Search For An Online Wedding Planner's Guide To Help You Set Your Budget

The task of planning the budget for your wedding can seem daunting at first: there's so much to think of, from wedding invitation verses and shower ideas to bride's dresses and cake ideas! So why not use an online wedding planner's guide to help you get started!

If you take time to set yourselves a realistic budget from the outset, you'll be better able to keep track of everything that needs to be arranged.

These days, 4 out of 5 couples pay for their own wedding, and it helps to know how your budget should be broken down.

You can find useful guidance and worksheets online at www.BrideSave.com to help you break down likely costs. Remember to use any free wedding guide as a guided starting point. From online planning guides such as these, you can then set your actual dollar budgeted amount.

When creating your budget, you will first begin with the overall amount that you can afford to spend. The average wedding today costs approximately $19,000. This is not a definite, but it's what figures currently show.

Now you will need to take that starting amount and apply it to an actual separate dollar amount. If you are not good at percentages, you can always go online and check with the various websites that offer you free or cheap wedding budget calculators that will do it for you.

With an online calculator, all that you have to do is give it the total budget amount and then it will calculate how much money in dollars that you will have available to spend on each aspect of your wedding.

Once you have figured out the dollar amount that you can spend on each aspect of the wedding, you can then begin to create a chart that will itemize the list for you. Broad headings will probably include the following:

• reception
• ceremony
• photography/videography
• catering
• rings
• attire
• music
• flowers
• honeymoon
• decorations
• miscellaneous

Under each of these headings you will need to list all the details that will bring your dream to life and fulfill your wedding hopes. You must do this to establish exactly what you will be able to afford within your set budget.

If you find that your budget won't stretch to cover all the details, you will have to do one or more of the following:

• lower the guest list
• forego some of the services
• lessen the wedding party
• forget the extras such as limos

It is with the budget that you can set realistic goals for your wedding and discover whether your plans are realistic for your finances. If the numbers won't work, you have to change or get rid of something. It's that simple.

Once you have decided what you want to include and what you can afford, it is on to the planning stage. But please don't skip the preliminary budget planning step: it's the foundation for everything that you will do later.

Terms | Privacy | Contact us | News