Wedding Budget Nightmares?

3 Key Tips to Tackle Wedding Budget Anxiety...

Did you ever hear of the bride who stole around £170k from her employer to fund her dream wedding? 


This bride, who was on an annual salary of circa £15k; getting married to a fella who was earning even less, told friends and family that her mother was made redundant and the pay-out was footing the bill for the singers, DJs, three piece soul band, personalised individual smarties for all guests, free bar, magician, face painter, balloon modelling, harpist, saxophonist, canapés, award winning chef, feather masks for all guests, UGG boots for all bridesmaids to protect them from the cold winter breeze while taking photographs, jewel encrusted iPad for the bride and jewel encrusted iPods for all the bridesmaids, luxury flowers, fireworks displaying the bride and groom's initials, plush wedding cars and 2 honeymoons. Talk about overkill!


The guest list for this highly indulgent and extravagant nuptial bash included her employers and work colleagues and I do declare that this may have been another very dim idea of hers as that’s when the suspicions set in and the company decided to check the accounts she was in charge of.  The bride and her groom now face jail terms; not to talk of the disgrace to their families and friends as well as the damage to the company she worked for. Is a dream wedding worth such dishonesty and all the negativity that comes in tow? I surely hope not.

3 must know tips to legally plan your wedding within your budget

Your wedding would hopefully be the most beautiful and fun filled day of your life. You would be tying the knot with your soul mate and the love of your life so you are justified in wanting it to be perfect. Here are 3 key steps to help you plan your wedding within a reasonable budget to set you on your way to being sensible about your wedding finances and hopefully keep you out of jail: 

Tip 1: Decide realistically how much you can afford.

Before you start to look for any wedding items or suppliers, decide on a comfortable amount you and your family are able to expend on the wedding. The most heart rending thing for couples is to go looking and then later find out that all the wonderful things they have seen and now want at any cost, are way above what they can afford. Start with a grand total, do your research into the cost of each product or service and then allocate costs that work for you to each entity.   Look for suppliers and products that suit your requirements. and pay for the most expensive items first.  Do not be ashamed to haggle.  Wedding suppliers expect it.

Word of Advice Ask your wedding vendors to recommend their affiliate suppliers. In the wedding industry, we suppliers are a tight knit bunch and we sometimes offer special discounts to couples who have been referred to us by other suppliers. Make sure to always read the small print and always ask vendors if the price quoted is all inclusive of VAT, service charges etc. 

Word of Caution Try as hard as you can not to plan your wedding on loans and credit cards and do not resort to fraud or any other crime to pay for your wedding. Your lives as Mr and Mrs would be better spent together and not separately serving her majesty in a prison somewhere. Consider the marriage after and not just the single day. 

Tip 2: Don’t Get Carried Away

Don't be the ‘We want this ... and don’t care what it costs or who has to die for us to have it’ couple. I remember the heart ache and pain we felt when my other half and I could not afford to do or go anywhere nice for about 2 years after our wedding because we overspent. If you would like to buy something that is way over your allocation for that particular product or service, try to remove something else on your list or at least reduce the costs of other products or services. The lives you will share together after the wedding requires a budget much higher than that one wedding day demands. Believe me, there will be kids, houses, cars, holidays and dreams that you will need to fulfill and an empty pocket would ill afford you the best of these. 

Word of Advice You do not have to completely spend every single penny of your budget and you should actually actively try to save whenever and wherever you can. 

Word of Caution Know what your tastes and expectations are and don’t set yourself up for heart ache by budgeting unrealistically. If your budget is too little, you may find that your wedding does not match your tastes and expectations and you would lose out on the dream experience that you so desire. If you can get your parents or friends to pitch in, they would be delighted to help; no matter how little. 

Tip 3: Become a Wedding DIY Expert 

If you’re the creative type, then consider making your own wedding invitations, favours, place cards, decorations etc. The trick is to come up with a theme that you are comfortable with and commit to this theme for the entire detail of the wedding. This would come across as professional and well thought out. 

Word of Advice  Use DIY stationery websites; some of which are quite reasonably priced and can help you achieve a sophisticated finish for wedding stationery. Also, if you have any friends or family who have skills in catering, photography, dressmaking, hair and makeup, jewellery making, flowers etc, enlist their help as well. It could be the start of a new profession for them; for which they would be grateful to you for granting them the opportunity.

Word of Caution  DIY wedding planning takes up a lot of your time and your attention to detail must be second to none. You have to keep an eye on everything and ensure that everyone who works with you has a clear understanding of your vision and expectations. You don’t want to lose friends and alienate family members before the biggest day of your life because your wedding invitations were printed on purple paper and not lilac. Also, be very sure that you and anyone else helping you have a very strong ability in whatever task you or they have responsibility for. 

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If you have any tips to add to the ones we have given, please post these to help other brides as well. We hope you enjoy reading this article and we would love to see your comments. 

In all, happy wedding planning.

Lisa xx

This blog entry comes free to you courtesy of Estilo Moda Bridal and Occasional Wear. Estilo Moda are designers of stunning bridal wear to suit your budget and taste. Other designers create a dress which you can decide is your dream dress. We create your exact dream dress and you decide every single detail and we achieve perfection every time. We are based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. www.estilomoda.co.uk 

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