Weddings 101

Many couples ask me how to create their wedding budget. Where should I put my money towards? What if I run out of money before I am done planning the wedding? What makes the biggest impact? Help!

I can give a few guidelines in the next few days:

1. The number one biggest expenditure of your budget will be the reception venue, food and drink. This is going to command up to and sometimes over half of your over all budget depending on your guest list size. It will be up to you to get the best and the biggest bang for your buck. Don't be afraid to haggle and ask lots of questions. Read the fine print and don't accept something just for the sake of, "this is the way we have always done it for everyone else!"
You are not everyone else, so don't let your reception venue treat you like you are. Speak up and ask for what you want.

Food and drink will take the biggest portion of your reception dollars. You can control this section by controlling your guest list. Your wedding is not the time to be meeting people for the first time. You want to be surrounded by close friends and family, not guests there for the free food and drink. And please don't think that by choosing a buffet over a sit-down that you will save a lot of money. This is simply not true in most cases. Do your homework and compare prices. Caterers can control portion sizes and menus when they cater a sit down event. It takes much more food to man a buffet where the food is plentiful and seems never-ending. Appetites are always larger when the food is pile-it-on-yourself.

You already know what I think of cash bars, so choose your beverages wisely. If you cannot afford to host a full bar (which should not be at a wedding anyway!), host a couple of beverage choices and maybe a champagne or sparkling cider toast. If it isn't there, your guests won't miss it, and the ones that do, probably aren't there to shower you with their love on your wedding day anyway--they came for the free alcohol.

More tomorrow.....