Preparing for marriage? Check this out.

Many People, these days, always complain about how expensive weddings are. What they don’t realise is that weddings don’t have to cost so much and this doesn’t mean settling for second best or organizing a shabby one.

With a few clever ideas, you can have the wedding of your dreams for less, while maintaining a world class standard which is even more important in the current economic climate.

BUDGET PLANNING
It is advisable  to  start with  the budget. consider how much money both of you have and already saved and then decide how much you want to spend on  the wedding. Do away with some irrelevant expenses which could be the difference to your budget.Prioritize all the different elements one after  the other  for your wedding and how much you’ve set aside for each.

Wedding budgets can be divided into 12  parts they  include:
Bride price
Ceremony (Imam, priest, registrar)
Reception (venue, caterer)
Attire (wedding gown, tuxedos, bridesmaids and groomsmen outfits)
Decoration and flowers
Music/Entertainment
Photography/Videography
Stationery
Wedding Rings
Gifts/Souvenirs
Beauty (Hair, makeup, pedicure, manicure, spa treatments, etc)
Honeymoon

Let’s get  the tips now
For a lot of things, you don’t usually need  to  pay all the money upfront immediately  for  your wedding plans  to  begin. Many of the main expenses  which include venue, caterers, florists, etc you  deposits; the  balance  will only be due till about 6 – 7weeks before the wedding day.This  will  give you a little of extra time to gather up your savings. A well spaced engagement is a very good way to give you more time to save. Be realistic with regards to wedding expenses, you know what you can afford and your worth so there’s no point planning anything bigger.

A lot of people do what I call bad budgeting or “listing expenses on  the go”, which implies making lists of your costs as you go along. This  will  not help at all as you stand the risk of overheating your budget and at that time it will be too late to ask for your money back. If you’re planning a small or big introduction, engagement, and church wedding, consider which one you want to focus on, pick it and channel most of your resources to it. 

TRY LESS POPULAR NAMES
For those who want Big suppliers, names – makeup artists, event managers, you should be prepared to pay big because they don’t come cheap. Instead of going for a high suppliers, try someone who’s new to the market. New agencies or companies are regularly easier to negotiate with as they are still building their clientele and reputation. A lot of these new starters have worked with big names and know the industry well so they’re not necessarily inferior. 

Nevertheless, make sure you do your  research and view portfolios, take time out to get testimonies of people they have offered services before. For example if you can’t afford  House of Tara  for your makeups you can approach one of her recently graduated students who  are equally good like her. 

ALL  IN ONE DEALS
Some agencies now offer all inclusive deals, which can offer you a lot of cut  in your  savings in the long run. It also saves you the stress of having to deal with 10 – 15 different suppliers. You’d only have discussions with one person, which makes life easy. 

NEGOTIATION
Don’t you ever be afraid or too proud to  negotiate, its your money and its has not and  will  never be a crime.

Some new couples seem to think when they negotiate, it is an indication  to  show how poor they  are or they might be. This is utter rubbish. If you can negotiate with a hawker by the roadside or when you’re stuck in traffic, why can’t you do the same with a supplier. The fact that you’re in an air-conditioned room does not mean you’ve left your present economic situation  to  eldorado. 

Couples can make extra savings  by looking for deals. Don’t you think, the company needs your money therefore if they’re really serious, they should be prepared to offer you decent discounts, offers, and all inclusive deals to help you out. Normally, the more you spend with them, the higher the percentage of discount they’re normally able to offer. A lot of wedding venues and halls offer discounts simply to fill up their bookings for the year so don’t be afraid to negotiate, it’s not a sin

WED OUT OF SEASON
Couples getting married on a Saturday is obviously more popular and therefore is bound to be more expensive. You could opt for a weekday wedding after all its  the “joining” that matters if you think your guests won’t mind taking the day off work. More also,avoid Christmas and special days, when prices will be much higher. 

SOLICIT  THE HELP OF YOUR FRIENDS
Friends and relatives, sometimes, are usually more than happy to help you prepare for your “big day”. They may also be willing to get involved on the day too. If your friend or any of his relatives you  are close to plays in a band or as a  DJ, or your aunt bakes cakes, call in their favors. The most important thing  here is making sure they are reliable enough to deliver on the day. If your friend or family member is a car dealer or he rides a good car, ask if you can use their car for the day. Most of them won’t mind.

OPERATION DO IT YOURSELF
You can also save by doing a lot of things yourself. Be creative and put your logo on your day. For example, if you  are familiar with  the use of computer graphics, you can even learn it, print your wedding invitation cards, design it yourself and just pay to get them printed. Some people have actually started resorting to electronic invites, which isn’t a bad  in itself at all. Everyone’s on Facebook and every is on Twitter these days, so save  the money for printing more invitation cards and paying for postage.  Your invitation is  useless after the wedding so why waste so much money on it. 

ONE SHOT KILL TWO
This is really for the bride… Rather than calling for home services for your pedicure and manicure before your big day. Why not organise your friends night out  to  a saloon or any agency you wish to patronise  as  Home Services  tend to cost more . Once again, don’t forget to negotiate. Chances are the store will like to offer discounts because of the number of customers you have brought to them. While in the salon, why not request makeovers as well for your bridesmaids; a lot of beauty salons will offer this as a deal or even give it free of charge. Tell your bridesmaids to pay close watch to the makeup system and styles and have them reproduce this on your wedding day. That will save you having to cough out money for their makeovers too.

Remember your wedding is just  a  day, your marriage is a life time… Don’t start your wedding together in debt. This is one of the quickest reasons of  disagreements and fight, which might lead to a discomforting marriage or even DIVORCE.

I hope  this is very useful to you as a lot of people have benefited from it. Waiting to  hear the wedding bells soon.***Winks***

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