Wedding Planning Secrets – How To Have Your Fairytale Wedding On a Shoestring Budget!
It is no secret that these days, the wedding bill can be rather huge. However, without effective planning that bill can be even bigger. There are many factors involved in planning a wedding and they are all costly. It is important to keep track of all spending in order for keep within your budget and still manage to plan the wedding of your dreams.
Once you have decided on a realistic budget for the type of wedding you want, it is simply a matter of keeping track every day. That doesn’t mean hours each day, just a little time to keep everything in order and organizing bit by bit as opposed to trying to do everything at once.
In order to realize how much you will need, create a list at least a year from the date of your wedding of all necessary expenses. Now you might be thinking, how will I think of everything that is required for the wedding right away? The fact is you probably won’t but you have a chance to modify your budget along the way as you have given yourself ample time.
Try to organize your wedding list in a table format or spreadsheet. That way you can keep an eye on everything at a glance and the total figures.
Within the list there will be expenses that will be paid for by the bride and groom and the parents of each, however it is a good idea to keep them all together, always keeping track. You may want to keep all the items on the list and keep a note having them as being paid by whoever it is.
Expenses for the bride will normally include a wedding present for the groom, the catering and a band for the evening portion of the reception, the dress, presents for the bridesmaids and photographs. There may be a few other items for the list. The groom will traditionally pay for the engagement and wedding rings, a gift for the bride and the groomsmen and best man. Other items such as the honeymoon, the bouquet and his own tuxedo are also paid for by the groom.
This lot can amount to a large bill, even with all the small items adding up to a considerable sum. Keeping track of all items purchased, at all times will help to keep an eye on what is being spent and what can be ticked off the list.
With the catering usually being one of the most expensive items and taking up to around 40-50% of the brides budget, it is a good idea to shop around. Having a smaller wedding party can also reduce the bill considerably.
Photographs can also hike the expenses up with costs of around $1500 being the norm. All the other paper work such as invitations and place cards don’t come cheap either, however with the internet at your disposal, prices are coming down with massive competition for custom.
Get the bridesmaids together to help make some custom made invitations. Buy the materials beforehand and craft your own cards. This can save a fortune and you can be assured that you will have enough and on time.
If the budget is not as large as you might of wished try saving a bit on the night-time entertainment. Sure it’s great to have a full band, but just as much fun can be had with the in-house or contracted DJ and a great song list, which can be around 1/10th of the price. That said, if you really give it some effort, you can find some great wedding bands at a pretty competitive rate.
It’s great to be able to provide your guests with a free bar but not so great on the budget. A champagne reception before going into dinner can be a lovely token with the rest of the drinks being pay per drin.k Alternatively you can have an allocated amount of drinks to be distributed, then those that want more can pay for themselves.
There is never any set rules when planning a wedding and there are many corners that can be cut without being noticed. You can still have a fabulous wedding and budget wisely.
