Wedding Tips for Setting a Budget and Sticking to It

The average cost of a wedding these days is an astonishing $30,000, but the final total can go well beyond five figures.

When you think about it, that chunk of change has to work pretty hard to pull making your ultimate wedding dreams come true, so wedding tips about creating a budget and staying within it may be well-received.

After all, what would you do with that money if you weren’t having a wedding? Buy a car, make a down payment on a house, pay of some of your student loans or go on a vacation?

Or will you commit that money to your wedding?

Wedding planners and newlyweds alike will tell you that the one wedding tip every couple should take to heart is to set a budget and stick to it.

Within whatever budget you set, you’ll have to make sure that every detail is taken care of, so the first thing to do is make a list of what you want for your wedding. Leave room for a column that will hold the total amount you (or your parents) are willing to spend.

Next, figure out the amount each item will cost. You may have to call venues or catered to get an idea of what prices to expect, and another wedding tip is to ask if there are discounts available to offset the costs.

Tally up your list. If you have exceeded your budget, you’ll have to find places to cut back, and this can be one of the hardest things to do, because you’ll have to have some honest conversations with your partner and anyone else involved in paying for any part of the wedding.

It’s possible to shave off a few hundred dollars in one area and apply it another. For example, something as seemingly simple as chauffeured transportation can become costly in less than the time it takes to swoosh your bridal dress train into the carriage. If you absolutely must arrive and depart in a horse drawn carriage, what are you willing to do without?

Setting the stage for the most important day of your life is also about the give and take that you’ll be practicing in your marriage.

There are plenty of ways to make your wedding dreams come true. For example, another wedding tip you can use is to purchase the best you can afford in luxury wedding invitations and envelopes. To offset the costs of these invitations, you can fashion the invitations yourself, even saving money buy purchasing some of the ribbons and wedding embellishments in bulk.

Smart brides know how — and are willing — to prioritize their needs for their wedding day and look for ways to stretch the dollars they have by creating a budget and sticking to it.