Discount Wedding Checklist - Secrets To Planning Your Perfect Wedding

This article will provide you with a "discount wedding checklist", in other words, it will list the most important items to look at when planning your dream wedding on a budget. A lot of the ideas and tips on this page came from a great wedding planning book called "Wedding Planning on a Budget".

The authors of the book held their perfect wedding using only a $2000 budget, without skimping on the stuff that they really wanted. It really opened my eyes on the possibilities of what can be achieved with a proper wedding budget and proper wedding planning.

The first item on the discount wedding checklist is to talk to your partner and decide on how much you are prepared to pay for your wedding (for the wedding ceremony as well as the wedding reception). Look at factors such as:

• Your and your partner's savings


• Your current income


• What your income will be after you get married


• How much you and your partner's parents will be able to contribute

A budget can be any amount that you and your partner are comfortable with ($500, $1000, $5000 or even $50000). Be sure that you are very comfortable with the amount, as financial problems during the first few years of marriage can lead to a lot of problems, and budgeting too high for your wedding is one of the main causes of financial problems.

After you and your partner have decided on a budget, the second item on the discount wedding checklist is to allocate the budget. It is now time to allocate the budget across the different areas of your wedding.

You may for instance allocate 50% to the wedding reception and wedding venue, 15% to the wedding dress, 10% for the wedding ceremony or ritual and the rest to the other various areas of a wedding.

Their are online tools and spreadsheets that will help when allocating your budget - the tool we used was the one you get for free with the "Wedding Planning on a Budget" book (it was called The Wedding Planner's Guide, Schedule, and Checklists and provided us with wedding budget worksheets and checklists)

The 3rd item on the discount wedding checklist, and probably the most important one but difficult one, is to stay within your budget. It is very easy to decide on an amount that you are willing to spend, and then to overspend that amount when you see something that you just must have.

Remember, follow this discount wedding checklist and ensure that you spend only as much as you are able to. If you need to spend more than you planned on a single item, remember to take that money from somewhere else. In other words, if you spend $20 more on your wedding dress, you need to spend $20 less on the flowers or the favors. Just remember:

IN TOTAL, DON'T SPEND MORE THAN THE BUDGET YOU AGREED UPON

In summary, following this discount wedding checklist will allow you to have the wedding of your dreams, but not be beggared for the first few years of you marriage.

The secret is really to decide on your budget, and then to decide on how to allocate that budget according to what is important to you.


The most important element of the discount wedding checklist is to always STAY WITHIN YOUR BUDGET.

The book that I mentioned ("Wedding Planning on a Budget") contains a lot more tips and secrets to save money while planning your wedding. Whereas this article focused on the WHAT (what do I need to do to plan a perfect wedding on a budget?), the book will provide you with a lot of HOW's (how do I decide on the perfect budget?, how do I allocate a budget?). Be sure to check it out.


Regards
Matt Mein