Traveling for a Wedding This Summer? 3 Ways to Make Your Trip Cheaper

Wedding season is back on. Here's how to make wedding-related travel more affordable.

Many couples had to postpone their wedding plans due to the pandemic. But now, your social calendar may be filled with weddings you're set to attend over the course of the summer.

And while you may be happy to watch various friends and loved ones tie the knot, you may also be stressed at the idea of having to bear the cost of traveling to and from these affairs.

If you have at least one out-of-town wedding to attend this summer, here's how to keep your costs as low as possible.

1. Drive instead of flying

If you're attending a wedding across the country, driving may be out of the question -- and it probably isn't more economical than flying. But if you're attending a wedding in a city you can reach within a day of driving, and there's a group of you attending, taking a road trip could be a lot less expensive than booking a flight. This especially holds true if you already own a car and don't have to rent one.

Say flights to the wedding you need to attend are $300 per person, and there are four of you going together. If you can pull off a drive for $200 total, you'll all save big time.

2. Rent a private home instead of a hotel

If you're traveling in a group, you could save serious money by renting a private home rather than booking a series of hotel rooms. Often, the nightly rate for a private home will be comparable to that of a single hotel room, only you'll get a lot more space, thereby allowing you to split that cost with more people.

For example, say you could book a hotel for $200 a night but only two people can share that room. If you find a home that sleeps six people for $250 a night, you'll spend about $42 per person instead of $100.

That said, if there's no private home to rent where the wedding is, you can try calling a nearby hotel and asking if there's a discount to book a block of rooms. Or, the couple getting married might make that arrangement for you, so it's worth looking into.

3. Maximize credit card rewards

Flying to your destination and staying at a hotel may be unavoidable for an upcoming wedding. But if that's the case, you can save money by cashing in the points or miles from your rewards credit card. You may be able to score a free night at an area hotel, a free flight, or both. And even if you can't pull that off, you should at least book your travel using a card that will give you a nice amount of cash back for your trip to offset your expenses.

As excited as you may be to see people you care about getting married, you may also be stressed at the idea of having to pay to travel for a wedding. But with a little effort and strategy, you can keep your costs to a minimum so you're able to worry less about your personal finances and focus more on celebrating a joyous occasion.