Budgeting For Your Wedding

Budgeting for your wedding is absolutely essential if you are to realistically afford for it to go ahead. There is an old saying, if you fail to plan you plan to fail, and that is so true in many areas of life (including your wedding!).

Failure to budget sensibly can lead to complete disasters such as having no money left for essentials and ultimately even the wedding having to be cancelled due to a lack of funding!

Traditionally the cost of the wedding was paid for by the brides father, however this tradition is one which is very much dying out in the modern world. So unless your father is a very rich man, you can generally assume you will be paying for this wedding as a couple.

Be realistic about your budget, and stick to what you can afford. In the excitement of getting engaged it can be all too easy to get carried away with the idea of horse drawn carts and a grand castle ceremony. You may have dreamt of this day being like a fairytale since you were a little girl, but sadly this is the real world and very few people can afford to spend £30,000 or more on one day!

It is possible to have a reasonably classy wedding with a sit down meal and evening buffet for around 50 guests in the day and approximately 75 in the evening for around £5000 in most parts of the UK. The key is to shop around, decide what is really important (and what is not so) and keep an open mind about all the options open to you.

Before you visit any venues or get any ideas, first of all always write out a budget. That way there is no disappointment when you fall in love with a venue you cannot realistically afford after all. Let your head rule your heart. Get prices from venues before visiting, that way you will not be wasting your own time or getting your hopes up about ideas which will never happen. Most venues will send you a brochure out with an idea of prices in. If not, call them and ask for examples of prices.

If you are considering a loan to pay for your wedding day, do also consider how long it will take you to pay it off, whether you can really afford it and whether you really want to get into debt over one day. Your wedding is of course a very important day, but do you really want to spend the first 5 years of your married life penniless because of it? Do not let your emotions run away with you, it may seem right now like your wedding will never come, but it really will! Afterwards you are likely to feel deflated enough with nothing exciting to plan, you do not want to be struggling for cash too!

There are several main areas to budget for your big day, such as;

•The reception venue
•The church/ceremony venue
•The car hire
•The cake
•The brides dress and bridesmaids dresses
•The bridal hair (including bridesmaids)
•The suits
•The food at the reception
•Wedding favours
•The drinks at the reception
•The evening buffet
•The photographer
•The flowers
•The cake
•The chair covers
•The wedding rings
•The shoes, jewellery and other accessories for both bride and groom
•The invitations
•The honeymoon

It is also so important to leave spare money for other essentials which you forget about at the beginning of your planning. All sorts of last minute things can crop up, from extra hair grips to clothes for your honeymoon!

There are ways to save money on several aspects of the wedding, a few of which are shared below;

•Why not consider bridal gown hire instead of buying yourself a dress? This can save an absolute fortune in more ways than one. Not only do you not have the initial outlay of the cost of the wedding dress (which can on average be around £2000!), you also do not have to clean it, store it or sell it once you are done with it!
•If you do not want to hire your bridal gown, how about buying a cheap wedding dress online? Some of the gowns available are a fraction of the shop prices and look just as fantastic! Most wedding dresses are made in factories in China, whether they are bridal shop bought or internet bought! Why pay full price?
•Try making your own wedding invitations. You can get some great tips from the internet and supplies can be easily bought online or at your local Hobby craft store. Favours can also easily be made at home. No need to pay shop prices!
•Try to choose a reception venue which does a good deal! Many of the larger hotel chains such as Park Inn and Best Western do quite good offers and most will throw in a few extras such as a free night in the bridal suite on your wedding night as part of the cost. Shop around, be fussy and do not be afraid to barter to get a better deal!
•Do you really need a wedding car? Do you have a relative with a BMW or similar? If you want to save yourself £300 or so, this is a good way to do it!
•Do you have a relative who is good at flower arranging? Perhaps their wedding gift to you could be the labour to arrange your flowers for you? If this is not an option for you, how about artificial wedding flowers? They are much cheaper and some can be extremely realistic!
•For your honeymoon, why not consider going somewhere other than the Bahamas? There are plenty of other lovely hot countries where you can easily find your own little piece of paradise but not have to pay the higher plane fares! Have a look at some of the budget airlines for cheap flights to Tenerife or Lanzarote for example.
•One thing we really do not recommend you try to cut back on is the cost of the wedding photos. Once the party is over, they are all you will have to remember the day by and you really do not want to be disappointed. Having said this, there is no need for you to pick the most expensive photographer you can find! The best idea is to ask around for recommendations, look at real photos taken by the photographer in question. Skill is not always matched with cost. Try to find reviews of the photographers you are considering and remember, real life personal experiences with the companies give the most accurate idea of whether they really are all they crack up to be in reality!

If you are considering buying a cheap wedding dress online, we recommend http://www.cheap-wedding-dresses.uk.com. This site has an amazing collection of bridal gowns in all styles for much less than the price you would pay in a bridal shop! The gowns are of great quality and full details are given on how to measure yourself to ensure a good fit! Remember, this can be a great way to cut a huge chunk off your wedding bill!