Save On The Wedding, Save The Marriage
According to Richard Barrington from Forbes, Kate and William, THE newlyweds of the year, are going to spend a cool $16 million on their wedding. Sure, they’re royals. None of us have that spare cash floating around. But people spend a small fortune on their weddings, so what effect goes it have on your happily ever after? And how you can keep the costs down?
Wedding Figures
It’s a big day, for sure. But that doesn’t mean having a huge wedding is going to entail future bliss. In fact, the reverse might be true. According to the Wedding Report (my bible, of course) the average wedding in 2010 cost $24, 066. That is an amazing amount of money. It’s a huge chunk of a house deposit, or a good long overseas trip for the two of you. Overspending on your wedding has shown to put a big financial pressure on a couple, causing financial strain that can be hard to overcome. So how can you save a bit of money, while having a wonderful day celebrating your new life together?
Time To Engage
Engagement rings have to be worn. Every day usually. That, in itself, should probably be a good reason to not get a diamond that weighs down your left hand. On top of that, tasteful engagement rings don’t have to cost the earth. It is (I know it’s heresy to say) just a ring. I’d much rather have a small ring, and not have to panic about my financial future every waking hour.
Love Your Guests
Ignore people who like to stratify everyone you know and insist you invite every ‘level’. Invite the people you like, who you want to be there to witness the event. If you and your second cousin have hated each other since birth, maybe it’s not such a huge deal to leave them off the guestlist. Your wedding day should not be about who you need to avoid, and it’ll save you money to keep it small.
Save In Advance
If you can keep your costs down, it’s more likely you can save the money for your wedding as opposed to having to take out a loan to finance it. After all, this is what your life together will be like. Saving for your wedding gives you a good opportunity to work out how each partner deals with money, and what financial issues are important to them. It’ll also ensure you’re not starting off your married life deeply in debt, and causing financial strain from word go.
Meringues Cost Money
I’m Greek-Italian, I’ve seen my fair share of amazingly huge dresses. They cost the earth. Yes, you want to look beautiful and you can for a small amount of the price. Every one says it, but you’re only wearing the dress once. Think about it, you can buy 15 super nice dresses over the coming years that you’ll wear all the time with the amount you could save by keeping it toned down.
Picture It Naturally
Formal photography is wonderful, and you want a couple of special photos. If you’re keen to save money, why not limit it to the ceremony and ask a couple of your more gifted friends to take some shots throughout the reception? Inevitably, the spontaneous ones will be the one that truly capture the moment anyway.
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