Jan 07 2009
Sticking to the Wedding Budget
Most wedding budgets are fairly set in stone. All the same, most weddings tend to go over budget. It is a sad situation when so many marriages start off in debt over the wedding day. To avoid this common pitfall it is important to stick to the budget.
The best idea to help stick to your budget is to break the budget down into workable amounts. Rather than stating, “I will spend no more than $15,000 on this wedding,” you should say, “I will spend no more than $2,500 for catering, $1,500 for the wedding dress, etc.” This will keep you on track in your spending.
The next thing you will want to do is plan ahead for each and every purchase, once a purchase is made do not look back. Take the wedding favors for instance. If you see something you like, price it and move along. Calculate whether that particular favor will be within your budget. If it doesn’t fit the budget do not splurge. Keep looking. If it is within your price range, purchase the item and stop looking at wedding favors. If you continue to shop for favors once you’ve already purchased a set there is a good chance you’ll want to change your mind and that can be a costly mistake.
The last thing to do is bargain shop. Never accept the first price given. Either search other bridal shops or online sources for your wedding needs. It is also okay to haggle. When discussing the venue point out reasons why they should offer a discount, “Well the wedding is on a Sunday, that’s a slow day. It’s also the off season so really I can’t fathom paying whole price for this.” When shopping for rings and dresses realize that the prices are marked up incredibly high so most local vendors will work with you.
If you are really committed to sticking to your budget it is not as difficult as you may think. We all want a beautiful wedding day, however, deep in debt is no way to kick off a marriage.
