Weiss - Your Dream Wedding on a Budget

47 Cost-Cutting Secrets from Americas Favorite Wedding Planner

by Mindy Weiss with Lisbeth Levine

Workman Publishing, New York

Copyright 2011, 2008 by Mindy Weiss with Lisbeth Levine

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher.

Your Dream Wedding On a Budget is a condensation of material previously printed in The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day by Mindy Weiss with Lisbeth Levine.

Cover design by Jean-Marc Troadec
Cover photos:
Wedding ring photo Zentilia/Fotolia
Bouquet photo photos.com

eISBN 978-0-7611-6353-4

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So youre looking to plan a wedding without breaking the bank. First of all, congratulationson both your nuptials and your good sense. While as a planner Im known for some pretty extensive events, I work with a range of brides, and my goal is always to help my clients stick to their budgets. I dont think a wedding should put you in debt. This is the beginning of the rest of your life, so you want to start out on the right foot! (Plus, Im just starting to plan my own sons weddingyay, Jordan!so you can bet I have budget on the brain.)

To get down to the business of cost-cutting, let me offer some advice. There are plenty of inventive workarounds and ways to arrange your budget to suit your personal priorities. But as a general rule, youve got to be careful about the kind of shortcuts you take. Ill never forget the time I took a bride up on her offer to have her aunt do the flowers. Let me tell you, I ended up redoing every single arrangement myselfon the day of the wedding. Not pretty. You can save money by having family and friends (and family friends) pitch in, but be sure youve checked out their work and have a game plan. You dont want to find out last minute that they need three people to help and that one of those people is you.

One thing Im always reluctant to cut is the photography budget. Those photographs are your memories! You can cut back on the hours, as Ill explain later, but make sure you have something. If youre open to a nontraditional album, go ahead and get creative. A friend of my future daughter-in-laws cut her photography budget by handing out inexpensive cameras she had collectedvintage cameras, disposable models, Polaroids, fish-eye lenses and letting her friends go to town. The end result was a totally fun and unique medley of styles and perspectives. And a couple of her pals were talented hobbyists, so she really got some great shots at a fraction of the price.

I truly believe that its possible to have a beautiful wedding on a budget. If you really need to save some money, the number one way to do so is by trimming the guest list, perhaps radically. One of my favorite ceremonies was just the bride, the groom, and the officiant, in their backyard. Afterward, they invited forty of their closest friends and family to cocktails and hors doeuvres on the beachand now they renew their vows and have a celebratory party every year. How sweet is that?

For many brides and grooms, the headcount issue can be fraught, so heres another easy tip: Be on time, and dont run over! Overtime is the number one cause of sticker shock.

Read on for more sticker-shockfighting tips from The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day. Happy planning!

Mindy Weiss

Before you can start choosing colors and wrapping yourself in acres of silk, you have to face some spreadsheets. But dont worry about your math skillsall you have to do is plug in some numbers. Managing a wedding requires neither a graphing calculator nor a hundred-page tome: Budgeting is first and foremost a matter of organization, and all you really need is a good tracking system. Set things up correctly from the get-go and youll save yourself some serious headaches.

My advice? Open a separate bank account for wedding expenditures. It will help you keep track of how much youre spending and of whether youre over budget.

Youll need to track every expense related to the wedding, from vendor deposits to facials and manicures. You can create your own chart in Excel, or use one of the many wedding software programs on the market.

If youre creating your own chart, make sure you have a column for estimated cost, another for actual cost, and a third for deposit amount. Leave yourself room for notes regarding deposit due-dates or the cost of upgrades or extras. If you need to trim the budget, you can delete items easily.

Once youve settled on an organizational tool, youre going to have to work it into your routine. For some brides, that means saving up receipts and recording purchases once a week, maybe over coffee on Saturday mornings. For others, a more immediate system may work better.

Despite tendencies to the contrary, a wedding shouldnt send you or your parents (who are probably nearing retirement age) into years of debt. If you absolutely must borrow, dont take on more debt than you can pay off in a year. You dont need to put additional strain on your new marriage, especially if youre paying off student loans or buying a new home.

Dont fool yourself: Charging things that you cant afford on your credit cards is just foolish. Credit card interest is about the highest you can find, so if you need to borrow, find less expensive financing, such as a home equity loan.

No matter whos footing the bill, a wedding is very much a family affair, so its best to make everyone feel a part of thingsthough the dynamic will be quite different if you are the ones shelling out the cash. But if you do expect parents to foot part or all of the billor if theyve already volunteered to do soyoull need to have a conversation about what they wish to contribute.

The bride and groom often choose to call or visit their own parents individually to discuss money matters; for a larger wedding, I think its a good idea to meet as a group. Though some couples proceed with only the brides parents at hand, ideally you would involve both sets of parents.

Sometimes parents announce that they can contribute a fixed amount; sometimes they detail what theyll pay for. Many parents ask to see some estimates before they agree to anything or even decide how much they can put toward the event. Some may not be able to help out at all. And some will want to know what the other side is contributing before they commit to anything.

Be prepared for a possible reality check. Your dream wedding may call for a $200,000 budget, and you may find out that you cant spend a penny over $50,000. Parents may be willing to give you more money if you do a hometown weddinga tried-and-true bribery tactic!or they may want to pay for the country club but skimp on the food, while youd settle for a less tony location with better catering.