Your wedding is a special day. You don’t want to skimp on it. This is a day that comes once in a lifetime. There is a good chance you have some savings devoted to this event. The bad news is that just prior to the pandemic,the cost of the average wedding was about $34,000. There were likely a lot of people wishing they had some of that back less than a year after the big day.
Your wedding day is not something you should ever regret. And there are reasonable things you can do to make sure that the cost of the wedding is not one of those things that cause regret down the road. Like everything else, a wedding should have a strict budget. Once you have set aside the funds, spend them like there is no tomorrow and don’t look back. You’ve earned it. But if your budget will not stretch as far as you would like, here are a few places you can make a little breathing room:
1. The Wedding Ring
The wedding ring is an important piece of ceremonial jewelry that will be the subject of photographs and conversations for years to come. You could easily spend $34,000 on the ring just by itself. There is no upper limit to what you could spend. At some point, the credit card company will cut you off. But until then, you can dig yourself a very deep hole.
Just remember your wedding ring is a symbol of love, not a chain of debt you carry for a lifetime. You found tasteful ways to save money on those spectacular engagement rings by thinking a little outside the box. You can do the same for the wedding set as well. Not one person will ask how much you paid for the rings. They will just be stunned by their beauty. If someone feels the need to ask how much you paid for the ring, you shouldn’t question your choice of ring, but your choice of friends.
2. A Different Wedding Tradition
There is no reason for you to emulate the anachronistic wedding traditions of royals from distant lands to which you have no historical connection. Have you considered trying a different wedding tradition? Native American wedding traditions are just as meaningful and worthy of emulation as any from Europe. One of the best things about looking into other parts of your heritage for wedding ideas is that they will remind you that weddings don’t have to cost $34,000 to be spectacular.
Some traditions are more focused on a connection with the land. Others are all about the extended family and community. A wedding does not have to be about aggrandizing the couple as the center of the universe for a day. They are often about reminding the couple of what is and will be most important if their union is to be successful. Even this slight shift in focus can easily move the wedding cost one whole decimal point to the left.
3. A Different Kind of Honeymoon
The honeymoon phase is a time where everything is all peaches and cream. Everyone is still starry-eyed and everything always comes up roses. That phase eventually gives way to arguments about dirty socks and overdue bills. Rather than starting off your new life by booking a month-long stay in a European palace, why not start things off a little more down to earth. Save the big trip for the 10th anniversary, or 50th. Make it an earned event that you saved up for. Make it the reward for working through all those human issues that come up along the way.
You don’t have to take the vacation of a lifetime as if you were ticking off things from your bucket list. You have to assume you have plenty of time to build up to it. Take a more modest yet delightful trip where you can have a little time away before the madness of life catches up with you. A more realistic honeymoon will set you up for a more realistic life together. Realistic is not such a bad thing.
You don’t have to cheap out on your big day to achieve big savings. Consider spending a bit less on the wedding rings, the ceremonial trappings by using other traditions, and a honeymoon period that sets you up for reality rather than an emotional and financial crash.
Article Submitted By Community Writer