In traditional times, it was always customary for the bride’s family takes care of the total wedding bill. However, times have changed and now it’s usually the newlyweds that handle it all. If you and your soon to be spouse are handling the wedding bill yourselves, then be sure to do a lot of strategic planning.
Budgets are good to have in everyday life, however in wedding planning it is sometimes a necessity. Rather than going over your budget and later being shocked, consider some of the following preparations.
Know Your Budget
Deciding on what your budget will be can be overwhelming. However, once you have a rough dollar amount, don’t choose the highest number, because you will always be pushing to that number. Don’t also stick with the lowest number, because when making decisions your conscious may be telling you that you are able to spend a little more, and a little here and there will add up.
Instead stick to a reasonable budget range, for example $20,000 – $28,000. This will allow you to see numbers more clearly on where you can save and where you can cut and it may even motivate you to save as much money as you can.
Be Reasonable
Don’t maintain a budget that doesn’t seem acceptable and reasonable, instead, work around something that is reasonable and attainable. Even if this requires delaying the wedding for a while, as this is a day and event in your life that is never repeated and you want it to be special.
Watch Your Costs
There are many things to keep in mind while narrowing down costs at your wedding and staying within your budget quota. Common factors and one of the biggest budget breakers include wedding seasons. If you plan on tying the knot in the fall or spring, you can expect to have your overall wedding costs to be much more expensive than a winter wedding. There are a lot of common costly factors that can go overlooked too many times.
So much is involved in wedding planning and almost all of your final decisions involve money. If you are hiring a wedding planner to assist you, consider discussing your budget with them so that they are more aware of costs and can even get you discounts from their partnered vendors.
Make sure you do a lot of strategic planning with your partner prior to setting your wedding date, and especially prior to any big decisions.
Adam is a financial advisor to engaged couples. He assists them all from wedding expenses to newlywed finances. After experiencing his own wedding and purchasing his very own tungsten wedding ring, he decided to move forward in the wedding industry and hopes to one day add wedding planning to his portfolio.