Berlinovo Wedding Blog

prioritize, budget and prepare for heart failure

For most people, wedding planning, at least a large wedding, only comes once in their lives. The bridal industry knows this and realizes that they must squeeze every last penny out of you because this is most likely their only shot. Keep that in mind when you start pricing things. At least here on the west coast, the word “wedding” or “bridal” alone can cost you 30% more. Having never shopped for anything wedding related, I considered eloping soon after I started pricing the wedding. This is why you need a budget. The cost of a wedding can get out of hand quickly if you don’t have an end number in your head. All of the wedding books that I read said to start with a budget, and while it seems impossible at first, it is a very important step.

Step One: Prioritize. My fiance and I looked through all of the potential expenses and decided which two were the most important to us. I also took into consideration that my parents were paying for the wedding and made sure to as them what their important items were too. It broke down like this… #1 on the list:Food & drink. We were throwing a huge party with all of our friends and family and we wanted them to be well taken care of. Plus, we are Italian. Food & drink is central to our lives. That was an easy number one. #2 Music. My fiance wanted to make sure that there was good music served up by someone who knew what they were doing so that the party would be jumpin’. So we had our top two. Now we knew where, if extra money was to be spent, we were going to spend it.

Step Two: Get the overall budget written down, then break it out into the main sections, Ceremony/Reception, Clothing, Flowers, Music, Invitations, etc. This will at least give you a starting point. Because I am an accountant, I could hardly stop myself from creating a spreadsheet to track everything. It has been very helpful, since I have had to move things around in the budget to keep everything on budget.

Step Three: Take a deep breath and get ready for some serious sticker shock. Remember, this is the only time many of these vendors are going to see you. You are most likely not going to be a repeat customer. On your side though, you are a walking advertisement for them. Your recommendation has some value. But be ready, you are about to enter a whole different world.

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