Articles about wedding budgets, to see more articles visit https://www.prepareyourweddingbudget.com

1. ==== ====
For more articles on Budgeting for your Wedding GO HERE!!!
www.prepareyourweddingbudget.com
==== ====
Your wedding day has the potential to be the single most expensive day of your life. It is
imperative that you carefully consider your wedding budget to avoid making a costly mistakes that
could hurt your long term financial future with your new spouse. Before you pick up a wedding
magazine or brochure, it is important to organize a budget which will guide you through the rest of
your wedding planning. This may seem like a monumental task at first, but by following the few
simple steps outlined below, you will find that before long you have a solid budget.
The first step in budget planning is figuring out who will be contribute to your wedding fund and
how much each party will be contributing. In the past the bride's parents paid most of the wedding
bill, but as the price of the average wedding increases, many couples contribute to the money
themselves or get assistance from the groom's parents, as well as relying on extended family. If
you are paying for the whole wedding yourself figuring out how much you want to spend may be
as easy as looking at your bank account and seeing how much you can afford. Alternatively, you
may want to determine a set amount to put aside from each week's paycheck to put towards the
expenses of your wedding. Setting up a concrete amount to set aside, such as $100 a week from
both the bride and groom's paycheck, will give you a solid timetable to work with. If you want to
raise $10,000 for your wedding, you can put aside $200 a week for 1 year or $100 a week for two
years. Just saying you want to save $10,000 and not having a plan for how to do it is setting
yourself up for failure. Make a concrete plan and stick to it, unless you have a financial
emergency. If your parents or other relatives are contributing to your wedding fund, you will need
to discuss with them how much they can afford to gift. In the best case scenario, your relatives will
immediately let you know how much they're willing to offer without you broaching the topic.
However, if they do not commit to a particular number, you will need to discuss with them what
they're willing to spend. It is impossible to plan a true budget unless you know exactly how much
money you have to work with.
Your next step should be investigating local wedding costs. Not all wedding locations are created
equal in terms of price. A wedding in New York City will inevitably be far more expensive than one
in a small town in Iowa. Although many websites publish figures for the "average" cost of a
wedding, these statistics are usually heavily skewed by the large percentage of people who live in
large cities where weddings tend to cost more. A Google search of local reception venues or
caterers will help you get a handle on how much your largest expense, your reception, will cost. In
some markets the average cost may be below $25 a head while in most major cities the average
will average well above $50 and sometimes above $100 per person. Of course, there are deals
and splurges in every market, but you should be looking at a ballpark figure. If you know recently
married friends or family members who are willing to reveal their financial situations to you, they
are the best source of information. If you do not know any recently married people or they don't
want to talk to you about their finances, you may want to check out a local messaging board such
as the ones at The Knot or Brides.com. If local costs far outweigh your budget you may want to

2. think about delaying your wedding date so you can raise more money. If you live an expensive
market, you may to move your wedding to a more affordable spot. Couples living in a city may
want to consider having their wedding in a nearby suburb, having a destination wedding, or having
the wedding in the bride or groom's hometown.
Next, you will need to decide where the money you allocated in the first step will be spent. If you
performed the research required in the step two, you will already know the typical wedding cost in
your area. Consider using The Knot's Budgeter or a similar tool to figure out approximately what
percentage of your budget should be spent where. The percentages used on these tools are
meant to be rough guidelines, not hard fast rules. Make a list of the most important elements in
your wedding and plan to allocate a higher percentage to those factors than your budget calculator
suggests. At the same time, make a list of elements of a wedding you find less important and
decrease the percentage you plan to spend on those items. This will allow you to splurge on items
you really want while budgeting less for elements that are of little or no importance to you. You
may not need all the items mentioned on your budgeter. Cross the item items you don't need off
the list and redistribute the percentage devoted to that particular item elsewhere. You should leave
a 5-10% cushion for unexpected costs. If you get through your wedding and still haven't used that
extra money, you'll have extra money to spend on an extra splurge.
You now have a budget that will help guide you through the wedding planning process.
Remember, your wedding is a special day but you shouldn't risk going into major debt over it.
Having a concrete budget in mind will help you avoid that pitfall.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=M._Fitz
==== ====
For more articles on Budgeting for your Wedding GO HERE!!!
www.prepareyourweddingbudget.com
==== ====