Planning the Wedding Budget
The number one subject that married couples argue about is money. Is it surprising that this subject also causes the most tension before the marriage? Devising a realistic budget in advance is important because wedding costs can easily spiral out of control. The most important thing once a budget is drawn up and agreed upon, is that both bride and groom stick to their plan.
Yes, making a budget isn’t as fun as other aspects of wedding planning, but it doesn’t have to be that bad. Planning the wedding without a budget however, is almost guaranteed to put a couple in serious debt. How should a couple approach the task? Open two-way communication is a must for planning a wedding, which is excellent practice for the rest of the marriage.
Each person needs to be honest about how they envision the day. Many women assume that men don’t care about the planning but that isn’t really true. It is, after all, a big life-change for the man too, and he has a family of his own to please.
After the excitement of the engagement has died down a bit, it is time to spend some quiet time together to draw up some plans based on what each person desires from the day. In this case, each person needs to listen to the other person as well as talk. A list can then be drawn up of elements that both of parties want (to arrive in a horse-drawn carriage, lobster, renaissance theme, color scheme, etc.) and also what are necessities (photographer and videographer, caterer, flowers, rings, etc…). This will help in developing the final budget.
Once you both have an idea of what’s important, it’s time to crunch the numbers. You’ve got to determine how much money is available now (for example, in savings accounts, stocks/bonds, real estate, trust funds), how much you’ll have to commit to saving from your regular income streams, and how much you can realistically expect others to kick in. Depending on how far out the actual wedding date is you may want to consider opening a higher-interest bearing account for the money so that it can earn interest.
Don’t make unrealistic estimates based on what others might cover in planning your costs. Whatever is contributed by friends or family should be accepted graciously. It would be immature to become angry or disappointed if the amount isn’t what you hoped it would be.
Once you have listed what money you have and what is expected, you will know what you have to spend. Now draw up a list of all elements to potentially be included in the wedding each with dollar amounts or the percentage of the budget you are willing to spend. This will be a guide when contracting each service. Of course, if you happen to exceed the limit in any category, the difference must come out of another category in order for the budget to stay balanced. Use the tools that work for you including worksheets or software, whatever it takes to keep it all organized!
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