Bring ZEN to Your Wedding: Create a Budget
Once you say, “YES!” and the excitement shifts into wedding planning, it’s likely that stress and overwhelm may appear. I encourage all my couples to bring Zen energy into whatever they’re doing. Whether it be planning your Big Day or prepping for marriage. There are a number of things that tend to bring anxiety into a relationship AND the wedding day. One of those is MONEY!
When we talk FINANCES in premarital counseling, we quickly get to the discussion of budgeting. Even if you do not track your income and expenses in your daily life, I highly encourage it in wedding planning. And who knows, you may find it useful and add it to your regular routine!
Creating your wedding budget is not easy, but doing it can bring Zen to your wedding planning process.
To Make a Budget, you'll need to:
tally up your savings, including any money from family members
This involves discussing with your partner how much you want to allot to your wedding. If family members are giving money to the cause, it’s important to have a clear conversation about how much they’d like to (or can) contribute. Is that money a loan or a gift? Just know that there may be some stipulations attached. If you’re not clear about what’s expected, please ask!
decide on your priorities so you can research costs and allocate accordingly
When you envision your wedding, what do you see? Deciding what’s important to you, will allow you to decide where you want to spend your money. If there’s a wedding band you MUST have, make sure to earmark the budget for music first. Same goes if it’s for flowers or food, travel or a wedding planner.
make meaningful cuts, if your expenses exceed the money you have
We all know that money does not grow on trees, and you cannot create money where it does not exist. Therefore, once you’ve set aside money for what’s most important, you may have to let other line items go.
Creating a wedding budget is hard work, but putting in the time and energy at the beginning of the planning process ensures you'll live happily ever after & wedding-debt free.
If you need more guidance, check out this post on templates from Bridal Musings and this worksheet from Real Simple. And I have one more wedding money tip!
Even Out the Budget
It’s imperative to spread out costs during the months leading up to the wedding. That way, you’re not left with huge expenses in the final weeks.
While certain things you can’t pay for until the actual day (like the hotel), you can absolutely pay for most vendors in advance. Gents, you can buy your suit, and ladies, you can buy your dress in advance to offset some costs. You can also get your wedding bands early and have them sized right before. If you are providing your own liquor for the bar, you can certainly buy that as you go, you will just need a place to store it. Or you could certainly pre-pay and have them deliver on the day.
Are you already budgeting for your wedding? What tips or tricks have worked for you? Anything you’ve learned that you want to share? The comment box is open. And of course, if you need more Zen tips, feel free to reach out and let me know.