With a wedding coming up, there are a lot of expenses that you will incur. Your wedding jewelry will be the most expensive of them all. But there is a way to budget and still look like a gorgeous bride.

#1. Take stock of existing gold

Your parents must have some gold stored in form of jewelry. You can melt those and recreate new jewelry in designs that you prefer instead. If you look at gold earrings designs with weight and price, you will know that melting existing gold will save you a ton of money and you can inherit your family’s heirlooms.

#2. Don’t buy everything in one go

If you go wedding jewelry shopping, you might end up getting burned out. Buy your jewelry in pockets instead so that you can spend on jewelry.

#3. Mix and match

You don’t have to be decked out in complete gold. You can always mix and match jewelry you already own. Don’t be shy of wearing something other than gold.

#4. Chokers for the win

Chokers look great and there is less gold involved which means they are cheaper.

#5. Buy the jewelry first

First, you buy the jewelry. Then buy the lehenga. Jewelry is something you will over and over again but there may not be as many opportunities for you to wear the lehenga. For instance, a diamond ring that you buy will be something you will wear everyday so you should focus on that more than the lehenga that you will wear once.

#6. Improvise

You can ask your jeweller to add some gemstones to existing jewellery to make it look more interesting.

You can also buy necklaces separately and create one layered necklace out of it.

The best tip is to use different pieces for an entirely new use. You can use an earring as a maang tika. A payal as a bracelet and a layered necklace as a headpiece.

#7. Go minimal

You can wear outfits with conservative or embroidered necklines that don’t require you to wear any necklaces at all.

You can also ditch the neck piece even with a revealing outline if you wear statement earrings instead.

#8 Shop online

You can save a lot if you shop online especially during festival season for major discounts.

#9. Rent don’t buy

You can also rent jewellery instead of buying it for your wedding and only buy essential pieces like the rings.

There are plenty of ways to save up and still have a fab wedding. You can borrow, rent or buy your jewelry to create a gorgeous look. Just don’t be afraid of improvizations.

James Montano