How to Plan a Wedding & Honeymoon w/o Getting Divorced (writing sample)

Till Debt Do Us Part

What’s your real budget?

“We’ll get by.” These famous last words have been uttered by thousands of couples planning (and paying) for their wedding and honeymoon.

We all want our big day to be a perfect, memorable affair and enjoy a fair-tale honeymoon that will make all of our friends insanely jealous every time we drag out our scrapbooks or gossip about so-and-so’s tacky theme wedding. But many of us suffer from “beer budget, champagne taste” syndrome. The last thing we want to face is the fact that our checkbooks aren’t as big as our dreams.

The majority of couples today pay for their own wedding and honeymoon. And, the majority of couples who pay for their own wedding start their new lives in debt – paying for those elegant table favors or that trip to the Bahamas months after the ceremony. Obviously, this is no way to start your new life together – no one wants their wedding to become a year-long monthly bill.

So, the first thing you’ll have to do is be honest with yourself. What’s your real budget? How much can you really afford to spend on nuptial necessities? Can you really afford a $1500 dress or a $1200 cake? Is your bank account putting the brakes on the private limo service to the ceremony?

Take the time to tally a realistic budget. Don’t worry about how much everything will cost. For now, all you need is a down-to-earth financial basis. By realistic, I mean be practical, first, figure out how much your and your fiancé receive in net income, and then deduct your monthly expenses – how much cash do you have left over?

If you’re like most young couples, chances are this figure will be unimpressive. But don’t panic, your wedding doesn’t have to be – with a little imagination and resourcefulness, you can turn a small budget into a big affair.

First of all, keep in mind that it realistically takes well over a year to plan a wedding and you won’t be paying for the entire shin-dig at once. That means you can pay for a lot of those little nuptial necessities as you plan and some many months before the big day.