Planning a Wedding

Your Big Day

Military style planning of your wedding, and your wedding budget, is vital when it comes to staying in control of costs. The worst-case scenario is that you can quickly find yourself in over-your-head.  You could end up very embarrassed if you end up having to change the plans you’ve shouted from the rooftops.

In the first instance, keep your wedding plans to yourself. At least until your major bookings are confirmed and you’re ready to post out your invitations. That way, if you decide 100 people is far too expensive to cater for, or if bank of Mum and Dad don’t deliver the contribution you were expecting, you can still tweak your plans before it’s too late.

The more you start researching your wedding, the more fabulous things you will find.  Your heart will tell you that you simply need them, but your head must tell you otherwise!  Everything costs money, so start a spreadsheet. Enter absolutely everything and keep a close eye on your costs.  If the photo-booth must go so you can afford the flowers you want, so be it.  You need to get your head around the fact you can’t have everything!

Don’t forget those unexpected costs. Everybody always over invites guests knowing that not everybody will be able to make it on your big day.  Make sure you are covered in case everybody can!

Wedding Day Tips

Let’s look at some top tips to ensure that your wedding budget stays on track.

Number 1

Decide on your guest list. You need this before you can choose your venue.  (Venue too big and guest list too small equals no atmosphere.  Venue too small and guest list too big equals a disaster!).  Plus, how you can even begin to set a budget if you don’t know how many people are going to be there. Once you have this, you are armed with numbers for visiting wedding venues and gaining quotes.

Number 2

Have more than one option.  Lots of people would love to be married in St Paul’s Cathedral, followed by a reception at Buckingham Palace. It’s unlikely to happen, unless your blood runs exceptionally blue. Your first-choice venue may not be available until 2027, or might cost more than you’d expected or budgeted for. If you have a selection to visit, do it. It’s surprising what you will find if you open your mind. Maybe that place that wasn’t so high up on your list is actually gorgeous and the perfect size and cost for your wedding day.

Number 3

Once you’ve decided on your venue, build a relationship with the staff. You are going to need these people to ensure that your wedding day is hitch free.  Establish a solid working relationship with your wedding team. They will then be in your corner – that’s half of the job already done!

Number 4

More often than not, the largest expense for your wedding reception is going to be the food and drink. Look at a wide choice of menus and secure the costs as early as you can so you can set the money aside in your budget. Drinks packages can cost an absolute fortune.  As soon as venues hear the word ‘wedding’, the prices have a tendency to sky rocket.  Think about it carefully – your friends and family don’t want you to bankrupt yourselves.  At the end of the day, can many people really tell the difference between Champagne and Cava?  It will dramatically reduce your costs.

Get creative! Would hiring a fish and chip van for the evening be a quirky touch and less expensive than a buffet for your evening guests?

Number 5

This is where you can really make some savings. Make smart decisions when you hire all the other services. This could be the photography, cake, music, flowers and décor that you choose. A live band can be considerably more to hire than a DJ in most cases. Photographers vary a lot, it can be a good move to find somebody just setting out in the business, trying to make a name for themselves, and ask yourself, ‘Could you live without those seat covers and will anybody really notice?’

You’ve fixed your main expenses now.  Price everything else up and give yourself a pick n mix list. Move it around and play with it. Maybe it’s worth having your second-choice flowers if it means you can put balloons on all the tables?

There’s no need to rush and panic. Taking your time might also make you think twice about adding the Swarovski crystal table decorations or the firework display at Midnight.  Put it on your spreadsheet and then take the time to reflect.  Don’t make knee-jerk decisions.

And Finally

Always remember that everything is flexible and can be moved around.  Cut costs in one area and add them into other.  After all it is your wedding day.

We’ve teamed up with our friends over at Evolution Money to produce this wedding day info graphic. We hope it helps

https://www.evolutionmoney.co.uk/infographics/controlling-your-wedding-costs

If you’re looking to raise funds for your dream day then Progressive Money could be able to help. We’ve been arranging personal loans for weddings for years.  We even know that in the town of Haverfordwest, 11% of all our loan requests are to fund weddings!

Whatever route you go down, enjoy yourselves and have the time of your lives.