If you’re like most brides-to-be, you already have some ideas floating around in your head (or on Pinterest) of what you want for your summer wedding. Now the next step is funding the wedding, of course. Here are some helpful hints for getting what you want without breaking the bank!
Setting Your Wedding Budget
Once you set your date, start doing some price shopping. This isn’t actually the planning stage; you are just looking around at the prices for services like photography, cake, flowers, etc. I recommend looking at prices from multiple wedding vendors to get a good estimate of what it will actually cost you for each service.
After you’ve determined the cost of vendors and services for the wedding, be sure to set a clothing allowance for your groom and a dress budget for yourself, including all the accessories, like the veil and shoes. Think outside the box, too. For example, I got my veil on eBay for only $20. Something similar was $100 in the fancy bridal store!
Finding Funds
Now that you’ve set your wedding budget, you have to figure out how to pay for it. Find out if your families will be contributing to the wedding costs and if so, how much they willing to help you. After you’ve determined how much money you will be gifted from your family, subtract this from your budget. Whatever’s left over is your and your fiancé’s responsibility to pay for.
I’d recommend setting up a separate savings or checking account for your wedding money. This will ensure that you don’t accidentally overspend on your day-to-day living expenses and dip into your wedding money accidentally.
Once you’ve determined where to save your wedding money, start contributing to it immediately! Put in $5 here and $10 there. Have money automatically deposited into your wedding account every payday so you don’t forget to transfer the money or spend it on something else.
You can determine mathematically how much you have to contribute to your account each month by dividing your remaining amount to be saved by the number of months (or weeks) until the wedding. Make sure you stay on track with your savings goals by checking your account against your timeline every so often.
If you are behind on your savings timeline, increase your savings rate. You can find extra money to contribute by changing your everyday habits, like skipping your morning coffee run or taking your lunch to work instead of dining out. You can also pick up a side job temporarily. When these changes start to feel like huge sacrifices, remember they are only temporary.
Remember, your wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so be sure to make it special and enjoy it! Only spend on the things you really love and need. It will all go by so fast, and soon it will just be a distant memory.
Are you planning a summer wedding? If so, what’s your budget?