Weddster

You might have been dreaming about your wedding day since you were a little girl, but did you ever stop to consider how you’re going to pay for it?

Your wedding budget is one of the first items on the wedding planning checklist, before finding a dress, venue or any other aspect. It’s vital that you know how much you have to spend in total, and well as what percentage will be allotted to each aspect of the wedding.

If either of your families plan on chipping in for wedding expenses, start by sitting down with them and discussing the budget. Your parents might not be willing to pay for the entire reception, but perhaps your mom wants to purchase your wedding gown for you, up to $2,500. Or maybe your groom’s favorite uncle wants to foot the bill for the open bar, just to make sure everyone has a good time. It’s traditional for families to pitch in for their children’s wedding, but don’t forget to show how grateful you are for the help.

Add these contributions toward what, if anything, you’re willing to contribute to the budget. There you have it: That’s your total budget. But is that number what you need?

Wedding costs vary greatly depending on the area. The average wedding cost a little over $20,000 in 2008 (and that’s a steal based on the average cost in 2007, which was a whopping $28,000), but that doesn’t mean that’s what you have to spend. Budgeting around $100 per guest is a good starting point. Since 50 percent of the budget typically goes to the catering/reception, that’s $50 alloted there, and then $50 that goes toward the rest of it, such as entertainment, the dress, transportation, etc.

As you can see from this equation, one of the easiest ways to cut costs is to cut the guest list. You can also prioritize your wedding budget to ensure the things that really matter to you really happen, whether it be an open bar or an amazing wedding cake. Things that might not be as important such as wedding favors or lavish flowers can receive less of the total budget.

Putting the budget on paper is really important. It cements it, making it harder for you to go over that magic number. Do some research for vendors in your area and what the typical breakdown is for a wedding budget. Whip out a piece of paper and a pen or open up a spreadsheet in Excel and start balancing the numbers. Once you get appropriate ratios, print it out and take it with you when you go shopping.

One of the hardest parts about the wedding budget is actually sticking to it. If you’ve budgeted $800 for a wedding dress and then fall in love with one that’s $1,200, it’s easy to say “oh, it’s only $400 difference. What’s the big deal?” But you have to think about where that $400 is coming from. Are you going to take it from your honeymoon budget? Or get a less-expensive photographer? If you want to go over in one area, you have to compromise in another.

If you’re planning on paying for a portion of the wedding, the final step of creating a wedding budget is savings. If possible, try to save 20 percent of your monthly income for the wedding. In a year, you could save thousands of dollars that could be applied toward the wedding costs.

No related posts.

Ähnliche Artikel bereitgestellt von Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.