Budgeting

Did you know…

Banks have credit lines available to couples specifically for events

such as Weddings? This allows you to only borrow as much as you need

while paying as much back as you want with minimal interest.

A Wedding is one of the single largest purchases a couple will make in

their lifetime apart from a car and a mortgage for a house?

Insurance companies offer event insurance for your wedding? We

recommend this highly to cover any unexpected mishaps or theft.

Decide what element of your wedding is the most important to you and to

your fiancé. Yours may be the flowers, and his may be the photographs.

Plan to spend more than average price for these two elements.

Find out what money you have, from both of your own savings and income,

as well as that money coming in from parents or other family members.

Have a sit-down meal with these dearly beloved's and tactfully explain

that you are working out your wedding budget and that it would help you

if you knew what contributions they may be making.

Once you know what you have, you can work out how much you are willing

to spend on each individual element of your wedding from the Bride's Gown

and Attendants' gifts to the type of mint you are including your guests

wedding favors.

You can do this by assigning each thing an actual amount (i.e., $750 for

your gown, $200 for the attendant's gifts), OR by assigning them

percentages of your budget. For example, while you may be prepared to

spend 30% of your budget on good food and wine, you may only want to put

5% towards wedding favors. By putting percentages on the different elements

of your wedding, it helps you put things in perspective, as it is very easy to

lose sight of the big picture.

Write all of this down in some way, whether through a graph or simple chart,

and write down how much you plan to spend, and then how much you did.

Obviously, if you go over budget in one area, you will have to reduce your

spending in another.