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Wedding
Budgets
How to Manage Wedding Expenses
Along with all the stress
of planning the wedding can come a great deal of money concerns.
Weddings can cost a great deal of money, and many brides find themselves
suddenly stressing out about how they can afford those last minute
wedding details.
When you are planning a
wedding, you can save yourself and everyone else a great deal of stress
by creating a budget for your wedding so you can adequately manage your
wedding expenses.
Why You Need to Create a Budget
You may be wondering why creating a budget is so important. Essentially,
creating a budget can mean the difference between starting your marriage
happily or starting your marriage with a mountain of debt hanging over
your head. It can be very easy to start racking up the debt when you are
planning your wedding, and if you have not created a budget to stick to,
you may find yourself suddenly overwhelmed with the large bills that you
have to pay off. Creating a budget can help you have a great wedding
that you will not be paying on for the rest of your life.
How to Create a Budget
Creating a budget may not be as easy as it sounds, but with a little
work you can come up with a budget that will work for you.
- Decide What You Can Contribute - The first thing you need to do
when you are creating a budget for your wedding is to sit down with your
fiancé and figure out how much money the two of you can realistically
contribute to the wedding. Make sure that you come up with an amount
that will not have you entering into marriage totally broke as well.
- Talk with Both Sets of Parents - Once you decide how much money
you and your fiancé have to contribute, you will then want to set down
with both sets of parents to see if they are going to contribute to the
wedding. Most parents will want to help out with the wedding costs in
some way. Make sure that they know you are not pressuring them into
making a contribution to your wedding, but you do need to know what they
are planning.
- Set a Realistic Budget - Now that you have a good idea what
you, your fiancé, and the parents can contribute you can figure out a
realistic budget. Make sure to put the estimated budget on paper so you
can play with numbers, and be sure that you stick to your budget
throughout the wedding planning.
Tips for Saving Money While Planning a Wedding
Once you have a budget in place, you may be wondering how you can stick
to it. Even if you do not have a great deal of money to work with, you
can still have a beautiful wedding. There are many ways that you can
save some money, and the following are a few tips that can help you out.
Tip #1 - Do It Yourself - One thing that will help you save money
is to do some things yourself. If you are creative you may be able to do
some flower arrangements yourself or you may be able to make the wedding
favors for your reception. Anything that you are able to do on your own
can save you a great deal of money.
Tip #2 - Choose an Afternoon Wedding - Many people go for the
expensive evening weddings, but if you are on a tight budget, you may
want to plan a wedding for the afternoon. Usually reception halls are
cheaper at this time and you will not have to worry about serving your
guests so much food either.
Tip #3 - Go for the Buffet - Instead of having a sit down dinner
catered at your wedding reception, you may want to consider having the
buffet. Usually you will find that it is much more expensive to have a
meal that is served to everyone. A buffet can still have wonderful food
and you will be able to save a great deal of money.
Tip #4 - Avoid Expensive Transportation - One area that many
couples end up spending a great deal of money is on the transportation.
While a horse drawn carriage may be nice, you can save money by cutting
that out. Limo’s are also quite expensive, so see if a friend has a cool
car that you can arrive at the wedding in.
Tip #5 - Cut the Guest List - Do you really need to invite the
third cousins once removed? Try cutting down your guest list to the
people who really matter to you and those who you are close to. You
wedding is not a family reunion, but a day for you and close friends to
celebrate. Cut out some of the extras on the guest list and you can save
a great deal of money.
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