I hope you all enjoyed yesterday’s post and found it helpful. If anyone has any suggestions or questions then please do not hesitate to email me on myweddingwonderland@yahoo.co.uk
Today’s guest post is by the lovely Bernadette Chapman of Dream Occasions and Dream Occasions Hire who offers her words of wisdom on what can sometimes be a delicate subject!
Today’s guest post is by the lovely Bernadette Chapman of Dream Occasions and Dream Occasions Hire who offers her words of wisdom on what can sometimes be a delicate subject!
BUDGET REALISM
You’re engaged but what happens next? The excitement has simmered, you’ve discussed the moment he proposed in graphic detail to everyone that asks. But now what? Just how should you plan your wedding? In my opinion the most important thing you need to do is discuss the budget. Sit down with your fiancée and family and work out a realistic budget for the wedding.
Don’t get into debt
If you are paying for your wedding yourself then creating a wedding budget is vitally important, this isn’t the time to start married life owing money. There are a few simple ways to start working out what you can afford.
- Talk about when you want to get married, is it this year or in 18 months time.
- Do you have savings set aside for the wedding
- Work out your monthly expenditure, do you have money left over? What can you save each month?
- Are family going to contribute to part of the wedding?
- Multiply your monthly total by the number of months to the wedding, then add this to any current savings and family contributions. This gives you your wedding budget.
- Always have a contingency of about £500-1,000 for those items you never knew you ‘needed’!
Budget Allocation
Once you know the total amount you can afford you need to create a spreadsheet with the following columns: Description, estimate, actual, details, supplier name, contact details
Use the % guidelines below to create your wedding budget. As a couple decide where your priorities are, for example you might want to spend more on entertainment and less on the cake. Adjust the spreadsheet accordingly. During the planning process
Venue / reception | 45% |
Photographer / videographer | 14% |
Toastmaster / wedding planner | 10% |
Outfits | 8% |
Entertainment | 7% |
Florist | 5% |
Stationery | 3% |
Ceremony | 3% |
Wedding cake | 2% |
Transportation | 2% |
Make up / hair | 1% |
Ask for help
Years ago the local community would all club together to help the newly weds and I think this is something sorely missed in today’s culture. In my experience asking for help with say the cake, wedding car, flowers will bring everyone together. You save money but friends and family will feel they have really contributed towards the wedding.
Get Social
It is now getting more popular to make items for your wedding, I think the popularity of blogs has shown just how unique you can be for your wedding theme. Review blogs here and in the US for inspiration, I can guarantee www.etsy.com will be a big hit!
Get wise
If you need to cut costs then think about what is really important and where money can be saved. Some companies provide stationery templates so you can print at home saving hundreds of pounds. Instead of flowers why not have candelabras instead? http://www.dream-occasions.co.uk/hire/
Finally remember it’s your wedding, no-one else’s, is it worth getting into debt because you didn’t have the heart to say sorry you’re not invited…
This post was very kindly provided by Bernadette Chapman of Dream Occasions and Dream Occasions Hire
Follow Bernadette on Twitter - www.twitter.com/DreamOccasions (@DreamOccasions)
This post was very kindly provided by Bernadette Chapman of Dream Occasions and Dream Occasions Hire
Follow Bernadette on Twitter - www.twitter.com/DreamOccasions (@DreamOccasions)
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