Now, while it is a truth universally acknowledged that every bride has planned every detail of her wedding day, from her dress to the cake, back when she was still watching Disney, the truth is that as we grow up we soon begin to realize that the fairytale wedding we have dreamt about for years is just that – a dream.
Reality checks in and, all on a sudden, there go our perfect plans and childhood dreams.
Until one morning we wake up and decide that to hell with all the cool logic. We’re only going to get married once. All of a sudden, there you are in the middle of a crazy extravaganza that you are scrimping and saving for, and all the while you are just trying to figure out a way to make your big day special.
What is perhaps the single most important thing to do here is to strike a balance; while your dreams are important, so is your future, and a ridiculous amount of debt all for one day in the sun doesn’t make a lick of sense. In order to strike this balance, the very first thing we need to do is prioritize what the things are that you are absolutely not willing to compromise on, and what things are add-ons.
Try to remember that, while it is very easy to get swept away in the moment and decide that there are thousands of things that have to be just so and that you can’t compromise on any of them, if you really want to make this work, you need to give your head a hard shake and give yourself a firm talking to. While weddings are meant to be dreamlike, you are not in a dream. Here in real life, you need to remember that this wedding day is a celebration of two people, not a show-and-tell event. So, instead of letting it all get to you, sit down with your significant other and have an honest conversation about what you two are willing to spend and which particular elements on which you are willing to splurge. Not only will this help you decide which elements are superfluous, but it will also be the very first step on your brand new journey of joint decisions, understandings, and moments of compromise. Never forget; the wedding is just one day, you two are forever.
Now, with all of this in mind, let’s turn our focus to the big fat pink elephant in the room: budgeting and wedding planning! No matter how daunting it sounds, you really are in a better place already. You know what you need to do and, with a little help from your pointy new pencil and that wedding planning diary that you picked up last week, you are about to start outlining a clear and defined expenses chart similar to the one provided below. With the included tips and suggestions, you start substituting or adding costs that will help you not only cut down on your cost, but will also give you a clear idea of exactly what costs you will be facing. This chart is going to be your compass through this maze of expenses, choices, and big time decisions.
Now, try to visualize your chart. Your chart is going to have about seven column heads and seven row heads to begin with. Each column head will correspond with a row to map out the Expenses, Vendors, Individual Unit Costs, Collective Costs, Allocated Costs, as well as Excess and Variable Expenses. This way when it comes down to specific Row Heads, such as Flowers, or Food, we will have a game plan mapped out automatically. Each of these given columns not only highlight a specific cost that you will need to be looking into, while these are only samples of certain costs that you may be encountering the format would remain constant even if you would like to include any other costs.
While this chart alone is not going to help you cut down on expenses, it will help give you a clear idea of exactly how much money you are spending so that you don’t have to deal with blind expenses once the shopping is underway.
To begin with, the very first column gives us a look at our major expense heads, so now we automatically know what it is we are going to be spending money on, while the column next to it helps by telling you who you are purchasing from. This, in addition to the prices added in the two neighbouring columns, helps by giving you a clear view of how the product is priced. The Venue, for example, is extremely well priced and is practically a steal, so cutting corners on that isn’t even a question, whereas there seems to be scope for maybe pinching pockets a little on the Decor and Party Favors.
Even better is the fact that you have a row that shows the total amount of funds you have allocated for the entire event. Now all you need to do is ensure that all of your expenses, based on their priority level, are fit into that budget and, if necessary, are amended so that they fall within its fiscal boundaries.
Isn’t this perfect? Your wedding worries are halfway over already, and we haven’t even gotten to the good parts!