Tips and Tricks to Stick to Your Wedding Budget
One of the biggest hurdles for an engaged couple, even before they become husband and wife and start their new life together is planning a wedding, and this includes setting a wedding budget and then staying under budget.
No couple should have to start their new life together in debt thanks to an overblown wedding, and it can lead to relationship issues and friction right from day 1. It makes a lot more sense to work hard to plan a wedding that is everything you ever dreamed it would be, and yet sticks to the originally set wedding budget.
Tips and Tricks
Once you have established your wedding budget, whether it is $2,000 or $25,000, there are a few things you can do to make sure you stick to it!
1) Create a Realistic Wedding Budget: If your budget is too low, you will struggle from the day you start planning your wedding. Do your homework so you know what everything costs in your area or shop around online to see if you can find better deals, and then allot money accordingly for each area of your plan (wedding ceremony, reception, wedding party, favours, flowers, decoration, stationary, wedding dress, etc).
2) Work Together As a Team: You are going to be spending the rest of your lives together, working through problems and creating budgets for many other things – buying a house, saving for a vacation and yes, even eventually saving for your children’s’ college. It only makes sense that planning your wedding together and working hard to make every dollar go as far as possible would be a good place to start that financial partnership. It will help to set a strong foundation for your marriage.
3) Be Flexible: Sometimes you cannot always have what you want and that is true for wedding plans as well. Of course, we all want to have the wedding of our dreams, but if you can only afford to invite 150 guests, you need to work with your partner and your immediate families to whittle down the list from 225 to the desired target of 150.
4) Look for Bargains: Buying cheap does not mean you have to sacrifice on quality, especially with the internet. You can purchase high-end bridal accessories and wedding decorations online for a fraction of the cost. In small towns and rural areas especially, local wedding stores and bridal shops can charge exorbitant prices for wedding supplies. If you plan ahead and order early, you can shop online and save a bundle.
5) Shop Early: Planning a wedding is stressful and often times, many items are left to the last minute when it is do or die time. That means that you end up paying top dollar because you have no choice. If you plan well and start shopping early, you always have time to buy the perfect items for your wedding day, at the best possible price.
6) Something Borrowed: For less important items, do not be afraid to borrow from family or friends. There is nothing wrong with using decorations, wine glasses or an alter arbour for example, that is online from a friend or neighbour.
7) Timing is Everything: If you get married in primetime, such as May, June or September, be prepared to pay top dollar for everything. If you are able, perhaps choose a low season bridal month to get married and you can save yourself a whole lot of money. The weather in April is lovely as is October, as with both these months you can save as much as 25% of your total wedding budget.
Accept Financial Help with a Smile: If your parents or future in-laws are offering to pay for a certain aspect of your wedding, accept it with a smile and thanks. Your wedding budget will go so much further if you don’t have to pay for the reception dinner, the wedding favours or the wedding photography fees.
Source: Tracey Smith is an expert article writer on the topic of weddings, this is one of her articles on wedding planning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When publishing this article on your site copy the entire article including the source of the article on the bottom with the link intact back to our Wedding Planning Membership site. Thank you!
