There is the age old tradition of the bride’s family paying for most of the expenses for a wedding and the groom’s family helping as well, but that’s not always everyone’s reality, and that’s okay!
If you are in the position of paying for your own wedding here are some realistic tips we can offer to help!
Make A Realistic Budget
Get together with your spouse and decide what the two of you are actually willing and able to spend on your big day without putting you in a bind or a lot of debt. (That’s not a great way to start a marriage!)
Once you come up with that number talk about your timeline as well. Are you planning for a year? Two years? Three or more? The more time you have the more money you will have to pay for everything. If you take your overall budget and the amount of months before you plan the big day you can calculate a monthly “payment” to see if you can handle it each month. This is a great way to pay off slowly and not have huge up front costs.
Keep Track of EVERYTHING
It is very important when trying to keep a budget that you keep track of everything that you are spending for the wedding. If you went over on one part of the budget, you can maybe make it up somewhere else. Try using our Wedding Budget Spreadsheet to help with this!
Getting a Credit Card Specifically For Your Wedding
Now this is not a tip to take lightly. You don’t want to go into credit card debt over your wedding, but having one place for all your expenses to go is a great way to keep track of things and to pay it off slowly if you don’t have the liquid money to pay up front. Make sure to shop around cards to see where you can get your best value as well. Some cards offer cash back or rewards and try to find one with the lowest interest.
DIY
A great way to save money when planning your wedding is doing as many things yourself as possible. This can be anything from your invitations to decorations. Maybe even asking friends to help with things and making it into a fun event!
Cutting Back
Another great way to help you afford your wedding is to just simply cut back on little things here and there when you can because those can really add up. You get coffee out twice a week? Maybe cut that out and make it at home to use that little extra cash on your wedding.
We hope these tips help if you find yourself paying for your own wedding.