One of the most important decisions you will make surrounding your wedding is your budget. Knowing early on how much you have to spend will make the entire process a breeze. Traditionally, you and your fiancé would sit down with both sets of parents to discuss how much each of them would be contributing and the brides parents would say "Oh, we have $100,000 put aside for your wedding! We've been saving for your whole life!" If that happens to you, congrats! But more realistically, you and your husband-to-be will be contributing something financially to the cause.
Make plans to sit down with your fiancé and talk openly and honestly about what you can afford. This should be a fun conversation free from guilt and pressure. As one of the very first things you two are doing together, as a team, you should be looking out for each other and supportive - but most of all honest. You are going to be together for a lifetime, don't start out in debt! Here is an example of smart financial wedding planning:
Michael and Michelle are newly engaged and have decided on a May 2013 wedding, that leaves 15 months until the big day! They have met with both sets of parents and know that each family will be contributing $2,500. Michelle is about to sock away $250 per month, while Michael is working on paying off his student loans and can put away $150 per month. He has $3,000 in savings that he is willing to spend on the honeymoon and she has $1,000 in savings that she will use to buy her wedding gown and shoes. This means that they will have $11,000 to spend on their wedding. Wasn't that easy?
One of the best things about wedding plannings is that you don't need all of that money up front. Most venues, photographers, planners, etc will only require a deposit and then full payment on your wedding day. That gives you lots of time to save.
As soon as you have that number set, you should do two things:
1. Open a separate bank account for wedding savings and spending. Keeping everything separate from your everyday money will go a long ways in keeping you both on track. Plus, it's fun to watch your money grow and work towards a goal together. Stay in one Friday night instead of going out to a fancy dinner? Put that extra $50 into the wedding fund!
2. Meet with your planner to decide how to best allocate those funds. Love flowers? Make sure a big chunk of your budget goes towards the florist. Not into the blooms? Move that money over to the food category and really wow your guests with a gourmet selection. A professional planner can make your dollars stretch farther than you ever thought possible.
Besides your first home purchase, this is probably the biggest chunk of money you will spend at one time. Let a professional planner tell your money where to go so you don't wonder where it all went!
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