Don’t Make Your Wedding a Financial Nightmare

You may have a dream wedding in mind, but can you afford it? Today brides and grooms feel the pressure to spend a ton of money on their weddings or else they will be a failure. In fact, most brides and grooms feel that overspending is just a wedding rite of passage rather than what it really is…a financial nightmare.

According to the Conde Nast Bridal Group, the average wedding costs in 2006 were over $27,000 (£13,640 or 20,276.3 EUR). That cost is up 80 percent from 1990 and is going up at twice the pace of inflation. Some experts place the blame on a “keeping up with the Jones’” mentality. Still others place blame on the multi-billion dollar wedding industry’s blitz of advertising, wedding books, bridal magazines, and more that play on a couple’s insecurities.

However, do you need to spend that much on your wedding to have a wonderful day? Will it make you less of a person? What impact the rest of your life? The answer to all these questions is “no.” Yet you will be faced with a strong temptation to overspend on your wedding day. Here are some tips to help keep you from overspending:

1. Set a budget. The number one thing you can do to avoid overspending is to have a budget in the first place. Overspending usually occurs because there is no clear plan for spending in the first place.
2. Stay on budget. Know your budget and go over it regularly. This way you will know exactly how much you have left to spend.
3. Have an open mind. Sometimes you will have to make compromises to remain on your budget. If you keep an open mind you may even be able to find better products and better prices.

While you may have a million dollar wedding in mind, you may be on a significantly smaller budget. However, you need to remember what your wedding is about…your marriage. Keeping your eyes on the fact that this is just one day in the rest of your life puts your wedding budget
in perspective. Get your marriage off on the right foot and only have the wedding you can afford.