Getting married can be one of the best days of your life. You have found your soul mate and you are ready to take on an adventure. But a wedding can be very costly and you just don’t want to be in so much debt that you are still paying if off 5 years later.
According to an article by the Market Watch, the average cost of American wedding in 2016 was $35,329. $35,000 on a wedding is a lot of money.
So not only do you need to save that much to cover the cost of your wedding, but you also need to have reserve in your account to live off after the wedding. You just have to make sure that your big day doesn’t blow the budget.
With good planning, you can reach your saving goal.
The first thing you need to do is to figure out what you can afford to spend on the wedding and start saving as soon as possible. Here are some practical tips to start saving and budgeting for your wedding and simple ways to keep your costs down:
Find out how much money you need
Wedding can cost a lot money. So the first step is to figure out what kind of wedding you want and how much you can afford. Do you want to have a small wedding of 20 to 50 guests or a big one of 150 to 400 guests? Once you figure that out, you will be in a better position to know how much your wedding will cost you.
Really the cost of the wedding will depend on the factors below:
- The number of guests
- The venue of the ceremony and reception
- Bridal party
- Food and drinks
- Wedding cake
- Entertainment (music/ DJ)
- Photography
- Flowers, decorations
- Wedding dress, tuxedos, shoes and jewelry, hair and makeup
- Cars, limousine.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but you get the picture. Figure out how much you want to spend on each item to come up with a total cost. Once you have a total cost in mind, it’s time to start saving and make a budget.
Related: How to Save on a Tight Budget
Start saving now
Try to start saving as early as possible for your wedding. If your estimate total cost for your wedding is $25,000 and your wedding day is in a year, open a high interest savings account specifically for your wedding, put down a deposit and contribute to it every month.
Figure out how much to put on a monthly basis or weekly basis to reach your $25,000 goal. Don’t be tempted to use the money for anything else.
Saving early is important, because not only you will achieve your goal but you will less likely to use your credit card for your wedding costs.
Related: Incredible Ways to Reduce Your Expenses and Save Money
Find ways to reduce costs
While saving early is important, finding ways to reduce on cost is equally important. There are many ways you can reduce the cost of your wedding. For example, you can:
- make your own invitation
- Ask friends to take photos
- Buy the wedding dress and tuxedos second-hand or online
- have an out of season wedding – summer wedding tend to be more expensive than a winter wedding.
- Have the wedding on a Friday rather on a Saturday. A Friday wedding is usually cheaper than a Saturday one.
In sum, saving and budgeting early for your wedding is a good way to ensure that you will not be in debt after your big day. Do you agree? Why or why not?
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