The Perfect Wedding Pay 3

In the last post in this series, we went over some of the big money-spending decisions that must be made when planning for a wedding. We went over four points, then your eyeballs exploded in awesomeness. So in this post, we will finish our discussion by posting three more decisions to consider when planning your wedding. Once again, this is by no means all there is to consider, but just some important ones that ... let's be honest,  I feel like talking about.

Catering. This one is tricky, cause it's all in the timing. Depending on the time you have your wedding ceremony is how much money you will spend. If you get married at 5:00pm, expect to serve dinner or have an empty reception. You could potentially spend $15-$30 a person or more! But if you have your wedding a little earlier, say 2:00pm, then you get to save lots by falling between meals. You really don't need more than cake and drinks to keep people happy. Will people really talk bad about your wedding reception because they didn't get a fourth meal? Ok, don't answer that. I helped my wife cater her sister's wedding with a small budget. We got some great frozen hors'dourves from Sam's and warmed it up. It was a hit! Be careful where you book your reception, since some places require you to use their exclusive catering service. However, you can usually talk them into free hall rental for using their catering service.

Party favors. Depending on the number of guests, party favors can be a fortune. But save your fortune and do these for cheapness. Burn your guests CDs of the music featured at your wedding or sweet songs that you both like to enjoy together. If you did some kind of engagement video or pictures, you could print or burn those to a disc for everyone. Think about things you could put in mason jars. Cause they rock. Make your own hot cocoa mix, give some seeds for your guests to plant at home, or write out some family recipes. (Just don't tell grandma.) There is tons you could do! Get creative.

Entertainment. Not all receptions have to provide entertainment, but if you do, think about the costs and alternatives. Bands and DJs will keep the party going, but will cost you. It's all about your priorities. An alternative is to rent a sound system (or borrow one) and plug in your iPod with a custom built playlist. You can set your iPod to have hardly no dead-time between songs to keep things less awkward. But be sure you know what you're doing, or have a friend that does, or else it could be a nightmare. If dancing isn't your thing, think outside the box. If you have your reception outisde, you could just have some frisbees and footballs on hand. Maybe even go canoeing or ride bikes!

This list could go on forever, because a wedding can be the most expensive event in you life. But save that money (or that debt) and invest it wisely. Don't spend your first day as a married couple spending enough money to keep you in debt for the next 20 years. Especially since money is a leading cause of divorce. Instead, spend your first day married, financially, as a promise to be good stewards of each other's money and hard work.

Chris