How To Plan A Wedding On a Small Budget Part 1 Posted by Andrew Prince on 24th, September 2012

Welcome to this two part article series on 'How to plan a wedding on a small budget'

Your wedding budget is one of the very first things you will need to look at when you are planning your special day. It will allow you to have some control over your day, and will help you get a better idea of the tone of your wedding. It will help you define what is important and what is a “nice to have” touch.

Not having a set and solid budget for your wedding can result in over the top and out of control spending which can be fun in the moment, but no one wants to start their married life together buried under a mountain of wedding debt.

Sit down with your fiancé and have a frank and open discussion about what you can afford to spend on your wedding. In some cultures the bride’s family will be prepared to pay for the wedding, while in others, both the grooms and brides family will contribute funds. More often than not, today, if you and your future spouse are both working, you may expect to pay for most (if not all) of your wedding expenses. How To Plan A Wedding On a Small Budget | Simple Weddings

Wedding Planning Tips

Regardless of who is paying for the wedding, having a realistic, working budget is going to be vital to the planning of your wedding. Weddings can be expensive. If you do not set a working budget for your event, then you may be very unpleasantly surprised at how fast costs add up and how quickly you find yourself in matrimonial debt.

Here is how you can plan a wedding on a small budget

Allocate the funds

Once all of the contributors to your wedding have put their financial cards on the table and you know what kind of funds you are working with, your next task as a couple, will be to determine how to allocate your funds. You and your betrothed will need to spend some time (if you have not already) talking about what you hope your wedding day will

look like. From that launching point, the two of you can start determining where you want your money to be spent.

For example, if you and your fiancé have determined that ensuring that everyone has the best dining experience, you may wish to allocate a larger portion of your budget to the catering and reception costs. Or if you and your fiancé are committed to hiring a hot air balloon to deliver you from the service to the reception, then you will need to work that into the budget as well!

Make sure that you take into consideration what both of you want in your wedding day. Once you have a better idea of what you are both hoping for, you can start prioritizing those wishes and determining how you spend your budget. Determine what is most important to you both and what would fall into the “nice to have” category and determine your plan of action from there.

Set some touchstones that may or may not affect your budget

Before you move too far ahead into the wedding planning, you will need to set some touchstones that may or may not affect your budget. One of the most important factors to consider before you get much further is to determine the size of the wedding you want to have.

Specifically, determine the guest list (at least in a draft form). A wedding budget can be divided up very differently with a guest list of 50 people then it would be for a guest list of 200.

Wedding Budget Worksheet | Simple Weddings

Weddings in the Caribbean

Engage your friends

If your budget is tight, which more and more brides to be are finding, then start accessing your network of resources.

Do you have a friend or family member who is crafty and has great attention to detail? Why not enlist him or her to help create beautiful centerpieces for your reception tables? Many of the tasks (and fees associated with them) that traditionally go to very high end businesses can be re-directed to smaller companies and individuals with comparable skills.

In this age of technology, do you need to spend upwards of $1000 on photographs? Or do you have a friend or family member who might be willing to take quality pictures on your behalf for a much lower price (or even as a wedding gift?)

Joint us in part two for the conclusion - we will look closely at trying to create your own invitations,home made favors and lots more interesting stuff.