Financial Planning

How to Plan a Wedding (The Right Way)

In our Financial Planning 101 series, we cover 101 of the best reasons why YOU need a financial plan with Weddings being #96. In today’s article, we want to spend a few minutes talking about one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make in your life and how to plan your finances accordingly.

Weddings are not only a cherished event and memory for family and friends alike, they also happen to be big business. Check out these numbers:

• There are 2.3 million weddings in the U.S. each year.
• That breaks down to roughly 6200 every day (just in the United States).
• Approximately $70 Billion is spent on weddings per year.

According to TheKnot.com the average wedding costs just under $30,000! Unless you have that kind of money lying around, let’s talk about how to plan your wedding without going broke in the process.

Remember What The Day Is About

Nothing bugs me more then when I watch a show on TV and all the bride (or groom for that matter) can do is gripe, moan, and complain about how that one flower petal looks bad or that they can’t stand their great Aunt Sue and she is going to ruin the day if she comes. You know the people I’m talking about. Are you one of them???

What they fail to remember is that getting married is not about the wedding. The wedding is what starts that journey and while important, is not NEARLY as important as the life you and your spouse will begin thereafter. Your wedding is ONE day. Your marriage should be for the rest of you life. Do you really want to spend money you don’t have on a day that will be over before you know it?

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not advocating going down to the county court house (unless that’s something you want to do). What I am saying is that the right perspective has to be there on this all-important day.

Make A List

Don’t just go into your wedding thinking the money is going to magically appear or that your credit card will just pay itself off someday. Instead, map out what are the 1, 2, or 3 most important things to you on that day and then figure out how to pay for them in the cheapest way possible while not sacrificing the quality you are wanting.

Plan Together

This is a fun one and almost always gets people into the right frame of mind. Once you’ve figured out all the things you absolutely must have in your wedding, sit down with your spouse and together discuss 1) How You Can Afford It – notice I didn’t say IF you can afford it and 2) If You Both Feel That’s A Wise Investment – even if your parents are paying for the wedding this is an important exercise.

What you’ll discover is that the “money language” you and your soon-to-be-spouse will have to establish is often a little awkward and uncomfortable in the beginning. Since so much of what leads up to a wedding is about dreams, daisies, and complete and utter bliss – couples enter a marriage without having ever discussed things like money management, savings, investing and of course our favorite: financial planning.

Which is a BIG mistake.

All this to say, take the time to sit down with your spouse and at a minimum decide together what you have to spend, what you want to spend it on, and how you can creatively come up with the money to pay for the things you want (that you may not have the money for just yet).

At the end of the day, learning how to plan a wedding on a financially sound footing will do wonders for the start of your marriage. If you want to really kick your marriage into overdrive, wake up every day and ask yourself this one question, “How can I serve my spouse today?”

It’s a tough question, but it’s one of the best-kept “secrets” to a long and happy marriage!

Weddings was our 96th reason that YOU need financial planning, and to learn all 101 be sure to check out our Financial Planning 101 article. This fun yet informative article covers many of the top reasons that financial planning is so absolutely important.

If you are on a tight budget but still would like to pull off the wedding of your dreams, check out Wedding Planning on a Tight Budget. Yes, we make a small commission if you decide to purchase from them but the program is great and well worth your time to check it out.