Budgeting for your wedding day can take a lot of the thrill out of getting engaged. However, it is an extremely important step that is necessary if you want to start your married life off together properly. The last thing you need is to start off with a big debt over your head simply because you neglected to see just how much you could afford to spend on your wedding. Your budget discussion will highlight what is important to you as a couple and will also simplify many of the big decisions later on.
The essentials
Creating a realistic budget means first finding out just how much money you are willing to spend on the essentials of your wedding. The best thing to do is to sit down with both sets of parents and find out who is paying for what. Although traditionally the bride’s parents paid for the wedding, modern couples are foregoing such an arrangement because it means that the parents get to call the shots and make the decisions. Instead many couples are splitting the costs so that the parents can pay for certain elements such as transportation, the dress and the floral arrangements while the couple pays for the essentials such as the reception hall, the music and the catering. Traditionally the groom’s parents pay for the rehearsal dinner. Finding a compromise that everyone is happy with is key to this potentially sticky situation.
When planning your wedding budget you should also include such items as your honeymoon, moving costs, furniture and a place to live. Most couples will budget properly for the wedding but then forget that they will need money for moving in together and for going away! If you are planning on buying a house, then you might want to budget in the down payment and closing costs of a new place as well as the funds needed for new furniture. If you will be moving into a new apartment then you will definitely have to include the cost of a moving company – unless you plan on recruiting your friends to help you move.
In some instances parents prefer to forego paying for the wedding leaving the entire cost up to their children and instead giving their children the money to use as a down payment on a new house. If this is an option you would like, discuss it with your parents. By sitting down and having these discussions you might discover that you would rather have a smaller wedding in exchange for your own house.
When making up your wedding budget you will have to break down all of the potential costs involved with your wedding including all peripherals such as gifts for your wedding party, dry cleaning, taxis (if needed), hair and makeup, manicures, pedicures, etc… think of every little item that might come up and then attach an amount to it. Only by putting every cost down on paper will you be able to project your costs and to see where you can cut or add in order to fit everything into your budget.
Your dream day should be stress-free and nothing creates stress like big debt. So, avoid negative scenarios by planning for it properly.
