It is said that the “average wedding” today costs around $20,000. Now of course that depends on where you live and who you are! If you are planning a wedding on a budget, I have some advice for you.
To some people $20,000 could be a new car or a down payment on a house. If you go out and borrow $20,000 for a wedding, shame on you. You need some financial advice! Planning a wedding on a budget would be the least of your problems.
The two most important keys to planning a wedding on a budget are: planning and organization. You will not save any money on your wedding if you start planning a month before the wedding. So get yourself a 3 ring binder, some paper, and dividers.
Make a section for EVERY expense of the wedding. Cut pictures out of magazines. Print pages off of the internet. Write down every idea that you have. This will be part of the brainstorming process. Go through each section periodically and jot down any money saving thoughts. I will get you started.
Let’s start with the wedding dress. If you are planning a wedding on a budget, a $10,000 dress would be a bad start! This is a dress that you will wear one time. It could be one of the most expensive items for your wedding. Just because a dress is expensive, doesn’t mean that it will flatter you. Think about possibly renting a dress or even buying a second hand dress. Another possibility would be to buy one on line. You would be surprised at the places that sell wedding dresses. Amazon and Ebay, just to name a couple. Just make sure that you check the seller’s reputation and return policies thoroughly.
Photography is a place where you can save some money, but be cautious. After the big wedding day the photos will be about all that is left (with the exception of your spouse)! Trusting this job to a friend with a camera is not a good idea. Wedding photography is unique in that your photographer has to take many photos in a short period of time. And you will want them to be creative and unique to your wedding. If you find a photographer who is fairly new, but has some good weddings under his or her belt, you could save a lot of money. Make sure that you talk with some people who used the photographer. Also make sure that you like the personality of your photographer. They could change the mood of the wedding in a hurry.
If you are planning a wedding on a budget, you may want to forget about the wedding coordinator/planner. Unless you are totally useless at planning and research, they may cost more than they save you. There are many software programs and books that have checklists and helpful shortcuts. I would recommend that you have a trusted friend or relative with the list of events to watch over things, just to make sure that everything goes as planned. Someone with a strong personality!
Using friends and relatives to help with tasks at your wedding can save you a bundle! A word of caution here. Saving a few dollars is not worth ruining the biggest day of your life! Make sure that the people helping are trustworthy. If they are doing a big job, make sure that they know what they are doing. Make sure that you have a clear understanding with them about your expectations. Imagine having your second cousin showing up to DJ your reception in his favorite cut off shorts and a tee shirt. Then he starts playing his records on his 20 year old sound system. That would surely be the memory that everyone would carry away from your biggest day!
So let’s do a quick recap on planning a wedding on a budget. The keys are planning and organization. Do your research and keep track of everything. Get a couple of books and some software programs to help. Make sure that you have a clear understanding from everyone involved as to what will happen and how it will happen. Using these planning keys will insure that you have that dream wedding on a budget that you can afford!
For more ideas and help on planning a wedding on a budget, visit Bob’s web site at: Your Perfect Wedding
Author: Bob Willoughby
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Humorous photo captions
