Congratulations! After the exhilaration and excitement of falling in love, proposing and announcing your intention to marry, the plans for the wedding must be made.  Unless you run off to Vegas for a drive-through wedding, there will be many deadlines, duties and decisions to make before the big day. Don’t worry, take a deep breath and read on for some useful Wedding Planning Tips.

GET ON THE SAME PAGE

Wedding plans often seem like a doubles match in tennis; two sets of parents and the bride and groom. Unless your parents are footing the entire bill for the big day, the first wedding tip to share is to make it your special day. Often the parents of the couple want to become the wedding planners, consultants and honeymoon guide. Make the decision that your fiancé and you will stay united on your desires and stick to your plans. Wedding couples must continually seek common ground and co-operation in their wedding plans and preparations. Will it be a large wedding or small?  Who will be your groomsmen and bridesmaids?  Who will be the best man or the maid of honor?  Where will the wedding take place and who will perform the ceremony?  You both need to agree on a wedding budget, number of guests you will invite, and the type of reception and ceremony you want. Planning a wedding is great practice for learning to compromise, communicate and learn to resolve conflict, and you will learn a great deal about your marriage partner.

SETTING UP A TIMELINE FOR MARRIAGE

There are many resources in bookstores, magazines and online to help you determine the best plan. Many churches have wedding consultants who are willing to help you get things started and give you direction. If you do decide on using a wedding consultant, do not pick blindly from the yellow pages or the internet. Traditionally speaking, the first few duties on your timeline is setting a wedding date, deciding the time and place for your wedding and reception, the people in your wedding party, and the person performing the ceremony. Over the next couple of months you will check out various vendors and eventually choose a florist, musicians, photographer, wedding colors and styles of dresses and tuxedos. Additionally, you will build the guest list and choose the honeymoon location.

WEDDING BELL WARNINGS AND WHAT-NOT-TO-DO!

Do not decide you will out-do your sister Bertha’s wedding cost and proceed to go into great debt for your wedding or bankrupt your parents. Also, do not look for the cheapest vendor in order to save money on your wedding. Alas, you will sadly find out why the flowers were so inexpensive when the dying daffodils make their debut on your big day. The same is true with photographers, caterers and musicians. If something is unusually cheap, there is usually a reason. Do not allow your parents to take over your big day. They may want the wedding in a certain church with a certain minister, in a certain city – but do you?

BUDGET WEDDING TIPS

In case you did not know, approximately 35 – 50 percent of the wedding cost is from the reception costs you have for your wedding. This does not mean buying ‘Top Ramen’ packets to hand out as your guests leave the church, but take some time to set your priorities for your wedding. Some of the items that take much of the budget are exotic locations, designer wedding attire, florists and the ‘baling’ in your ring. Do not find the cheapest photographer, florist or soloist. Usually you get what you pay for. There are some expenses, however, that go into a wedding that would go largely unnoticed by your guests. With some proper planning and preparation, you can make the biggest day of your life…truly special!

Planning and paying for a wedding ceremony and reception can easily become very expensive. The average American wedding costs $30,000. Many financially-conscious couples are eagerly searching for ways to reduce the tremendous wedding bills. Be comforted in knowing that there are a whole variety of techniques that couples can follow to reduce the cost of their wedding ceremony and reception.

One effective way that money-savvy couples save on their wedding is by saving money on their wedding cake. Listed below are some ideas to save on your wedding cake and wedding desserts:

(1) Telephone and visit various bakeries in your city or town, and consider expanding the geographical search to include maybe a 30 mile radius. Ask about price quotes for various styles of cakes and accompanying desserts. Record the price quotes and additional information in your wedding planner or notebook.

(2) Ask a trusted family member or friend to bake your wedding cake themselves and give it to you as their wedding present.

(3) Ask a close family member or friend to purchase the wedding cake from bakery and give it to you as their wedding present.

(4) Consider alternate desserts that are less expensive:

• cupcakes
• fruit (berries, grapes, orange and kiwi slices) and cookies
• tarts
• pastries

(5) Consider purchasing a small wedding cake for guests to eat and for you and your partner for the cake-cutting ceremony.

(6) You could purchase a non-edible cake for decorative reasons, meaning that it is a cake made of a foam cake-frame, decorated with icing, to look good for photo opportunities.

(7) Consider purchasing two smaller-sized cakes rather than one more expensive larger cake.

(8) Consider purchasing a cake with less fancy and ornate decorating.

(9) Look in local newspapers and magazines for coupons offered by bakeries for discounts on wedding cakes.

(10) Search wedding and bakery websites on-line for affordable yet beautiful wedding cakes.

(11) Attend local wedding shows for ideas about different bakeries, different cake styles, colors, designs and flavors.

(12) Some ambitious and domestic brides or grooms take cake decorating classes and actually design, bake and decorate their own wedding cake. However, special skill and extra time and pre-planning are required to bake your own cake.

(13) If having a beautiful and top-quality wedding cake is very important to you as the bride or groom, consider splurging on the wedding cake expense and cutting back finances in another area, such as musical entertainment for the reception, or the amount of alcohol being served.

Congratulations to you and your partner on getting engaged! Now as bride and groom, you have the exciting responsibilities of planning the wedding of your dreams! Finances are the primary source of conflict among couples, so minimize any fighting or tension by working together to establish a realistic, well-researched and mutually-satisfying wedding budget.

First work together to create your over-all budget. What is the total amount of money that you have to work with? Is it $10,000? $20,000? $30,000? Take into consideration the following factors:

a) the amount of money the bride and groom have saved up for the wedding
b) the amount of money the bride’s parents are contributing
c) the amount of money the groom’s parents are contributing
d) the free services and/or gifts family and friends are contributing

Please consider the following expenses: (Feel free to create a spreadsheet or record information such as maximum budget, price quotes and actual costs in a special wedding planner or wedding journal):

1) WEDDING CLOTHES

a) bridal gown, shoes, lingerie, jewelry, veil/hair piece

b) groom’s clothes: tuxedo – purchase or rent?, suit?, shoes, shirt, undergarments

c) bridesmaids’ dresses
*consider 3 options
1) bridal couple pays for bridesmaids’ dresses
2) each woman pays for her own dress & shoes
3) bridal couple pays for portion and bridesmaid pays for portion of expenses

d) groomsmen clothes û rent tuxes or purchase suits, purchase shoes
*consider 2 options
1) couple pays for tux rental, shoes & extras
2) each groomsman pays for his own tux, shoes & clothes

2) WEDDING CEREMONY

a) MUSIC
i)vocalist(s)
ii)musician(s)

b) flowers

c) ceremony location rental: church, park, community centre, museum, art gallery

d) officiant/ pastor/ minister fee

3) WEDDING RECEPTION

a) rental of hall/ restaurant/ art gallery/ museum/ park/ church reception room

b) flowers

c) WEDDING LUNCH OR DINNER
-catering fees

i) cost of meal

ii) cost of catering services

iii) cost of tables & chairs rentals

iv) cost of alcohol – decide whether or not to serve alcohol

v)cost of desserts and appetizers

d) decorations

e) entertainment û DJ or band or musicians

f) lighting & sound system

4) WEDDING HONEYMOON

a) cost of hotel/ resort accommodations

b) cost of air or train travel

c) cost of meals/ food

d) cost of honeymoon travel; for excursions, dates, day trips

e) cost of honeymoon clothes

f) travel health insurance

5) OTHER EXPENSES

a) wedding planner

b) wedding planning book

c) bridal shower(s)
û does couple pay for bridal shower, or bride or groom’s friends/ family; lunch or dinner included?

d) engagement party û does couple pay for party, or bride or groom’s friends/ family

e) presents for husband & wife to give one another

f) presents to give bridesmaids, groomsmen

g) bride and groom’s wedding bands

I hope that you find these wedding planning ideas to be helpful to you and your groom as you plan your wedding budget. Feel free to print out this article and use it as a “To Do List” to guide your planning. Enjoy your journey towards becoming husband and wife!