Planning the wedding of your dreams? Chances are as you begin to iron out the specifics, you realize that your dreams don’t exactly match your budget. As the average wedding can cost an upwards of $20,000, you worry that you won’t have enough to foot the bill. Sure there’s your savings and your parents will help out a bit, but will it allow you to make your dreams a reality? Or, will you be forced to make some serious sacrifices?
The truth is, there are plenty of ways you can allocate the funds you need to plan your dream wedding. It’s all about knowing where to look and how to best utilize your resources to make the most of your wedding budget. Below, are a few sources to turn to:
Personal Loans
If you need several hundred or thousand dollars to pull off your dream wedding the first option would be to take out a loan. As bank loans can often be difficult to qualify for, it would be wise to look for alternative solutions like a consumer installment loan. This is a short-term loan for individuals with no or bad credit. If you qualify, you could receive a loan for several hundred dollars and be provided with an affordable repayment plan.
Cut Back
Hopefully, you’ve given yourself several months to a year to plan your wedding. If you have, this means there’s still time to save money towards your big day. Take a look at your personal expenses and see where you can cut back. You could ditch cable, downgrade your mobile plan, cut monthly subscription services, eat at home, make your own coffee, stop shopping for a few months, or look for ways to save on regular household expenses. Every dime you save can be added to your wedding budget.
If you really want the wedding of your dreams, you might also consider making larger sacrifices like trading in your car for a cheaper one or moving in with your parents to save on rent for a few months.
Earn More
If you need even more money to fund your wedding you can simply earn more money. These days it is easier than ever to make a few extra bucks on the side. You can join a rideshare service, deliver food, run errands, walk dogs, babysit, tutor, or work as a freelancer providing professional services to small businesses.
Look for Deals
Another way to fund the wedding of your dreams is to look for ways to save. The more you can save on wedding expenses the farther your existing budget can stretch. You can shop around for wedding venues for the best prices, look for retail sales on bridal fashion, choose decor from budget-friendly options, ask a friend or relative to do the filming and photography, and more to cut back on wedding costs.
Get Your DIY On
Sometimes you can save more on wedding expenses by taking care of things yourself. If you’re pretty handy with crafts and/or technology, there are a lot of things you can handle on your own. You can digitize your wedding invitations, make your own bouquets, favors, and wedding programs, or even ask relatives to pitch in with food.
The hope is that your wedding day only happens once, so why shouldn’t you be allowed to plan the wedding of your dreams? Weddings can get out of hand when it comes to costs, but there are ways around it that don’t involve digging yourself too deep in debt or sacrificing elements of your wedding that you really want. Whether you want a rustic campground wedding or a destination beach ceremony, the above tips and resources will both increase and stretch your budget so you can plan the wedding you really want.
