Monday, December 21, 2009
As soon as you get engaged you’ll want to announce it to the world. While you’re still on the engagement high, you’ll be quick to ask family and/or friends to stand up for you on your big day. Although you may have a ton of friends that you’ve known for what seems like forever or large family (lots of sisters, brothers, cousins, etc) keep in mind that having a large wedding party comes at a price. I’ve done weddings with bridal parties of 20+ people. I remember watching an episode of “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?” where a planner coordinated a wedding with 52 people in the wedding party. Most wedding planners would say that 5-6 on each side is about average whereas 10 or more on each side is considered large.
Couples usually don’t think the costs associated with asking someone to be in their wedding. Of course there is a cost to them (bridesmaid dress, tuxedo, contributing to bridal showers and bachelor/bachelorette parties, etc.) but there is also a cost for you. Here are a few things to keep in mind before deciding on a large wedding party.
The larger your wedding party the higher the costs for:
- Florals – will need more bouquets and boutonnières at around $75 and $15 each (depending flower choice)
- Transportation – will need larger than a standard limo to accommodate everyone
- Rehearsal Dinner – will need to pay for additional people (especially if you include their spouses)
- Wedding Party Gifts – will need to purchase more gifts
- Hotel – may need a hotel suite for you and your attendants to get dressed instead of a hotel room or your home
How will these higher costs affect your budget?
Stay tuned…later this week we will re-run two previous posts that will also help with choosing your wedding party.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Before you start researching venues for your ceremony and reception, you’ll need to have an idea of how many guests you plan to invite to your wedding. Write down all the people you want to join you on your special day…family, friends, their significant others, kids, etc. Don’t forget to include yourselves and your bridal party in your guest count. Then talk with your parents to see who they would like to invite. The total is your preliminary guest list.
Having a preliminary guest list will help you avoid booking venues that are either too large or too small for your celebration. Imagine choosing a beautiful quaint chapel for the ceremony or a gorgeous historic mansion for dinner only to realize later that you have 200 guests but the chapel only seats 125 and the mansion only holds 150. On the flip side, what if you choose a large ballroom at a trendy new hotel that holds 300 people but your guest list only comes out to 100. While it’s true that having too much space is better than not enough space, it’s still not a good thing.
Another reason you should have a preliminary guest list is to determine if the reception venue’s catering prices are within your budget. Typically, you should expect to allocate about 50% of your wedding budget to food and beverage. If you multiply the number of wedding guests by the caterer’s per person price including service charge and tax (often referred to as + +) and it’s more than half your wedding budget, you may need to consider other venue options or reduce your guest list.
Hope this helps you see why it’s best to make your guest list first.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
One very important element of your wedding, besides the bride & groom of course, is the wedding budget. How much will you have to spend for your wedding?
Here is a quick way to come up with this figure:
- Existing Funds – Look at how much do you currently have in your bank accounts then decide how much of that amount you want to use toward your wedding
- Joint Funds – Determine how much money you can save each month as a couple and then multiply that by the number of months you have until your wedding
- Tax Refund – If you usually receive a refund on your taxes each year you may want to include an estimated amount to your wedding budget
- Contributions – Sit down with your parents to see if they plan to contribute
Once you’ve come up with your budget amount it will be the basis for your entire wedding not just for your reception. EVERYTHING for your wedding will come out of this amount…wedding attire and accessories, flowers, officiant, transportation, photographer, videographer, décor, stationery, hair & makeup, wedding party gifts, etc.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Choosing your tentative wedding date takes some thought. Although most brides have dreamed of when they’d like to get married, you’ll need to choose your date based on your personal/professional life and availability.
- School Schedule – Are either of you in college or Grad school with final exams in May? If so, a May wedding might not be a great idea. Imagine yourself trying to juggle the final details of your wedding along with studying for a major test or preparing a paper that will count as half of your grade. Do you have kids? If so, will it be easy to have someone get your kids off to school while you’re on your honeymoon? If not, you’ll probably want a summer wedding.
- Work / Career Demands – Does your job get extremely busy during certain times of the year? You’ll want to avoid those months. Are you an Accountant who does taxes? Then choosing a wedding date during the very hectic tax season probably won’t work for you.
- Travel – Will most of your guests have to travel from out of town to attend your wedding? Thanksgiving weekend probably isn’t the best choice considering it is the most traveled holiday in America.
- Weather – Have you always wanted an outdoor wedding? Avoiding dates in late Fall or Winter will be very appreciated by your guests (this may not apply to West Coast readers). You’ll also want to rethink the month of April since it tends to rain a lot {c’mon you’ve heard the saying…April showers brings May flowers}
- Honeymoon Destination – Do you want to honeymoon in the Caribbean? You’ll probably want to avoid months during hurricane season.
These are just a few examples of things you’ll need to consider when picking your wedding date. Ultimately, your actual date will depend on the availability of the venue(s) you select but you should have a month and day in mind before you start your search.
|
|
