Monday, January 5, 2009
At yesterday’s bridal show, I met so many brides who got engaged on Christmas. Congratulations to all of you!!! How exciting!
While I hate to be the downer, I thought that instead of starting your wedding planning with awesome wedding photography, amazing cakes or cute engagement stories, I would start where you should start - with how to create a wedding budget.
This is one thing that most brides avoid. I hear so many brides say they haven’t created a budget but they are hiring wedding vendors - that’s like shopping for a car and you have no idea whether you can afford a Corolla or a Lexus.
Before you read another bridal magazine, attend a bridal show or sign a single vendor contract - do the following:
1) What can you afford? Determine how much you and your fiance can comfortably spend on your wedding and honeymoon. Chat candidly because a lot of folks go into big debt planning a wedding and have no money for the important stuff. Imagine the problems that arise in the long run.
There was a bride who went to buy invitations and had no clue how much she could spend. So, she fell in love with a gorgeous wedding invitation that cost $10 per invitation. Days later, the very disappointed and embarrassed bride returned to the vendor and said, “what do you have for $2 per invitation?”. At that point, she couldn’t be happy with any invitation in her budget. Don’t stress yourself out by looking at Vera Wang dresses when you’re on a Davids Bridal budget. You can find great wedding goodies in your budget but you will always be disappointed with you start outside your budget.
2) What will family contribute? If others are helping you finance your wedding, ask them early on how much they are comfortable contributing to your wedding budget. Have a honest conversation with them so everyone is on the same page and there are no surprises that could spoil your day, or your relationship. If you are not comfortable discussing money with them, get the courage because the longer you wait, the more potential problems. In fact, if you cant candidly discuss the financial aspect of the wedding with them, do not depend on their contribution as you plan. Believe me, if its hard to discuss money at the beginning stages, it will be even harder and to ask the week of your wedding after you have signed contracts based on their contribution. Ask now, don’t assume and everyone will be happier in the long run. I know this first hand!
I knew a bride whose aunt was paying for her wedding. It was like 2 months before the date and she still didn’t know how much she had available. Every time she hired a vendor, her aunt (the financier) was disappointed. Because the bride didn’t really know and was afraid to ask, there was a lot of stress.
3) What’s important to you? Once you have a final budget, write a list of all the major items you’ll need for your big day. Rank each item in order of priority. My list looked something like this:
#1 - Dress, #2 - Cake, #3 - Photos, #4 - Invitations, #5 - Great reception venue, #6 - Good ceremony venue, #7 - Seated dinner…#48 - Wedding shoes, #49 - Favors, #50 - Transportation, #51 - Out of town guest baskets…and so on.
Once I compared my budget to my priorities, it was easier for me to determine how much I wanted to spend on each item. Based on my list of priorities, I decided that out of town baskets were not doable. I also hired a limo company that offered a one-way drop off to pick up me and John after the ceremony vs the entire wedding party. The car wasn’t as important because because on our itinerary and logistics, no one would really see the car after the ceremony or before the reception.
Anyway, you get my point - start with what’s most important to you because no bride can have everything. Some of my girlfriends decided that photos were #1 and so instead of hiring a photographer and a videographer, they put all of their photo/video budget together and hired a killin’ photographer. Others realized that videography was the only way to capture audio and special moments in action so they reduce their spend in other areas to ensure they had the budget. Many brides wait until the last minute to hire a wedding planner and then try to scrape up money to hire someone with Day of Coordination when they really needed someone to help from start to finish, which would have saved them lots of stress and probably some money too.
Bottom line - budget is critical! Set your immediately and stick to it.
Here’s a tip - a good wedding planner is one vendor that you can not forgo. Nearly 90% of the brides that I feature in my Real Nashville Wedding stories say that they wish they’d hired a planner OR their planner was the vendor they couldn’t live without.
And, a planner can help you create and stick to your budget. They have the experience and know how to set and maximize budgets. Not ready to contact a planner just yet? There are also some nifty resources listed below to help you get started.
Great article on setting and sticking to your budget