Budget Planning for Your Wedding
submitted: Aug 30th 2008 |
by: DreamscapesVideo
Total views: 3 |
Word Count: 527 |
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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.
As the excitement of the engagement settles down, the couple should spend some time in serious conversation about what is important to include in the event. It is essential to listen to each other. Once each person has described their vision of the perfect day, a list should be drawn up of desired details (to arrive in a horse-drawn carriage, lobster, renaissance theme, color scheme, etc.) and the items that are indispensable (photographer and videographer, caterer, flowers, rings, etc...). This information is going to form the structure on which to build the budget.
Number crunching is the next step once the tentative list of items is drawn up. First, the total amount that is currently available to spend (for example, in savings accounts, stocks/bonds, real estate, trust funds), and how much needs to be saved from each person's income, and how much help with expenses can be realistically expected from others. If the wedding date is a bit distant, it may be prudent to open a higher-interest bearing account to allow additional interest to be earned.
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 know how much you have and how much is coming in toward expenses, a total amount can be concluded. Draw up a list of all the wedding expenses and decide on a dollar amount or percentage of the total you would like to spend on each item. This will guide you as you begin to shop around. Of course, if you want to exceed the budgeted amount, money from another item on the list needs to be decreased in order to keep the budget balanced. Since the wedding budget is so important, if you find it easiest to use budgeting software and worksheets, by all means use whatever tools are necessary to keep organized and on track.
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