For husbands-and-brides-to-be with large, extended families, they often find that both sets of parents, and perhaps even grandparents, want to chip in to help defray the soaring cost of today’s weddings, which, on average, come in at a whopping $20,000. Many couples, too, are electing to pick up the rest of the slack. Corralling so many people who want to help with the wedding budget can be a virtual nightmare though. Before simply accepting their good wishes and checks, the very first thing you should do is to sit down with your fiancé and chart a course of action to ensure you’ve covered every element of your wedding that requires a significant contribution. Planning a wedding with a budget in mind comes down to knowing what you’re looking for in terms of venue, vendors, and necessities – this, however, can be easily put to rest with a systematic budget planning roadmap.

Planning a Wedding with a Budget in Mind

An itemized wedding budget detailing the specifics – such as the dress, food/drinks, venue, flowers, and band – will ensure you’ve covered all the major aspects of your wedding day.

At the top of your worksheet, spreadsheet, or what have you, list what you’ve decided is a reasonable amount to spend on the wedding. On the left hand side, make each specific and significant element that you must or would like to have a line item. For instance, the ceremony, which encompasses the venue/place or worship, wedding officiant, and any licenses, would be listed here. Decide on a true and honest estimate of what you’re willing to spend planning a wedding on a budget, and then, at a later date, add what you actually spent so that you can keep accurate track of your finances. Other items in the left hand column should consist of things such as the reception (food/drinks, cake, favors, venue, etc.); wedding attire (bride’s clothing and shoes, makeup, hair, groom’s clothing and accessories); rings/jewelry; flowers (for the entire party and at both venues); music/band/DJ; photography; transportation (if applicable); invitations and signage; and anything else that would cause a significant dent in your wedding budget. Remember to include such essential fees as tips for vendors (about 15 to 20%), trial hair and makeup sessions, and dress/tuxedo cleanings and pressings.

As far as planning a wedding on a budget with your parents, his parents, and any other well-wishers (step parents perhaps), show them your finalized wedding budget at an informal, yet constructive meeting. Discuss costs and who can realistically afford what. In days past, it was common – and expected – for the bride’s parents to pay for everything, a modern dowry in a sense. Today’s weddings no longer involve such a considerable sacrifice, though it is still carried out by many traditionalists. At this meeting, you’ll want to discuss how the payments will be made; maybe your parents would like to split something or pay for one segment of the wedding entirely. Will they be giving you one lump sum in a check or visiting vendors with you to pay upfront? Such concerns about planning a wedding on a budget should be dealt with by a frank talk that involves all parties.

Many wedding budget planners suggest opening a separate wedding account at your bank that’s not linked with any of your personal accounts. This simple action will help you more carefully figure out what’s been spent on the wedding and where the funds are going. You should also set aside an additional 5 to 10% of your overall wedding budget should mishaps arise. The likelihood that you will go over your budget is almost a given; the amount to which you do can be controlled, in most instances, by careful wedding planning, and that budget of 5 to 10% extra you’ve stashed away will come in handy. Scaling back from the get-go is a huge help; this includes things like not having a buffet (wasted food), having fewer bridesmaids, and offering just wine and beer at the reception (alcohol is a major expenditure). Still, if these are must-haves, just be cautious of vendors who try to upsell you to some better, improved service that you probably don’t need. Research is a crucial part of planning a wedding on a budget, so make sure you do your fair share before visiting vendors and venues.

Fine-tuning Your Wedding Budget for Success

Far too many couples forget about planning a wedding with a budget in mind and have a bang-up, blow-out bash that ends up putting them in the red. Add that to any other debts, and you’re starting your marriage – which should be thoroughly exciting – with a gray cloud over your heads. A well-planned wedding budget that’s done from the start – with nothing unaccounted for – will ensure that you can mosey off to your honeymoon with nothing else to worry about but enjoying yourselves.

• 6×8 Card Stock Invitation with coordinating envelope – package of 25
• Personalize yourself on your own printer

Product Description
Guests will delight in the fresh floral design accompanying your wording on this invitation. Design with your choice of imprint color for your wording. Your choice of type style. This invitation can be used for save the date announcements, wedding invitations or wedding announcements…. More >>

Floral Invitation with Coordinating Envelope – Package of 25

Almost everyone starts planning their wedding with a picture in their head of how it will look. All you need is to turn that into a workable reality. Picking your colour scheme is a great place to start and helps the picture come into focus a little bit more.

Traditionally speaking we should all be starting with our central feature of a bright white wedding dress. However many women now feel this colour scheme is outdated. It symbolises purity in a day and age where an….untouched bride… is an exception rather than the rule.

So, maybe, rather than wearing white, opt for an equally stunning but less extreme colour. A wedding dress in cream, ivory or off white creates the same eye catching focus without such extreme colouring. The non-white tones also work well on people with pale skin, preventing ‘ghost syndrome’, as I like to call it.

Now for the bridesmaids’ dresses and colours. This is always a tricky one, especially picking a colour all your bridesmaids find acceptable. This is where most brides become unstuck and start to lose their vision.

The most important thing to remember is that this is your wedding, your choices and your colours. Don’t be bogged down by conflicting views of members of your wedding party. They will have their chance to pick their colours at their own wedding. As long as your choices don’t make any of your party look ridiculous (like pale pink on someone with red hair), they should have no say.

Next major choice regarding colour is whether to translate your bridesmaids’ colours into a colour theme or keep your other colours separate. Personally, I believe a theme continued throughout a wedding brings a sense of unity and cohesion. Separate themes can sometimes cause the wedding to feel disjointed.

A complete colour theme can be achieved by using a unifying colour in everything, bridesmaids ‘ dresses, groomsmens’ waistcoats/ties, flowers and even at the reception in the form of napkins and favours. Drawing out the theme throughout the wedding (i.e. to the reception) creates a very stylish, professional looking wedding. A more subtle colour suits this approach.

However sometimes the colour you want is a more bold shade that, if used throughout, would cause it to be too overpowering. In this case using a blank canvas base colour like white with a bold accent can be just as effective.

For instance, a cream with red accent or a pale blue with dark blue accent can look very effective. An accent should not become too overused so it becomes all encompassing but should not be so sparingly used as to make the base colour your theme. A sash of a dress in the accent, three flowers in your bouquet (always an odd number) and other such light but frequent touches should do the trick.

When picking any colour a variable that should be one of the foremost in your mind should be the season your wedding is held in. Spring weddings generally look better with a more pastel theme to enhance the natural colourings of nature. Winter weddings often look better in bold colours as pale colours can become washed out in the dull weather.

Creating your perfect colour co-ordinated wedding takes a lot of effort but the most important thing to remember is to pick a colour that suits you. Before you make any decisions have a colour consultation so you know the colours that flatter you.

Remember, your ideal colour will probably come in many shades, one of which will suit your colouring so don’t be disheartened if you are told your initial choices don’t suit you.

• 6×8 Card Stock Invitation with coordinating envelope – package of 25
• Personalize yourself on your own printer

Product Description
Bridal Shower Invitation with Coordinating Envelopes helps personalize yourself on your own printer…. More >>

Bridal Shower Invitation with Coordinating Envelopes – Package of 25

There are many wonderful things that you can do for your wedding that will show a beautiful and cohesive sense of coordination within your entire wedding and bridal party. As a bride, you can plan for many aspects of your wedding to match, and look great together. Planning a wedding can be a brilliant way to stretch your creativity, your organization, and your flirty and fun sense of style. With endless options to work with when planning a wedding from dress options to favors and gifts for your bridal party, you are about to embark one an extremely exciting process!

When planning a cohesive wedding it is important to make sure that everything and everyone matches the core primary colors you have chosen for your wedding theme. For most weddings, the bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl and ring bearer are all taken care of first, ensuring that their dresses and tuxedos are stunning and matching, and that everyone walking down the aisle look great together. However, the mother of the bride and mother of the groom are two very important women that are sometimes left behind while the bride is focused on the main components of her wedding party.

The father of the bride and the father of the groom are most of the time both wearing suits that match those of the groomsmen. Therefore, dressing them is easy! The mother of the bride and groom, however, are going to need to wear something as special as they are. Many brides overlook this opportunity to also have these two very important women also match with their wedding party.

If you are a bride that would like to have as many aspects of your wedding match, a great way to make sure that your day is entirely perfect, and that your pictures are elegant, is to have matching dresses for the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom. This is something that you can accomplish easily, usually with only one shopping trip.

There are several things to think about when you are looking for matching mother of the bride and mother of the groom dresses. First, you want to think about the color scheme. Many brides are very particular about what colors they want to use on their special day, and this can include the way that their parents are dressed. Therefore, many brides will choose colors for their mothers that are derivations of the colors that the bridesmaids are wearing. A lighter or darker shade, for example, can make sure that the mothers stand out while also matching the wedding party in certain aspects. It is important, however, that you do not put your mothers in a white or off white color, and to be weary when it comes to dressing them in black. You should only use black for a very formal evening wedding, of if one of your wedding colors is black. Otherwise, try to stick to the same general color scheme as the rest of the wedding party to get complete cohesion.

Another aspect of the mother of the bride and groom dresses to think about is the style of gown. When picking out dresses, you want to take the age of your mothers into consideration, and make sure that they are comfortable in the dress they are wearing. Even though you might think it would look nice to have them in the same style of dress as your bridesmaids, you want to be sure that they are comfortable in wearing that type of dress. Your mothers, who are probably much older than your bridesmaids, might not feel comfortable wearing a dress like a chiffon strapless a line with a pleated bust and ruched waist. Also, try to keep their own general wardrobe selection in mind as well, and make sure their input is taken into consideration when choosing a dress.

You have many choices when it comes to getting dresses for those oh so important women in your life. You can either go to a retail store or online inventory to find them. If the two women have opposite taste and cannot agree on the same gown, try getting them a dress that is the same color with slight alterations. For example, if the mother of the groom does not want to wear strapless but the mother of the bride feels comfortable in it, get them the same colored dress and have the mother of the groom wear an adorable chiffon jacket over her shoulders.

It is important for your mothers to look nice, but it is also important that you allow them to be comfortable, happy, and enjoy the day just as much as you do. When shopping for your mother of the bride and mother of the groom dresses, consider asking them for their input as well!