Your Wedding on Your Budget

 

It’s pretty darn hard to create a wedding budget for your wedding. Wait six months or so. If you thought that setting out the amount of money you were going to spend was difficult, try actually adhering to it! The following is a guide to deciding exactly how much you want to lay out for that perfect day, along with some tips for sticking to your figure.

Start with the biggest expenditures, and work your way down. That means your first decision is probably going to be where you actually get married. Obviously, if you choose a destination wedding in Hawaii or the Sonoma Valley, you’re not going to be able to spend as much money on everything else. If you’re on a limited wedding budget, consider skipping the pricey, glamorous spots. You’ll also encounter some guests that don’t want to pay for the expensive plane tickets, especially those with a large family. By keeping the distance more reasonable, you’ll save money for all the other little things that will make your wedding memorable.

Once you’ve decided on the location, consider how many guests you’d like to have. As your list (almost inevitably) balloons, you’re going to have to make sacrifices for each guest. If you keep the number of guests relatively small, you can spend more money to make everyone happy. You can end up paying over one hundred dollars per person, so cutting back even by fifty can add up to drastic savings.

Once these major decisions are out of the way, you’re going to start being assailed by little ones. Beware: 75 dollars here and 50 there begin to run up a bill very quickly. Consider the number of decisions you’re going to have to make; between the photographer, caterer, florist, DJ, and official, you could be looking at prices that are already stretching your budget thin.

In the end, it’s going to come down to the kind of choices that you make. You’re simply going to have to compromise in some places. Drop the extra band member in order to move up to the next level of wedding cake. Switch the filet off the menu in favor a rib eye, and you’ll open up the opportunity to include Uncle Fred as a groomsmen. On second thought, do you really want to do that?

Finally, consider hiring a wedding planner. Though this will be an extra cost up-front, it could actually end up saving you money in the long run. Even more importantly, an experienced wedding planner is crucial in avoiding last minute snafus that could ruin your special day. By adding an intermediary between you and all of your paid professionals, any problems that arise on the day itself can be dealt with calmly by someone not so emotionally invested.

Sticking to a wedding budget is one of the most difficult parts of planning a wedding. As long as you keep your eye on the ball, you’ll be able to provide your guests with a memorable experience without breaking the bank.