He proposed! He got on his knee and asked you to marry him! A tremendous feeling of joy and happiness soon followed by panic! I have to plan a wedding, a reception, and a honeymoon! I have to get a dress! Who are my bridesmaids? Who am I going to invite? How am I going to pay for it?
As a wedding consultant, I know that many of these questions are swarming around the bride’s head. Yes, these details are all important. Let’s put this in perspective, though. Your wedding day is about you and your future husband making a commitment of a lifetime to each other. It is only one day, but a very special day.Now, after you have calmed down a bit and thought about some of your dreams for the big day, you need to sit down and set a budget. You need to realistically think about it, taking into account your income, your future husband’s income, and anyone else who is contributing to the event. Put it on paper and get an exact amount from those contributing or find out what parts of the wedding they are planning on paying for. Do not plan on paying for the wedding on credit, if you can help it. If you do pay with credit cards, make sure that you can pay the balance off each month! Also, do not count on your wedding gift money either, because you do not have any idea how much that will be. Plan to save your wedding gift money and use it to start your nest egg.
Once your budget is on paper, start your planning. Get a wedding planning notebook, binder, or CD for your computer. Or check out the myriad of wedding planning options on the internet. Write down the things you would like to do, but make sure you think of all aspects of the big day from the church to the reception. Some of the items you need to plan for are the wedding dress, invitations, wedding favors, cake topper, unity candle holder and gifts for the bridal party. Do your research and save time by checking the internet first. Be sure to compare prices and keep in mind delivery charges.
Let’s start off with one of the bride’s most favorite items, the Wedding Dress! I encourage you to look at all of the bridal magazines and go to the big department stores or the cute boutiques and try on everything you like. But think about the following questions before your purchase. Can you find the dress at an off the rack store? Is the dress available online at a discount web store? Is the same or a similar dress being offered on eBay? Also consider borrowing a dress from a friend or a relative. Talk about inexpensive! Just be sure to have it dry-cleaned and boxed after wearing!Another quick note about dresses, rather than getting alterations at the store, consider going to your dry-cleaner or a local seamstress. Most of time, the stores will offer to do alterations for an extra charge, but beware, they will encourage you to buy a dress that is way too large so that the seamstress has more alterations to do, and hence, more money for the seamstress and the store.Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty, the reception! The food and banquet hall are quite possibly the most expensive part of the wedding. Do you research and plan ahead! Banquet halls and caterers offer discounts for early booking. Also, think about having your reception on a Sunday or a weekday. Banquet halls usually offer discounts for less popular days like Sunday afternoon.
Once you have picked the date, get the details about the offerings from the banquet hall, country club, or caterer. Is the menu all inclusive or is it a la carte? Find out if the bar service, champagne toast, wine at the table, hors d’oeuvres, ice sculpture, dessert table, and wedding cake are included or whether there are extra charges for these items. Do you want and need all these items? Consider your options carefully and decide what is a must have and what would be just nice to have.One item that has several options to choose from is the bar service. This can be a good chunk of your reception cost! You can either pay for an open bar with or without top shelf liquor (but who knows what that will cost!) or you can look at the options and pick a package. Consider the basic wine, beer, and soda package which is usually the least expensive option, or just offer wine at the table with a champagne toast.
Another important factor affecting your budget is the time of day for the event. If you have your reception earlier during the day and offer a lunch or brunch you can get away with having fancy etched plastic dinnerware rather than fine china dinnerware. The banquet hall may not offer the option, but don’t hesitate to ask and see.
Also, your guests are not going to expect a full bar during lunch or brunch, so you can easily get away without having a bar and just having a champagne toast, as mentioned previously.Once you have nailed down the reception details, make sure to book the church or reverend, florist, and the band or D.J. (the D.J. is usually the less expensive of the two). Another nice option to consider, is hiring another type of musician such as a pianist, violinist, or flutist to provide music while dinner is served.
Once again, check to see if you can get a discount for booking on a less popular day. As you can see, there are many ways to keep to your budget for your wedding day. You may not be able to afford all of the bells and whistles, but by keeping to what is important to you and remembering that the day is about you and your future spouse, your wedding day will be a wonderful celebration of the start of your marriage.
Lynn Rader is the owner of Gifts of Love and Devotion – Christian Gifts – which has a large selection of Christian Gifts and unique personalized gifts for every Christian occasion including baptism, first communion, confirmation, and weddings. In addition, she is proud to offer heirloom quality baptism and christening gowns and rompers, as well as communion dresses and accessories. She also has a selection of memorials which can be given in remembrance for the loss of a loved one. Personalized gifts such as baptismal candles and wedding crosses are available in most of our categories and provide a more unique gift idea. Her inspirational decor for the home and garden sections include a wide variety of products to dress up the home while making a personal statement of faith.
Author: Lynn Rader
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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