Indeed, for some, their wedding debt lasts longer than their marriage.
In some ways, preparing and planning your wedding is a crash course in married life. As a couple, you have to work together for the year or so of wedding planning to survive the competing pressures of friends, family and finance. While the big costs are obvious; the engagement ring, the venue and the dress, there are all sorts of surprising expenses that crop up along the way. Flowers, food, photography and bridal accessories can all eat up a fair chunk of your budget, and splashing out in one area means making sacrifices elsewhere. How can you balance the books?
Keep Talking
The best way to negotiate the hurdles of wedding planning is to talk. Many couples find finances a tricky area to negotiate, but you need to be honest and realistic about what you want and how you will pay for it. The wedding is just the start of your married life, so if your medium-term plans also include buying a marital home or starting a family, you need to see your wedding as part of a series of financial challenges, not a stand-alone blow out.
Once you have a good idea of the wedding you want and can afford, speak to family and friends for advice and help. Quiz married friends about their wedding and ask what stood out for them and what they could have done without. If you’re very lucky, they might offer some great tips and advice. If not, steal their perfect wedding budget template! If anyone, for example your parents, offers to help out financially with the wedding, be clear about who will pay for what and how. Make a budget and stick to it.
Ways To Save
It always pays to shop around. Haggle with your suppliers, get written, detailed quotes and be flexible. Getting married in the winter or on a weekday can save a fortune compared to a summer Saturday soiree.
Always ask whether there is any aspect of your wedding that you can do for yourself, or with a little help from your friends. Wholesale wedding decorations are a great way to save money on making an affordable venue look like a million dollars. For example, by using plain white table linens and creating or supplying your own wedding table decorations.
Make the most of the planning time you have to craft as many wedding decorations as possible. Collect jars to use as vases or candle holders, grow your own flowers or ask friends to lend you wedding accessories. Think smart, save where you can and look forward to your debt-free honeymoon.
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