they’re happy to help!

So, with 18 luxury designs, a multitude of paper types and customisation options available on our FREE save the dates, we think you should scale up your scale back. After all, what’ve you got to lose?

Please note, this offer is limited to 1 order per wedding


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