Wedding bell budgets

The average American wedding now costs almost $20,000. That’s enough money to buy a new car or start a nest egg for your first home. Save more of that money for after the wedding by creating a wedding budget first. Your wedding budget needs to include a lot of important information, and it’s going to change as you start booking vendors and buying supplies.

Know what you need

Start by making a list of everything you need to make the big day happen. Remember food, attire, invitations, decorations, locations, music, photographer, an officiant and, of course, rings.

Next break each one of those simple words into its different parts. For example, flowers will include your bouquet, corsages, boutonnieres and any flowers you need for the reception and ceremony.

When your list hits two pages it's time for you and your groom to sit down and talk about what you need at your wedding (rings and an officiant) versus what you want (doves and a 15 piece band).

Know what you have

These days it’s common for couples to pay for their own weddings, but often the bride and groom’s families want to help out. If someone has offered to “help” with your wedding expenses, as strange as the conversation might seem, ask what they mean by help.

Until you really know what you have to spend, you can’t start your budget. Add those amounts to the money you and your groom have decided to spend and you have a starting point.

Know what it costs

The reception generally accounts for 50 per cent of the cost of a wedding, so start there. Caterers generally price their services by the number of people invited to the wedding and usually give you the final price as X dollars per person. Buffets often cost less than a traditional sit down service, and guests can make their own choices about what to eat.

Call several local caterers and ask for general quotes based on the number of guest you plan to invite. When you have some numbers check with friends or family to see if they’re familiar with any of the caterers, and try Yelp or other social rating sites for user reviews.

Do this with all of your vendors. At the end of all of your phone calls you’ll have a range of prices and options to chose from. Remember, the best price isn’t always the best deal, so once you have a short list of candidates feel free to ask them for references.

Know what you’ve spent

One of the easiest way to keep an eye on your wedding budget is to use a spreadsheet program, like Excel or an online app like Google Docs. Use one sheet to keep track of what services you’ve already booked and paid for, the date the balance is due and a running total on your entire big day. If your total runs higher than your budget, the spreadsheet offers you an easy way to really study each expense and decide if it’s what you really need.

A second spreadsheet can help you keep track of your vendors names and contact information. Make notes in your spreadsheet after each conversation you have with a vendor to keep all of the important info you’ll need leading up to your wedding in one place.

Remember:

Your wedding is one of the biggest events in your life, but it doesn’t have to be the most expensive. When you stay on top of costs, and spend only what you’ve budgeted for you’ll have more money to start your married life together.

Unique weddings make a statement

In 2008 there were 2,162,000 marriages in the United States. That’s about 180 per day, every day for the year. We've got some tips to help you set your wedding apart from the other 179!

Splash of color

White wasn’t always the bride color. When Queen Victoria married in a lacy white gown in 1840 English women adopted the custom. White later became known as a symbol of the bride’s purity. In America, women generally wore their nicest clothes, or a new dress that could be worn again, until the 1930s when Victorian gowns came into fashion. Dress to suit your wedding’s theme colors, or just add a colored sash or scarf. For more adventurous brides, dare to try a black evening gown. This black dress by Vera Wang shows that a bride in black is sure to turn heads.

Dressed in time

Class vintage designs return like clockwork. Go way back and try a cut from the roaring twenties or the nifty fifties. HIt google to help you narrow down an era and a look. Then google around for vintage stores in your area, like the Vintage Wedding Dress Company, that can help you track down the dress of your dreams.

Hats off to you

In the sixties women looked to Jackie Kennedy for inspiration and found her trademark pillbox hat. The hat can be worn alone, or dressed up with a birdcage veil to really set your wedding style apart. A great source of beautiful handmade wedding hats is the on Etsy, a site for creative crafters to sell their wares. You'll also find one of a kind cake toppers and ring pillows.

Get Crafty

Clicking through Etsy sites may give you a few crafty ideas of your own. For a smaller wedding why not try making your own hand lettered invitations on artisan paper. Not so confident in your art skills? Visit Zazzle to create and order your own invitations. You don’t have to be a designer to create something lovely, and the site offers printing and delivery.

Lose the limo

Make an entrance in something other than a standard town car. Rent an italian sports car and have a groomsman agree to drive you of to your hotel after the festivities. Check your local area for unusual limo companies like the limo hearse, or complement a vintage dress with a Rolls-Royce and tuxedoed driver.

Do Them a favor

Think outside of the box of mints when you’re choosing guest favors. Why not try shortbread cookies shaped like hearts or gingerbread brides and grooms. You don’t have to roll up your sleeves and dig into the flour yourself - a local bakery - or online supplier like Bridal Cookie can create exactly what you are looking for.

However you choose to tie the knot, make it your own. And don’t forget to thank your bridesmaids for all of their help with a bridesmaids gift as unique as you are.

Wedding Videography Tips: DIY Can Be Fun!

If your only option for a lasting memento of your day is a DIY wedding video, then consider these three quick ways to help produce the keepsake you want at a low-budget price you can afford.

Call upon your friends and relatives
Anyone who is bringing their camera to the occasion should be only too happy to pass on to you their final results: video, photographs etc. If you are worried about putting pressure onto too many people, ask a couple of specific individuals to take some particular recordings, eg: a bridesmaid’s mum to video the bridesmaids in action, whilst another relative films the bride and groom. Don’t forget though, that however well intentioned they are when they agree to this, such things are easily forgotten after the event, so it will be up to you to gently harass people to pass these on as soon as possible after the honeymoon. You could offer a reminder at the same time as offering an invitation to come and see the final product: this helps to remind others of their necessary contribution towards it!

Contact your local college
Find out if there is someone on a media course who would be interested in filming your wedding, or editing your gathered results from everyone else. The end result can be of surprisingly good quality, but do ask to see the portfolio of any prospective student first, just to make sure they have the necessary skills.

Ask the venue about the security camera
The recent wedding ceremony of a friend of mine was captured on the security camera of the venue – they found this out from a guest who was a little late and could not come in because the ceremony was underway! As a result, he watched the whole thing from the camera and added his own voice-over. If the venue is willing to let you buy a copy, you could have real fun adding your own D.I.Y commentary, even if the sound of the event has not been recorded!

This article was written exclusively for Groomsday by Chloe Wilson whose Wedding Video Hints website offers advice to those about to get married on what to expect from wedding videography services.

Picking your wedding song

There’s so much to think about in the lead up to your wedding: dress fittings, cakes, food, guests. But one important question you shouldn't leave to the last second is what song will you and your husband dance to first?

It may seem like an easy choice, but there’ a lot to think about before you choose.

First off, make sure you like the song. It’s going to be attached to one of the biggest days of your life for the rest of your life. A classic often works better than a recent favorite. You will hear it more often, and classics are classics for a reason - the resonate with us no matter how much time has passed. The other worry with a newer song is that you may go to three or four weddings after yours and find the happy couple has chosen the same song!

Pick a song you know well. You want to recognize it instantly when you hear it years down the road so you and your husband can get out on the dance floor whether you’re at another wedding, or just in your own living room.

Try it out first. You and your husband to be might love the song. You know all the words, it played the night you met, and your parents will even know it by the first few notes. That’s all great, but if you two can’t dance to it - you can’t dance to it.

One way to choose the best song for you is to make a list. Get suggestions from your bridal party, parents and married friends. Ask what they liked about their song, and what was their first dance like?

Sit down with your partner in soon-to-be wedded bliss and go through your lists. Veto anything that immediately gives you a bad feeling, and draw up a short list of maybes. Put all of your maybes on your iPod or a CD, and press play. Dance to each song and find the one that clicks for you.