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Paying for your wedding can be an overwhelming thought, since it’s likely once of the most expensive things you’ll have to pay for, other than buying a house! Weddings have a lot of moving parts to consider such as ceremony and reception, vendors, favors, wedding attire, decor, and more. To best prepare for budgeting for your wedding, it’s important to consider how your budget has to be broken down. In this blog, we provide some practical tips for saving up for and paying for your wedding.
If you haven’t determined a budget, now is the time to do so. If you don’t know where to start consider what is feasible for how much you can afford to put aside for wedding expenses each month. You should also consider how much of your existing savings you’re willing to contribute towards your wedding. For example, if you have $10,000 saved to used for your wedding, and can afford to put aside another $1500 a month, in a year you’ll have $28,000.
Some other things to consider when deciding on a budget, is how much you’re willing to spend total, how long of an engagement you want to have, if you have any financial help from parents, and how much you can afford to set aside each month. Once you have these answers you’ll be able to create a wedding budget.
It’s no secret that weddings can be costly, so it’s a good idea to take a look at your monthly spending and see where there’s areas you can save some money. For example, if you each buy a cup of coffee daily, which runs you both about $3 each, that’s a monthly savings of $180! Pausing or canceling your gym membership until after a wedding can be another great way to save a couple hundred dollars monthly. Other things to consider are your cable or subscription services, how often you eat out at restaurants, or your typical shopping habits. Anywhere you’re able to cut some corners for a short period of time is an opportunity to put more money away for your special day.
Once you’ve scaled back on expenses where possible, it’s time to take a look at your daily and monthly spending habits. Usually, there’s some areas you can identify that can help you save in a big way. For example, a once a week lunch out that costs $10 doesn’t seem like much but over the course of a year that’s $520 saved! Even small things like choosing to walk to work instead taking public transportation can save you hundreds of dollars in the long run.
If you still need to make a big move to save larger amounts of money, consider looking at your larger expenses. If you have a high car payment, consider trading your car in for an older model, or sharing one car between the two of you for a period of time. Rent is another place that can save you money whether it’s moving back in temporarily with your parents, getting a roommate, or sharing a place to live.
It may be tempting to use credit cards to help with your wedding costs, but do this sparingly and only when you can pay off the bill at the end of the month. The last thing you want to do is rack up debt while preparing to start you life together!
The last thing you can do if you need to find additional funds for your wedding day is to consider additional income streams. This could be in the form of a second job – perhaps babysitting, delivering for a food delivery service, dog walking or other service based job. Or if you have a special skill or talent you can consider selling those services.
