Blog / wedding budgets

3 Tips for the Budget-Conscious Bride

The wedding budget is, without a doubt, one of the biggest concerns for the newly-engaged couple looking to minimize the fiscal impact of a wedding shindig.

Posted on May 26, 2013

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Concerns for the Newly Engaged

A good friend and colleague of mine got engaged over the weekend, and was full of questions when she was back to work.

Posted on December 12, 2012

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Spreadsheets for a Perfect Wedding Budget

Congratulations on your engagement! The first few months of your engagement (depending on how long you want to wait for the big day) can be a little overwhelming if you start planning things out early. Figuring out budgets and checking out locations can become a little disorganized, and I definitely recommend a solid wedding spreadsheet.

Microsoft Excel is designed to be easy to use and helpful, and is especially wonderful during the wedding planning process - take advantage of it! If you aren't comfortable using Excel (or an equivalent program), try to get help from your new fiancé/fiancée or a particularly friendly coworker. I first learned how to navigate the wonderful world of spreadsheets by looking around on Google and YouTube for quick "basics" tutorials, as you won't need anything past a basic understanding to create a good wedding spreadsheet - it's an amazing tool, as it practically does all of your budgeting for you. Columns! So Exciting!
Columns can be organized by different budget scenarios, with the running total on top (for ease of access), starting with your ideal budget and working toward budgets that are more specific. I recommend one column for an ideal budget, a column for projected budget (how much you think you'll actually spend. Depending on different variables, you can have multiples of these), a column for various quoted prices, and an actual money spent column. These columns will help you to keep your budget in perspective as you move forward, and it works well for testing out different combinations and package options to see how they would affect your overall budget. Sometimes it's hard to visualize all budget outcomes without a tangible guide, and Excel is a great solution. Rows! Hooray!
Your rows can be as general or specific as you like, but keep in mind that you can always add subheadings for specific items that are a part of a larger group. You can have a row for "party rentals" and a row for "tables," or you can group them together as a single expense. These groupings will change depending on how inclusive venues and packages are and you can always group them in later columns. The reason that Excel is such a great wedding planning tool is that no expense with take you by surprise at the last minute as you add up your expenses and discuss priorities with your future spouse. Excel can be a singular tool that keeps track of your expenses and helps you decide where you want to spend your money on your wedding day! Color code away!

Posted on June 25, 2012

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Don’t get broke after your wedding

Weddings can be very expensive. So if you do not want to be broke after your wedding, then you will need to plan ahead and prepare a budget. Wedding venues are quite expensive.

Even if you choose the church as your venue, you will have to shell out quite a sum for the entire day. Private venues will ask for a deposit. It will be best if you can get married in your backyard or maybe on the beach. This way, you can save a lot of money on venue cost. For floral arrangements, you can choose seasonal flowers so that they do not charge you a bomb. Wedding photographers charge a lot of money. But you cannot do away with wedding photographs. It is best to request a relative or a friend to help you click photographs. You can also divide the task among more than one people. Now let’s come to your wedding gown. You can get very good wedding gowns at extremely reasonable prices at factory outlets. You can also try shopping online. You can have a simple menu for the guests but do not compromise on the quality of the food. That will not be taken in too well by the guests.

Posted on October 02, 2008

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Preparing Wedding Budget

Wedding is a special occasion in everyone’s life. All of us would want to have a fabulous wedding. But that does not mean that we get burdened with debt just to have that dream wedding. It is best to chalk out a budget at the onset so that the cost does not get out of hand.

Make a list of every thing before hand starting from flowers to drinks to food to decorations and various others. This way you will know before hand what are the things that you need to take care of. Once the list is done, get it reviewed by some close people especially those people who might finance the wedding. Before you decide on the venue, check out all the options available. Call them up and ask them about the charges and deposits involved. Talk to the florists, decorators, caterers and others about their charges. See if you can get a discount. Surf the net for testimonials and other advice. There are many blogs and discussion forums that talk about weddings. You can also take the opinion of friends and families. Once you decide on the details, make sure that they do not overstretch the budget fixed for them.

Posted on June 20, 2008

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