by MCM

Created on: May 23, 2009

Weddings are a big business these days. Mention to a wedding service provider that you are planning a wedding and watch their eyes light up with interest. There are a myriad of pitfalls along the wedding planning path, and it is so easy to get carried away and find yourself going way over budget. Remember as you go about planning your wedding what the end goal is. You will be no less married if you do it within your means, than if you go twenty to thirty thousand over budget. You are much better off having the money in your pocket to enjoy married life with, than to be struggling to repay loans. Who wants that kind of pressure on a new marriage? The day, while an important and joyful celebration, is simply a gateway to the rest of your lives.

Tip #1: Consider all options

Be open minded when considering your venue and style of your wedding. There are many options out there aside from the typical church wedding and hotel reception. Getting married on a beach or in a park might suit your taste better. Perhaps you would prefer a fresh flower in your hair rather than an expensive lace veil. My cousin got married in a registry office wearing her grandmothers wedding dress and afterwards had an outdoor blessing and huge party at her parent's house. The day was relaxed, intimate, and generally a roaring success. We will be getting married abroad, and hope that it will be just as successful.

Tip #2: Create a budget

Before you start contacting vendors, decide what your budget is. Be realistic about what you can save and do not rely upon contributions from friends and family unless they have been explicitly promised to you already. Decide now what is really important to you in terms of venue, guest-list, and they type of day and create your budget according to what you are prepared to spend to achieve that. Now divide the budget in half. In an average wedding, this figure is what you will spend on the cost of the venue, food, and drink. Now divide that figure by the amount of guests you would like to have. This is what you can spend per person. Knowing this figure prior to speaking with venues and caterers is invaluable. If you find that your budget is unrealistic and cannot raise it, you then have to make the difficult decision to postpone, cut the guest-list, or change your expectations. Maybe, as in our case, you might even have to do all three. Remember that it is better to be preparing for what you know you can afford than to have

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