When you decide to “tie the knot” with your significant other you may not be thinking beyond choosing the best engagement ring. But, there are many other costs involved in getting married. The average wedding in the USA costs more than $30,000! That can be a problem for the average citizen who earns about twice that much each year. Here are a few useful thoughts about how to save for your wedding and have money left over to start your new life together.
A Wedding Budget Is Important
The first step in saving for your wedding is having a strict budget so that you know how much you need to save. If you have never set up a budget before, it is simple. Just search on Google for “Budget Worksheet” and you will find lots of useful budgeting tools. What you will be doing is determining how much money you will have for the wedding and when that money will be available.
You will start with your income and your current expenses. That will give you the money that will you will have for your wedding budget. Then, you need to go through all of the items that go into a wedding including how many guests, whether you are going to have a celebration where everyone comes to a sit-down dinner or if you are going to serve punch in the church basement in return for a small donation to the church.
Will you have flowers? How many bride’s maids and best men will there be? Will they pay for their dresses and suits or will you? The list of wedding expenses can go on and on. Your best way to avoid going over budget, getting into a fight with the one whom you love is to be clear about how much you can spend and what you will spend it on for your wedding.
Increasing Your Wedding Cash Supply
When you are wondering how to save for your wedding look at your current expenses. Do you want to eat out at a nice restaurant every weekend or save the money for a nicer wedding or for your honeymoon? Do you want to use your tickets for professional sporting events or sell them to a friend so that your budget is not so tight for your wedding? These are questions to address early and come to an agreement so that you are not fighting just before your wedding when family members are pushing you to invite distant aunts and uncles whom you have never met! Things as simple as putting spare change and bills in a jar will help you put money aside.
Remember What Is Important and What Is Not
You are getting married to the love of your life. That is important. Your family and friends would like to attend your wedding and wish you well. You need wedding and engagement rings as signs of your eternal love. These are important as well. Everything else is less important. When you make a list of potential wedding expenses, rank them by importance as well as cost. This will allow you to set your budget. Apply the same reasoning to things that you spend money on and that will help you save money for your wedding.