Ethan Baron - Wedding Bliss on a Budget

Most advice you may read about weddings tells you that balancing dreams with financial reality requires a lot of sacrifice. This book is going to show you, step by step, how to make your dreams come true at a cost you can afford, without sacrificing what matters.

Dont be persuaded by the multibillion-dollar industry that says you should hire a wedding planner. A wedding planner typically charges 10 to 20 percent of your budget, which means you have 10 to 20 percent less to spend on your wedding. Its no wonder the industrys worth billions it takes a big bite out of wedding budgets! Wedding planners will advertise that they can get their clients wedding services for a reduced price, but clients may spend far more on the planners fees than they save through any minor discounts. In some cases, planners receive referral fees from vendors, which ultimately leads to more money taken out of wedding budgets. Planners will tell you that they will make sure the service providers show up on the wedding day, but if you hire reputable vendors, theres no need for that because theyll be there, on time.

You may not realize it, but when it comes to planning a wedding for a reasonable cost, you know the basics already. In fact, you live them.

In Chapter 1, you will find the Seven Steps to an Affordable Dream Wedding, which are simple guiding principles you will apply to the planning process to make sure you spend your time effectively, and achieve your wedding vision while staying within your budget.

In the chapters that follow, youll find a timeline that lays out exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it. To keep track at all times of whats to be done, you can use the checklists and worksheets provided in these pages or complete and print the ones in the download kit (see the end of this book for more information).

You will discover how to find the services that meet your needs, for the lowest possible price. This book will help ensure that your wedding day turns out exactly the way you want it. Since you will be dealing directly with wedding-service providers, you will have no need to hire an expensive, and unnecessary, wedding planner. The following pages covers every element of the planning, from finding wedding-service providers such as florists and photographers, to booking the venue and caterer, to signing contracts, and sourcing a wedding cake. It will keep you organized, on time, and within budget.

When sensible people who dont have unlimited finances plan important purchases, they shop around. They find what they like, evaluate quality, and compare prices. When they find what they want, at an affordable cost, they make the purchase.

In planning your wedding, youll make a series of important purchases, to obtain the goods and services required for the event. Youll use shopping and buying methods you already know well through the process of day-to-day living.

Most of wedding planning involves obtaining the services of vendors, such as photographers, florists, music providers, caterers, and venue providers. Chapters 3 through 8 show you how to find the best vendors, how to approach them, how to negotiate with them, and ultimately, how to ensure you receive their very best services for their very best price.

The steps in this book will allow you to tailor the wedding to your wishes, keep the process and the expenditures under your control, and ensure all goes smoothly on your wedding day and beyond. Think beauty, joy, fun, love, and memories youll treasure forever. Think big and think small. Youre on your way to a perfect, affordable wedding.

Chapter 1

The Seven Steps to an Affordable Dream Wedding

The seven steps in this chapter make up the guiding principles overseeing the effective and satisfying planning of this extremely important event. By applying these principles to every element of the wedding planning, you will be able to achieve your goal of having your dream wedding at an affordable price. For each of the major elements of your wedding, the following chapters section headings show you which steps to directly apply, and how to apply them.

Each of the seven steps will help you with the others, preparing you to achieve a perfect whole, a wedding that lets you express yourself through your own creation of the event by taking control of the process, and costs, on the way up to the big day. The steps hold the key to ensuring that not only does the planning go smoothly and cost-effectively, you will be able to tick off each item on each list with the confidence of controlling the process and keeping it on track.

1. Step 1: Visualize

Visualizing is a special step. This is where you sort out what matters, and what you really want from your wedding and its easy. Your main goal for your wedding day is simple: You want to have the time of your life, surrounded by the people who matter most. You want every guest to enjoy a wonderful experience theyll recall fondly in the years to come. And you want this wedding with maximum impact for the minimum price. You will use this clear vision of the wedding to guide you as you prepare and execute your planning tasks.

2. Step 2: Prioritize

You will apply Step 2 throughout the planning process to ensure that you get what you really want, for a reasonable cost. You will apply this principle to deciding which elements of the wedding are the most important to you and which receive the appropriate share of the budget. You will prioritize the scenes you want the photographer to capture. You will decide which is more important, the wedding party flowers or the reception centerpieces. By always having your priorities in mind, youll keep the planning process running smoothly, and make sure you accomplish your goals.

3. Step 3: Strategize

Time and money are your two main commodities of concern. You have a time budget as well as a financial budget you need to balance the wedding planning with the rest of your life. Strategizing is about finding the most time- and cost-effective ways of achieving your wedding goals. Use the modern technology you have at hand to maximize the efficiency of the planning process. By strategizing, you can delegate many tasks while being in control of final decision-making. In the following pages you will learn to negotiate with high-quality service providers, and create positive relationships with the people who will help make your dream wedding happen.

4. Step 4: Scrutinize

Scrutinizing is a vital principle for finding your wedding vendors, and contracting their services. You need to look closely at potential vendors to decide which ones will end up on your list of possibilities. You need to look even more closely at the vendors you decide youd like to hire, checking references to see how they performed for other clients. You need to examine your vendor contracts to make sure they describe in detail the exact products and services you require. The following pages will help you find the right vendors for your event, and how to evaluate them as well as what you must include in your vendor contracts.

5. Step 5: Minimize

This is not a time to ask, What should our wedding include?This is a time to ask, What