As any economics introductory textbook will tell you, wants can definitely be unlimited and quite glamorous (to paraphrase) but the means and resources to fulfill them are scarce. This applies to individual lives as much as anything else which is why your wedding is also no exception. Ready to find out what is most important when you are budgeting wedding costs?
The trouble however is you want people to know (or think) you made it in life so what are the elements to spend the most on? This blog post helps you with some grand scale hacks to understand how to budget your wedding without compromising on the essentials.
Manage Your Expectations
Getting engaged and dreaming of the perfect wedding is all good fun but the reality of actually budgeting and planning how to utilize your funds is not nearly as smile-inducing. You can still make it a fun activity for you and your significant other and it will be practice for the years of financial planning ahead!
A tip that experts give is to not plan anything on money that isn’t liquid. While many people do make wedding-related purchases on credit cards or plan to liquidate property, the ideal mode is to rely on allotted savings. If you have a property, shares, or any other financial asset set aside for wedding expenses try to contain the entirety of the spending within that ordained number.
After settling on that number, think of the number of guests. A rule of thumb in the wedding industry is that the fewer people you invite the more impressive you can make the event. Maybe miss out on your third or fourth cousins and opt for a more close-knit wedding and you’ll find your funds stretch much further.
Unpleasant Surprises And How To Deal
In your wedding budget plan, you need to have a spreadsheet to track all expenditures with allowances made for unpleasant peek-a-boo surprises like setting up fees, vendor fees, tips, transportation fees, extra lighting fees, décor additions, and things like party favors. If you have a balance sheet then it helps to make sure you don’t go overboard. It’s not romantic to start a marriage with overwhelming debt!
Bargain It Out
There is a negative connotation attached to bargaining at shops or with vendors but it’s a great place to test and improve your skills of persuasion. If possible ask for an approved or recommended vendors list from your wedding venue management (they are happy to provide this) as this will often come with a discount.
Don’t be afraid to tweak professional packages such as opting for one photographer without a helping junior photographer or changing up the pricer flowers with a cost-effective alternative in the overall décor. And who’s to say you can’t use your best friend’s talents as a DJ or origami artist?
The Breakfast At Tiffany’s Mindset
You know what the protagonist in the hit movie ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ believed, right? That nothing bad could happen at Tiffany’s. Maybe bring some of that positivity to your wedding experience and know you’re going to manage beautifully and have some breath-taking memories to share for the years to come!
