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Tips For A Stress Free Wedding |
| 3 Questions to Keep in mind as you Plan Your Wedding |
- What is Important to You?
- What is Important to Your Guests?
- What do you want People to Remember about Your Wedding?
The answers to all three questions are probably not the same. Think
about them as you plan your day. |
| Make a Plan |
| It doesn’t have to pinpoint exact, but any kind of a plan provides
the basis for going forward. Use the tools we have provided to get you
started. Remember the saying ‘Failing to Plan is itself a Plan to Fail’ |
| Create a Budget Plan |
| It’s easy to say ‘we want to spend $12,000 on our wedding’, but
without a breakdown of where and how much you can spend on each item,
you will be hard pressed to come in under budget without forgetting
items. Use our budget tracker which breaks down all the categories for
you. (if you want to spend $12,000 on the wedding how much should you
pay for your dress…..did you guess around $1,000, which includes your
veil, shoes, accessories, hair and a manicure! |
| Shop Around |
| You should get at least three quotes for items you are looking to
purchase. Don’t feel pressured into buying from the first store.
Remember to negotiate. Even if you like an item from one store, try the
‘stall and umm’ technique where you ponder (stall) and indicate that the
same item (‘umm isn’t the other store’s dress like this one’) is
available over at store xyz for 10% less etc. You never know but 10% off
of $1000 gives you money to spend elsewhere. There are lots of stores
serving the wedding industry that will be more than happy to sell you
stuff. |
| Get it IN WRITING |
| For your big purchases, get the item under consideration ordered
using a contract. Specify the terms of both you and the service
provider. Indicate that you will pay x for y payment due by z. Outline
penalty clauses. Refer to our contract document with our supplemental
information for the creation of such contract. If a store will not sign
a contract with you, maybe you shouldn’t buy from that store. (If they
can’t promise you your item when you want it and put it in writing….go
elsewhere). |
| Keep Your Receipts |
| This goes without saying. Hopefully you won’t need them but….. |
| Delegate |
| Use your checklists and spreadsheets you created when you planned
out your wedding preparation and have people help you out. Remember,
people are usually more than willing to help out, so take advantage of
it. |
| Check and Double Check |
| Ensure what you have ordered and the quantities are correct. If you
are having invitations printed, make sure you order extra as it is more
expensive to do a partial order later. |
| Beware the Nic Nac’s |
| These are the ‘oh this is cute’ $50 purchases that you never end up
using. Make your plan, decorations etc., before you purchase your items.
It doesn’t take very many small purchases to add up to a big expense. I
would guess every married couple has a box of really cute ‘do –da's’
that they never used. |
| Use a Planning Program with Pre-Made
Forms |
There are lots of options on the internet and bookstores for
planning your wedding. Get the most out of your planner as possible.
What is the most useable for you.
Why would you consider a planning spreadsheet program? You can do
everything yourself that is on these planners, right? Of course you can,
but here’s the catch. Something called the time value of money.
Reference the
www.planningmadesimple.com planning site for instance. There
are about 30 spreadsheets, a wedding diary and the option for you to
create your own wedding page, for about $60.If you were to create
some of the spreadsheets at your computer it would take you time. What
if it took ½ an hour to create each sheet. (conservative because we’ve
done it and we know how long it took).
$60 / (1/2 hr * 30 sheets) = $4.00. In other words, you are being paid
$4.00 per hour for your work. Is your time better spent somewhere else?
Imagine if it took an hour per sheet. Now your time is worth $2.00 per
hour.
Add to this a free web page where you simply plug in your data. To have
your own site you probably can’t find anything cheaper that a couple of
dollars a month and you have to do all the design. (Another
$60-130.00/year)
Plus you get support and lots of great tips and ideas and any new
planning sheets developed.
Here’s another way to look at justifying a $60 Planning Website.
Imagine if you were able to save 2% on just a few items for your wedding
using some of our tips, forms and planning suggestions. Categories are
assumed values based on a budget of $15,000. |
| Category |
Cost ($) |
Save 2% ($) |
| Wedding Attire |
$1500.00 |
$30.00 |
| Reception/Hall/Beverages |
$6000.00 |
$120.00 |
| Stationery (including stamps) |
1500 |
30 |
| Flowers/Decorations |
750 |
15 |
| Photography/Video/Music |
2250 |
45 |
| Cake/gifts, fees, |
750 |
15 |
| Honeymoon |
2250 |
45 |
| Total
|
$15,000 |
$300 |
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| That’s $300 but just saving 2%. Of course, you can do better than that.
We have already showed that Stationery alone can save you maybe upwards
of $1000 by doing it yourself. |
| Remember it is One day vs. the Rest of you Lives |
Have Fun
Relax. Remember if you have planned everything beforehand the execution
will flow smoothly. Plan before so you enjoy the day of. |
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Save on travel/honeymoon packages.
http://jabbs.globaltravel.com/home.aspx
or Call 1-800-715-4440 use agent number 6180830 |
For Further $$$ Savings, Tips, Shows, Classifieds and Coupons! Visit our friends at:
http://www.myweddingsavings.com |
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Use our
planningmadesimple.com program to, take the stress out of,
and add the fun to the planning of your wedding. |
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