SPENDING FOR YOUR WEDDING...BEFORE OR AFTER?

When it comes to marriage or wedding, only two things matters, that is love and money. Logically, love should exist before getting married. As for money, some people say it's not that important but if you want to have an almost a-happily-ever after marriage, do consider to plan your financial wisely. For that reason, this article will highlight more on planning financially for your wedding. And this is not intended to celebrity, super rich, 'money-never-a-problem'couple, as they should better go to a wedding planner and pay their fees.

Most couple failed to plan their financial. The only thing that crossed in their mind is to have a grand wedding. Ok, who doesn't? But please remember, wedding is not a one day occasion, it should last forever. Therefore, if we want to walk the aisle, build up a strong aisle that you can walk on it forever.

The most common mistakes any couple would do are improper planning. To plan a wedding is almost similar to starting a partnership business. We want the partnership to be stable, profitable, reliable and last forever. It shouldn't be a burden. We cannot just take the wedding merely as a one day occasion. Therefore we should plan. Lots of people can plan, but to plan and implement wisely in the financial aspects, only few can.

First of all, you must open a wedding file. There must be one folder that includes everything that you want in your wedding. It should be categorized into few categories like expenses, wedding plans, post wedding, budgets and miscellaneous. It can further be sub-categorized into more specific details like guests, costumes, venue, catering, photography, wedding gifts and so forth. By creating an organized system, you can properly start to plan and trace the progress and money disbursement better. And please prepare it as soon as you have intention to tie a knot. You can start saving for your wedding and insert all the relevant details of your savings into the financial folder.

Secondly, please put forward your budget for your wedding ceremony. Certain people like to make the ceremony grandly, maybe because they want to be nominated in a Wedding of The Year Award (is there any?). But just remember, no matter how majestic your wedding ceremony is, the only person that will remembers it is you yourself. No one else will remember other people's wedding forever. Ok, you might already put aside some money for your wedding, but honestly, majority of people only start saving after engagement, and I truly believe within that short period the saving is not enough, unless if you're engaged like what, 10-20 years ago? Therefore, if you have tight budget and you're not celebrity, consider to assemble a decent, sweet and simple but organized ceremony. You'll never know with proper planning, you can have a grand memorable wedding with little money spent. No matter what, the rule of thumb is not to begin a marriage with commercial loans.

Thirdly, have an in depth discussions with your partner on what type of wedding you want to have. Each wedding must have a theme. Do you want to have a garden wedding, a classical or a more casual wedding? And also think about the color theme. Then from this agreed rough idea, you can improvise and make it clearer. Make it compulsory to stick to this plan. Ask around, from other married couple. Inquire about their experience and you might get some good tips from them. You may perhaps get recommendation and be referred to a person that will be useful for you later on.

Fourthly, prioritize. Which is more important? You must list all the items that you want to have in your wedding. Then re-list the item, slash all the unnecessary things. Food caterers are more important than a violin player. You might as well reduce your guests to 500 if your budget didn抰 allow you to invite 1000 people. Anyhow, your second, third or forth list should be shorter than the first. In the end, if you have extra money to spend, then only you can consider to re-insert the least important item.

The first four steps are the initial stage. The next stage is implementation. Now you've got the entire overview of how your wedding should be planned, roughly. The next thing to be done is to look around. Browse the internet, catalogs and window shopping for the things needed in your wedding. Compare prices, services and pick the best option that suits your theme, budget and most importantly pick something that both of you would be fond of. Remember, this is a wedding; it needs both parties' consent.

In actual reality, most couples would fail this stage miserably; even after they had planned it well. Why? This is because some of us might get carried away with more appealing offers that appear along the way. You might have set a budget of RM500 for bridal suits but end up with the new arrival and latest design suits which cost RM300 more. For that, you'll need full commitment and initiative from your partner to really stick to the original plan. Unless if you have extra money to spent in. Don't imitate other richer (or who thinks they are rich) couples approach. They got the money. If you don't (actually you have, but you spend it wisely), act like one. If people talk (they will always commenting), let them be. They're not the one who put food on your plate. Again, never ever forget to ask, you'll never know what type of assistance you might come across.

These are few guidelines that should be considered by anyone planning to get married. But this just for the wedding ceremony. What about the post ceremony? Your financial planning for life after marriage is equally if not more important. This post ceremony budget must also be included in your wedding file. Sadly, as majority of couple failed to realize the importance of this post ceremony financial planning. Most of them failed to recognize and realize the actual fact; post ceremony life is actually longer than the time spent for their ceremony. The only thing that comes across as post ceremony life is their honeymoon, which is not wrong but not fully right.

You must already have a plan on where to live, what type of lifestyle you want to lead, and many more. You should be able to start your after marriage life swiftly. If you intend to stay on your own, moving out from your family抯 house, get ready with your housing plan. Even if you want to rent, make sure you make it available as soon as the ceremony is over. You are not going to sleep in the 'Just Married' car don't you? So, make sure that you already have a place to start a new life, a place to be called home. Don't forget to put aside budget for your new house fittings. Buy the important electrical appliances and furniture such as washing machine, refrigerator, television, dining table and bedroom set among other things first. These are important item and don't expect people to buy you these stuff as your wedding gifts. For other smaller items like toaster, blender, microwave or iron you might delay the purchase at least after you've opened all the presents received.

Lastly, apart from planning your financial aspects, never push your parents and siblings aside, if they're still alive. Correct, it's your life, your marriage, but you'll never know the value of parents' and family's blessing. Consult them and ask their opinion, even if you didn't take it as a final verdict. Make them happy and they will repay it by showing you a tremendous help that you sometimes can never thing of.

Decision to make your wedding and marriage life better, is not judged by how impressive your ceremony is held. It is more on how you plan your marriage life from the very beginning. Guests will come and go, but honestly, only a few will ever bother about how your life will be, after they leave. So it's totally up to you to make certain that everything is financially taken care of, before and after.