Planning a Wedding in a Bear Market?

There is no doubt that times are tuff, but people still need to get married. That is the beauty and a huge plus of the wedding industry, it’s RECESSION PROOF! This does not mean that people are going to spend money like they used to. So how do you have your dream wedding in a bad economy? Prioritize and Be Educated!
1. Speak with your fiancé about your personal finances. Figure out what debts can be paid off quickly and how to start consolidating credit cards, personal bank accounts, and student loans. I really recommend couples to buy Suze Orman’s book Young, Fabulous, and Broke. It’s a step by step teaching manual on how to get you debt free guided by your personal situation with aid from her online website tools. A must read! www.suzeorman.com
2. Speak with your fiancé and the financial support system for your wedding (those dishing out the money for your special day). Come up with a budget that is realistic to their financial situations and will be workable to create the day of your dreams.
3. Make a list of the top ten things you and your fiancé want to focus this budget to. According to www.theknot.com your budget should be allocated according to the following percentages:
Reception: 48%-50%
Ceremony: 2%-3%
Attire: 8%-10%
Flowers: 8%-10%
Entertainment/Music: 8%-10%
Photography/Videography: 10%-12%
Stationery: 2%-3%
Wedding Rings: 2%-3%
Parking/Transportation: 2%-3%
Gifts: 2%-3%
Miscellaneous: 8%
- To avoid stress, allot about 5% of your budget for a "just-in-case" fund.
- If you're paying for your honeymoon yourselves, remember to budget for that as well.
Of course these are recommended percentages. Figure out based on the city and state you live in, what things tend to run on the more expensive side and whether those things are important to you on a scale of 1-10.
4. Stick to your budget! Try, try, try to stick to your proposed budget. If something goes over in one arena, then cut costs in another. Remember, if it doesn’t turn out like you envisioned it 100%, but is still very nice, your guests are not going to know the difference.
5. Be a DIY Bride and Groom! Do It Yourself projects can be fun and time to bond with your future hubby. Why not spend some money buying fonts and cardstock to print out your own favor tags, invitations, or save-the-dates. You can save $100s doing many printed items yourself. Investing in a good color printer and software can be more profitable to you in the long run. You can knock out, seating charts, table numbers, menu cards, invitations, save-the-dates, favor tags, thank you cards, maps, programs, activities lists; the list goes on and on. Just images all the things you can save money on and do it while spending time with the one you love most. That sounds like a deal to me! I recommend The DIY Bride by Khris Cockman founder of www.DIYBride.com .
Control your guest list. Don’t feel like you have to invite everyone that you have ever known.
6. My personal rule is, if they haven’t spoken to you in the past two years, chances are you wouldn’t be speaking to them any time soon. Keeping your guest list under control will keep your cost down for the amount of money spent per person.
7. Have a clear vision. Have the vision you and your fiancé want from the start helps to avoid over spending on other items that might not make it to the end.
8. Having a $10, 000, $20,000, or even $50,000 wedding day budget doesn’t mean you have to spend it all. Be frugal, times call for it more then ever now. Try to under spend, trust me if will he a huge present to your parents and their bank account. Like Carrie Bradshaw said “I like the wedding get bigger then Big” Don’t focus on the nitty gritty, your wedding is going to be amazing whether you have chicken or filet mignon, or whether you had it at a five star hotel or not. No one will notice. Your guests are there to celebrate your marriage and new life.
9. Hiring a Planner? As a planner I believe the busiest of brides need someone there to guide them throughout the planning process, but unfortunately in times of hardship, family tends to step in to help with the planning process. This of course leaves planners without business. What many brides don’t know is many planners off a-la-carte services that you can pick and chose from depending on your wedding day needs. This will help cut costs of having a full time planner, but still gives you the piece of mind that your wedding day will turn out and run smoothly.
10. Make saving money a fun game. Making the process of saving money a game throughout the planning process makes it that much more fun! It will push you to go on the hunt to find the deals. Involve you bridesmaids on shopping trips to TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or Big Lots! to find all the frames you might need or decorative vases. There are so many accessories you can find at these discount department stores that it will satisfy your craving for a good deal and at the same time save you some money.

Christine Valdez