by Beverly Bochenek

Created on: April 28, 2009

You want your wedding day to be magical - but even magicians have to work at their craft and for you to have a wonderful, memorable wedding will take some work on your part and often starts with the budget. Budgeting for a wedding take compromise, integrity and sometime long conversations. Creating a budget is the base for your entire wedding scheme and it can be derailed by those little nagging costs that no one thinks about. Following are just some of the things you and your intended wants to be aware of when executing your budget that won't execute your bank account.

1. The extra charge for your wedding cake. You choose your wedding cake with great care. It is three tiered and lovely and it could cost you extra to have it cut. That's right. You need to check with your reception hall or caterer to see if they charge extra for cutting the cake - especially if they weren't the ones who made it.

2. The Marriage License. You can read on line the marriage license is, say, $40. So you go to the county clerk's office, ask for the license and they say it will be $42.50. Didn't you know there was a filing fee? It's kind of like those commercials that say you can get something for just $19.95 and then in the fine print you see it - plus shipping and handling. When you make the inquiry of this and any other cost, ask if there are any additional fees and charges.

3. Postage. When you think about mailing the invitations, did you think about all that goes into the envelope? Unless it all fits into the standard size envelope and weighs in at an ounce, it will cost more than one stamp to send it. The post office doesn't give a bulk rate for first class mailings which your invitations can be. One wedding invite can cost three times the cost of a regular letter. If you're inviting 300 folks to the ceremony will cost $370.00. That's a big addition to the budget - and then you have to pay for the responses to come back.

4. Taxes. If you live in Chicago, you live in the county with the highest taxes in the country. It adds 10% to whatever it is you purchase. Factor that in when you create your budget.

5. Tips. The limo driver, the staff at the hotel, the airport skycap, the reception wait staff, the wait staff at the rehearsal dinner. The gratuity for those and others may not be included in the price - though restaurants are now adding in the charge for parties that are over a certain size. If you are having smaller get togethers, you need to make sure if these fees are included.

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