Budgeting for the Wedding of Your Dreams in the New Year
One thing that weddings and the New Year have in common is the celebration of a new beginning. Both are celebrated with a kiss, and are known for glitz, glamour and a lot of glitter. Weddings, however, take a lot more planning and money.
Many people have some vision of what they want their wedding to look like. Whether it’s the outfit, accessories, flowers, cake, or venue, there is undoubtedly some variable of your wedding that you’ve been dreaming about for years. The unfortunate truth is, your dream wedding comes with a price tag.
If you’re getting married or engaged in 2022, or in the coming years, it’s important for you to begin some form of budgeting as soon as possible. Make your wedding budget one of your New Year’s Resolutions by implementing some of the following tips.
Determine Your Vendors
You won’t know what your wedding is truly going to cost until you’ve spoken to and received pricing quotes from your vendors. While planning a wedding can be overwhelming, there are a few vendor services you should get started with. Probably the biggest one, outside of the venue, is who will cater your wedding.
Food is a large price point for wedding receptions. You’ll have cocktail hour appetizers, a main meal, and desserts. Remember, caterers typically charge per person, so it’s important to have a realistic idea for your number of guests. A smaller, more intimate wedding will be more affordable, but if you have a large family, you’ll want to start saving for those extra guests as soon as possible.
When inquiring about and creating contracts with your vendors, ask about their refund policy as it’s important for you to know how to get a refund if you need to cancel or postpone. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the wedding industry, meaning that some vendors may have altered their policies.
Find Funding Options
In order to create a budget for your wedding, you need to first make sure you have the necessary funds to pay for everything. There are traditional ways to do this, like cutting costs elsewhere so you can save up the money you’ll need or asking relatives for help. But, there are also unconventional ways that you can fund your wedding.
If you and your fiancé already own a home together, there are several unconventional funding options you may be privy to. Being a homeowner provides a valuable advantage when it comes to accessing some extra finances in instances like this. For example, with current low interest rates, you can look into how to refinance a mortgage to help you save on your monthly payments. You can then use those savings to put toward your wedding budget.
Look for Affordable Alternatives
Because weddings are so expensive, it’s important to know where in the planning process you can save some money. There will be a lot for you to buy during this planning period; whether it’s goods or services you need to know that you’re getting a good price.
One area for you to look for affordable alternatives is in the clothing and accessories you’ll be wearing on your big day. Your wedding dress in particular is something many people dream about and have a particular vision of in their heads. It’s also easy to spend too much money on your dress if you don’t know where to look. There are plenty of places to shop for affordable wedding dresses, so you can have the look you dreamed of without throwing off your budget.
Consider Popular Trends
While it’s easy to have components of your dream wedding stuck in your head, you should also be considering emerging wedding trends when planning your big day. Everyone wants their wedding to be unique, but sometimes planning within a trend can actually make your wedding more affordable. There are many reasons why this may be true, including having an abundance of options.
Other trends can save you money due to where your wedding is taking place. One pandemic forced trend, virtual weddings, seem to be sticking around into the new year; especially as COVID variants and spikes continue to pop up. Or, you might opt for another trend: a destination wedding. This gives you the perfect excuse to keep the guest list small, without the risk of offending extended family. Whatever you do, make SURE you check out all of the amazing inspo pics on Instagram.
Ask for Help
Last, but not least, when budgeting for your dream wedding don’t be afraid to ask for and seek out help. Planning a wedding is like a full time job and can be very stressful, no matter the size of the event. Whether it comes from family, friends, a professional or even a tool, you’re going to need help at some point. Looping others in early on will only save your sanity and make their help more effective.
To help you figure out your spending early on, consult a wedding budget planner that can help break down how much you should spend on what. Then utilize those around you to help find the goods and services to make your dream wedding day a reality.
Our advice to you would be to get yourself an AMAZING wedding planner. They can help you start with a realistic budget as well assist with all of the thousands of other things involved in planning a wedding. You wouldn’t build a house without an architect, right?
XO,
Table 6
Table 6 Productions is an award-winning luxury wedding planning and event design company who has been planning fresh, flawless, elegant events for more than 17 years. We pride ourselves on our unique approach to event design as well as the immense focus we put on the guest experience. Our company has multiple locations around the world, which allows us to offer Colorado Wedding Planners, Florida Wedding Planners, California Wedding Planners, New York Wedding Planners, Mexico Wedding Planners, as well as Destination Wedding Planners. We service clients all over the world. Our passion for planning fabulous events can be read through our online reviews or you can view our extensive work in our gallery or on our Instagram. We can’t wait to be your premier wedding planning team.