Cachic Design, Custom Wedding/Event Invitations

What’s the biggest stress while planning your wedding? There is no use trying to skirt around the issue. You don’t have to be Einstein to figure it out, yep it’s your budget. Nothing can bring more stress and concern to a newly engaged couple than figuring out out how to pay for their wedding. In this ever changing economy, nothing is for certain anymore. Couples around the country struggle everyday to make ends meet. I want to share with you some of the information I have found to keep the spending under control and leave you and your fiance with minimal debt after you say “I do.”

Create a budget, not a “budget wedding”

There is a difference between having a “budget” for your wedding and having a “budget wedding!” You can make smart choices and still have the beautiful wedding you have always dreamed of. Yes, to do this some sacrifices have to be made, but in the end you and your future husband will be satisfied with the end results. Let’s hash out the terms, “budget” does not equal cheap. What you should be thinking is “budget” equals smart! It is so easy to whip out the credit cards and spend, spend, spend! I could max one out in no time… but where does that leave you? It’s time to be fiscally responsible, and this is the best time to start!

Crunch those numbers

One of the first suggestions made by the experts is to look at your current finances. The estimated wedding cost for 2008-2009 for only 150 guest was approximately $20-$28,000! Most of the surveyed couples were taken form urban and residential areas, but let’s face it… this is where most of us reside! I know my wedding was around this ballpark range, and we are still paying it off! It was worth every penny spent, but I want to make sure others don’t spend beyond their range, because it can happen super fast!

What are your current holdings?

Add up the following monies to see where your starting point is:

1. Both your checking accounts (or if joint account, then your holdings together)
2. Savings accounts (same rules for joint!)
3. Bonds or stock holdings ( add only holdings you can actually cash out, not estimated value!)
4. Any monies that have been offered by friends and family

Now comes the time to figure out how much you can afford as a couple. It seems that these days the bride and groom try to foot most the bill if they can. This is not always the situation though. Our parents contributed significant amounts to our wedding, most families still do. If budget hasn’t come up with your family yet, take the initiative. It is great if parents can contribute, and most feel that they want to. The days of one side paying for this and the other side paying for that is over! Try breaking up costs into aspects like; one family takes church, cake, and flowers, while the other is responsible for the reception and invitations. This leaves you and your fiance with a good idea of what expenses will be out of your pocket.

Now you’re getting closer to developing a “working budget”

I say working because as you plan and begin to drop deposits your budget will fluctuate. At this point it is important for you and your fiance to figure out what your “wiggle room” will be. It may be difficult to do, but try to figure out a percentage (%) you can go over without putting you in the red. Start saving from now until the wedding day. Think about making a “wedding account”, a separate savings account especially for the wedding. You can also take out a low interest credit card designated for wedding charges ONLY! Keep adding money when possible to your wedding account and use it to pay off your credit card. Get organized! Your best budget tools; a calculator, 3 ring binder, and folders. These are your weapons, don’t go to battle without them! Always keep a “running total” so there are no surprises.

Time to make a preliminary guest list

Now that you have a budget established, it is a good idea to make out a preliminary guest list. Your list will change, but you need a basic idea of how many guests to expect. It will help determine where you will be able to have your ceremony and reception. The guest list is difficult, but a professional rule of thumb; stop at first cousins or with relatives/friends you haven’t seen in five years. Another tidbit from the pros, have and adult only reception. My husband and I did that and it was wonderful (even though we did have to bend to accommodate a good friend)! If inviting coworkers, only invite those you are close to. I know it can be hard, but even Emily Post says you aren’t expected to invite the whole office! This goes the same for your wedding party… pick those who are the closest to you. You don’t have to include your cousins because they included you. Just explain the situation, they are still invited but will play a different role.

What style of wedding do you want to have?

Decide what part of your wedding is most important to you. If you want a formal wedding, then plan on spending more for your reception. You’ll probably need to budget more for a sit down dinner and will need a formal reception hall. Be smart and shop around. You may fall in love with the first venue you see, but go look at others to be sure your money is being spent wisely! Know when you have to make your deposit and how much it will cost in total. This is what your working budget is for! Make sure you are adding your deposits into your budget, unless you have money set aside especially for this. Deposits add up quickly, and almost every vendor requires one. Big mistakes couples make is forgetting to add in the “extras”, like bridal party gifts and taxes/gratuities. Did you know that when taxes and gratuities are included it can add up to almost 25% of your total cost? That is a huge amount, so please add them in to make sure you have the appropriate funds!

basic breakdown of the average spending percentages for your wedding

1. Food and beverage (a.k.a. Reception) – 45%
2. Photography/Videography – 12-15%
3. Flowers/Decor – 8-10%
4. Invitations – 8%
5. Music/DJ – 5%
6. Ceremony – 5%
7. Attire (Bride – dress and accessories, Groom – Tux and shoes) – 3%
8. Rings – 2-4%
9. Cake – 2%
10. Transportation – 2%
11. Miscellaneous – 5-7%

Keep organized, especially receipts and contracts!

As you continue to keep account of your expenditures, KEEP your receipts and contracts! You may have everything all organized, but no receipt = no proof of purchase. I know you wouldn’t think any vendor is out to get you, but everyone is in the business to make money. You may run into someone who isn’t the most honest, which is why you need to research and be savvy with your business transactions. Rule of thumb… if it feels wrong, GET OUT! Resources I really like to help keep your budget on track is a “cost of wedding estimator”. It gives you an estimate of what people are spending on weddings in your area. It can be found on costofwedding.com, just type in your zip code and you’ll get results! Other sites we like are weddingdetails.com or theknot.com, where you can download budget worksheets and templates. Plus all sites offer great information to couples who are working with a budget.

Consider a wedding planner

My last thought to leave you with is to consider a wedding planner. They are the experts and know the majority of vendors in the area, plus they have great working relationships with these vendors and may be able to work some “deals”! These professionals can keep you on track and will relieve a lot of the stresses put upon you by having to deal with vendors. Allowing you to relax and actually ENJOY the wedding planning process! Working with a budget can be frustrating and down right upsetting at times. As long as you establish ground rules from the start you should be fine. Good like and hopefully some of these “pearls” will help you along the way.

Images from bridalbuds.com, grtu.net, theweddingguide.com, kellyoshiroevents.com, shefaly.co.uk, cameradepartment.tv, monette.sumulong.com, retailpackaging.com,

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 9:50 am and is filed under Savvy Secrets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.