Advice & Guidance for Getting Out of a Sticky SituationBy Georgina Clatworthy
It is all too easy to get carried away when planning your wedding – designer dresses, accessories, flowers, a six tiered cake, soloists & those luxury chocolate favors that you simply must have! Before you know it you’ve blown the budget & your only half there to finalizing everything for your big day.If you find yourself doing the sums & you realize you have bust the budget with one ‘must have’ too many …. Don’t panic, here are some tips for rescuing your wedding day.First & foremost – STOP spending! Put everything on hold & embark on a course of damage limitation.Make a list of all your expenses, mark off all the things you have already paid for & all the things that are on order & will be paid for on collection such as flowers, cake etc. What is left should be everything you have yet to order or finalize & should be dealt with last.Go through everything that is on order & see if you can fine tune the orders to cut costs & save money. Phone your cake designer & florist & discuss with them cheaper options or packages. They are there to help you & should be able to offer alternatives to save money. If you have booked your caterers phone them too & ask about changing to a cheaper package, again they should be willing to do this. Don’t despair, often even the smallest of changes can result in considerable savings.If the remainder of your budget is sitting a bank account with a low interest rate, move it to a high earning account as soon as possible. Make sure you can get access to it when ever you need to & that the interest earnt is paid regularly (monthly rather than annually). Even if there is only a short period of time to the wedding, you could still see a nice return on your cash.Be honest with close family & friends, they may be willing to help out or offer helpful advice to save you money. Consider changing your gift registry & ask for money or gift vouchers instead. Knowing that there will be money coming in after the wedding could help with your wedding planning now. If you have bought items on a whim, take them back now for a full refund. This could include your wedding shoes & tiara, of which you could find cheaper alternatives that are just as nice. Concentrate on the main details of your day such as the food, venues & outfits, & forgo expensive smaller details such as elaborate table centers, favors & that custom made ice sculpture that you saw in a magazine!If you haven’t booked your honeymoon yet, consider delaying it, particularly if you had your heart set on an exotic break at a luxury resort. Ask some of your guests for holiday vouchers as gifts, which you could put towards the cost & which will free up some more of your budget now.Lastly, tighten your purse strings. Although this sounds obvious many people do not take it far enough & simply cut out one or two luxuries which makes no real difference to your finances. Cut down on your supermarket shopping by only purchasing those things that you really need, planning a weekly menu will make it easier to see what you exactly need to buy in. Cutting back on going out & luxuries like new clothes are easy ways to save money.
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