These days weddings are financed by not only the brides family, but the grooms family now pitches in and the bride and groom themselves are also contributing. You will need to get everyone on the same page and figure out what finances you have available before you can decide your location and it will also even influence the time of year you set the date for.
There are lots of ways to save money on your wedding, but you need a starting point first and that starting point is the budget. Once you have a total of what you can spend, then you can make a plan as to how the total amount will get divided.
Once you have decided the total amount that you can spend on your wedding, you can start budgeting how much you want to spend on what. You need to break your total amount down into categories. My suggested general categories should cover everything you will need, not including the ring. When my daughters were planning their weddings the guys took care of the ring costs themselves, so we didn't put them in the overall budget.
So here are my suggestions for the budget categories. The percentages listed are just suggested starting points and can be adjusted to your needs.
Ceremony (3%): Location fee, marriage license, officiant fee, musician's fee, ring pillows
Wedding Attire (11%): Dress, Headpiece or veil, shoes, jewelry, hair and makeup, Groom's tuxedo or suit, shoes, tie, etc. Flower girl and ring bearer clothing.
Stationery (3%): Invitations, thank you cards, response cards, postage, calligraphy, guest book
Gifts (3%): Bridesmaid and groomsman, flower girl and ring bearer
Keep in mind that these are suggestions to give you a place to start. Depending on what type of wedding you want, you need to decide where and on what you want to spend your money so you need to adjust the individual categories up or down according to your needs.
If you've ever been on a cruise before, it can be quite addictive. Some people only cruise during vacations and are totally compelled to travel as much as possible. One disadvantage to traveling is that it can get quite pricey ? and we aren't talking simply about travel accommodations here, but the entire travel experience as a whole. If you want to travel but you are on a limited budget, here are some tips on how to go about it.
Go Off Peak
There are tons of cruise deals available to you at babyletscruise.com. There are specials for peak and off-peak seasons. Folks cancel their trips for many reasons and it is always to your best interest to check site and ask questions.
It is however, important to know just where you want to go. If you are planning a trip to the Caribbean or want to visit Vegas, there are a number of online based travel and accommodation deals available.
There are peak tourist seasons in most places; if you want a better deal, try to plan your trip sometime before or after the peak seasons of the place you really want to go to. (This, of course, varies for every county, state and country so you need to research this first.) Going on an off-peak seasonal trip not only places you in a situation where you are in less crowded situations, but you might even avail of better accommodations at half the price.
Book In Advance
Yes, you can save a lot of money if you book (and pay for) travel and accommodations in advance, preferably way in advance. The key here is to know exactly when travel and accommodation companies drop their rates. You can do this either by: spending a lot of time on the Internet; or have your favorite travel agent alert you of this sudden drop in prices. You can buy your tickets then.
If there are sudden rise in prices, these will not affect you anymore since you already have paid for your tickets and your lodging.
Pay In Cash
It's easy enough to splurge when you travel. In fact, you will often find yourself splurging on incidentals like candy, bottle water, or that pretzel from the street vendor. One way to keep your budget tight is to place a small amount of ready cash or travelers check in your pocket and avoid paying for anything with your credit card. With cash, you can actually see how much money you are spending, and how much more spending you can actually do before you run out of it. With credit cards, you actually do not know just how much you have actually spent on one trip until you get a statement from your bank.
If you really want to keep your spending at a minimum, set yourself a specific amount that you can use for the entire trip and stick to it. Unless of course you make a trip to an onboard casino and loose everything or maybe win something.
Both Linda Tanner & Babyletscruise are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.