Planning a Wedding On Budget

Being engaged and planning a wedding should be an exciting time in any bride or groom-to-be’s life. However, it is so easy to get caught up in all the details that you lose sight of why you are having a wedding in the first place – to marry the person you love and want to spend the rest of your life with. Here are a few ideas on how to pull off a wedding on budget and with as little stress as possible.

Step 1 – Book an officiant and get a marriage license

If all else fails on your wedding day, if you have a marriage license and an officiant, at least you will be married!

Step 2 - Determine who you want to witness your special day

This is a discussion you and your fiancé need to have to figure out how many people you want to attend your wedding. Your special day can bet at city hall with two witnesses, in Mexico with a smaller group of family and friends, at a fancy downtown hotel or in your parents’ backyard. The number of guests directly affects the cost of your wedding.

Step 3 - Budget, budget, budget, then add 15%

The last thing you want to fight about with your spouse is how much your wedding is costing after you’ve booked your location and vendors (when it is too late!). Think long, hard and realistically before you do any concrete planning about how much you and your fiancé are willing to spend or can afford. Talk to married or engaged friends about how much they spent on various wedding must-haves and you can get a really good idea of what certain items will cost. Set a hard budget but know you will probably go over it in certain areas. I went over budget by just under 15% and I worked really hard throughout the planning process to keep within my budget!

There are lots of online budgeting tools that help itemize your total wedding budget into categories (i.e., catering, décor, photography, etc). Use an online budgeting tool like the one at http://weddings.theknot.com/budgeter/Budgeter.aspx once you’ve come up with your wedding budget total. You can customize it by including or excluding various line items depending on the type of wedding you want. Keep in mind that there are some areas where you will want to splurge and other areas to cut back depending on what is important to you and your fiancé.

Take your budget with you when you go to meet vendors. Many of them have different packages to choose from and if you are clear on your budget right from the beginning, you will have better bargaining power to cut back on certain services or get them to step up for your business.

Step 4 – Save Up

Most couples are engaged for a year or more so use this time wisely to start tightening your money belt. Set up an automatic deposit from your chequing account to a high interest savings account. Any interest you earn (net of taxes, of course) can be for wedding splurges like a manicure or an additional gift for your parents. Just knowing that you have the money set aside for your wedding will be a huge relief when you and your new spouse are embarking on your life together without the burden of wedding debt!

If your parents want to help contribute to your wedding, welcome it with open arms. Be sure to set ground rules to determine whether there are any strings attached to the money (i.e., will your parents be inviting their friends whom you hardly know). The key here is to communicate and make sure everyone is aware of your budget and your plan, after all, it is your (and your fiancé’s) day!

Step 5 - Choose a theme and stick to it

My sister-in-law gave me a really great piece of advice when I started planning my wedding. She told me to come up with one or two “theme” words and every time I was making a decision regarding the wedding, ask myself whether it falls within my theme.

My words were “timeless” and “classic.” So, when I met with my decorator or browsed at bridesmaid dresses, I always asked myself whether it was timeless and classic. It really helped me stay on track and not go overboard with unnecessary details that detracted from my theme.

Above all, remember that it is just one day

Our wedding day went by so fast that even now I’m not sure whether it happened at all! I have the pictures and the big blank zero where my savings account used to be as my only reminder that it actually occurred. Just remember that it is just a day. Life does go on the day after the wedding, and the day after that as well. So think about the bigger picture when you are trying to convince your fiancé that you really need an ice sculpture at the reception!