You are engaged and still riding on a bubble of excitement, dreaming of planning the best day of your life with your new fiancé. Then people come out of the woodwork just to burst that bubble and tell you how expensive weddings are. You may hear that as soon as you mention the word Wedding the cost will double. Relax, it is not true.
First things first, you need to be clear about exactly what you want, who is paying for what, what your budget will be and then start making lists and planning.
Tips to set your budget
Ask yourself these key questions before deciding on your budget:
- What can you (and your families) can afford to pay?
- What priority do you want to give your wedding compared to your mortgage or other financial commitments?
- What sort of wedding do you want? A large formal wedding is going to cost more than a smaller casual wedding.
- What style of wedding does each family have in mind? Are the families willing to financially help to achieve the wedding they envisage? Often two families will have different ideas on the sort of wedding they want for you, based on their own traditions and experiences. If one family is dreaming of a five star hotel ballroom and the other expects a casual beach wedding, then you need to have a discussion early and then decide what you and your fiancé want.
- What parts of the wedding are most important to you? If the photo album you are left with is the most important element of the day then you need to allocate a large percent of the budget to that. The best way to get this sorted is for you and your fiancé to separately write down your top three priorities and your bottom three priorities. These lists very rarely match up, but a good bottle of wine and a healthy conversation should help you come up with a joint list. Think of it as good marriage training in the art of compromise.