Why it’s important to balance your wedding and honeymoon budget?
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve talked with couples who find the balance between their wedding and honeymoon budget to be a daunting task.
How do you balance the two without sacrificing one or the other?
Why is it so important?
It’s no secret that it’s the one day of your life when you deserve the very best of everything. It’s an occasion that magical memories are made. But as important as your wedding day or dream honeymoon is, if you’re not careful, you can blow your entire budget.
Juggling your budget for your big day and your honeymoon as you celebrate your first days as husband and wife, is important; and getting everything you want out of both occasions can be hard to balance.
Here are some tips to help you keep balance.
Choose your date carefully – Booking a lovely wedding – and jetting off to an exotic location afterwards – doesn’t have to take place on a Saturday in summer, when prices tend to be sky-high.
Explore ‘off peak’ dates with your venue and combine this with a honeymoon package outside peak times. You will find that mid-week wedding bookings are less expensive. Keep in mind that you will need to give guests enough notice so they can schedule time off work.
Make gifts ‘wedding-relevant’ – If you’re wondering how to have a dream wedding on a controlled budget, this is a fabulous tip, especially if you’ve lived together for a while and have plenty of kitchen equipment.
Create a honeymoon registry and instead of the traditional gifts, your guests could make contributions to such items as flowers, band hire, champagne for the toast, or even bridesmaid dresses. It could turn end up saving you a nice little bundle.
Check the small print carefully – With all the excitement of planning a wedding and honeymoon, it’s easy to fall into the trap of signing up for bigger bills than you bargained for.
Look carefully at all the quotes you get, and what is included, to be sure you’re comparing like-for-like.
For example, when booking a band, a great tip for balancing your wedding budget is to make sure they bring all their own sound and special effects equipment.
(Another great way to keep the cost of your reception down is to book a local band, who don’t charge much – or anything – for travel.)
The same control of additional costs applies to honeymoons. Look out for extra charges for luggage, airport transfers and on-site hotel fees.
Hidden costs could include water sports, tours, premium spirts etc; so keep an eye out for package inclusions.
Guest list – This is a thorny one, but it’s certainly important if you want to manage the financing of your wedding and honeymoon budget. Be firm on your numbers for invitations. That may mean disappointing a few second cousins or friends from school days but you have to be realistic. One of the best measures to use in creating a wedding guest list is to only invite people that are near and dear to your heart.
Make it personal – Keep in mind that this day is all about you and your partner. Impressing and entertaining your relatives and friends for hours on end is by no means obligatory! If you want to keep it sweet, simple and all about you two, that’s a perfect way to make it both special and affordable!
We plan everything for you, so you have nothing to worry about and you don’t even have to lift a finger. With our insider knowledge and relationships, we’ll design the perfect itinerary, find the best value, and plan for every contingency so your vacation or honeymoon will truly be the romantic tropical island getaway of your dreams.