Whether you are planning your wedding in 3, 6, or 12-odd months, you will need to set yourself a budget and stick to it. That also means unless you are being given money from your parents for the entire wedding or you already have savings set aside for this purpose, you will need to start saving toot de suite!

Image by Andrea Sproxton Photography for The Bride’s Tree Magazine Volume 10. 

Set a budget

You won’t have to pay for everything straight up, so you have some time to get your finances in order. There are a few rules you will have to set yourself from the get-go.

1. When you know the final amount, stick to it and don’t try to add more – alter your choices instead.
2. If, once you have set your budget using our Budget Calculator, you decide you simply must spend more on a particular part of the wedding, know that amount then has to come off somewhere else and figure that out, reconciling your overall budget, before you sign on for anything outside the original plan.
3. Set yourself and your partner an amount to save each pay. Don’t deviate from that amount. Make sure it is realistic for you in the first place.

Drawing up a timeline

First, start at the end and work your way back. Work out when final balances need to be paid, and when deposits need to be paid.

If you are working to a really strict budget, simply start by paying only the minimum deposit up front, and bank as much savings as you can. Let it sit there earning interest and leave paying the balance until the very day it is due if you know you won’t be tempted to spend and if you know you have a good system to help you keep track of what’s due when. 

Keep a strict diary, and set yourself reminders in your phone or email system if you know these work better for you. Some vendors and suppliers have a waiting list and will let your booking go the very next day if you miss your final payment, so don’t miss out simply because of forgetfulness!

Try to organise your balances to be due at different times so you are not overloaded with all of your final payments at once. If you communicate with your vendors and suppliers, they may be flexible with due dates, or even arrange for smaller instalments to be made along the way if that is going to work better with your savings timeline.

If you think you will be tempted to dip into your wedding savings for other purposes, do the opposite and pay off different components of the wedding as soon as you can.

Know how much you’re going to need when, and up your savings any way you can if you need to in order to make your payments on time. 

Don’t lose your deposits! 

It’s important to be really sure you’re happy with your suppliers and their prices before you lock them in. Many wedding vendors when taking your booking reserve the entire day for you, leaving them unable to be available to other potential business. Some businesses reserve even more in preparation time for you. So if you decide to cancel, don’t be surprised if you discover that deposit you were told is non-refundable really isn’t going to be returned to you.

So is it fair to hold a deposit for work that isn’t completed? The simple answer is yes, but let me explain. When a  vendor books your wedding, they will typically continue to get enquiries for your wedding date, which they will be forced to turn down so they can focus solely on your wedding that week or day or portion of the day. If you cancel, depending on how much lead time you have given, that vendor may or may not have the opportunity to book other business for that day, which can affect their livelihood, or in the case of a larger business, their ability to provide work for their staff. 

Look at it this way – if your boss walked in and announced you were unexpectedly being sent on a week of compulsory unpaid leave, would that seem unfair to you? Would it put a dent in your finances? Would losing that income you were relying on affect you and your partner or family negatively? If you answered yes to any or all of the above, I think you see my point. 

Don’t be indecisive when it comes to booking professionals. Once you have made your choice and agreed to a quote, stick to it. Follow your savings timeline and your lush wedding will be at your fingertips before you know it! 

Check out our Savings Timeline and Budget Calculator printable planning tools. 

Find more helpful planning articles in our resource guide. 

The post Draw up a Wedding Savings Timeline appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

We asked one saavy budget-conscious bride how she managed to (mostly) stick to her budget for her Noosa River wedding. Here is Sarah's story in her own words. 

My Wedding Day

Our wedding Ceremony was on Catalina Cruises in the middle of the Noosa River on their boat. They have a great wedding package, where I arrived by Gondola to the large boat with all the guests waiting. The reception was at Australis Noosa Lakes, Tewantin, which is just accross from the Noosa Marina where the boat left and returned too.

Number of Guests: 90

Budget Set: $10,000.00

Final figure: $11,200.

Starting point

From the word go, you need to have an idea in mind of what colours you want for the bridesmaids dresses and the invitations, then decorations and everything will fall into place and you won't waste time or money getting things that didn't match and then wanting to change

Everybody has a budget blow-out sometime…

We went over budget by $1,200. I had ordered a fairly cheap dress overseas and when it came it just wasn't as nice as a wedding dress needed to be. I was totally against spending a lot of money on a wedding dress for one days sake, but definitely changed my mind and realised how important it is to really feel special on your day. Saying that, $1,200 on a dress was a bargain as I bought it off the rack and they threw in head pieces etc. to move their stock.

Surprising savings

I was rather suprised by the reasonable cost of the wedding catering at Australis Noosa Lakes. A two-course meal, consisting of a buffet main, and buffett dessert was only $45 per head. We really saved on those costs, the food was terrific and there was plenty. 

DIY was key to staying on budget

We did all the decorations ourselves. I bought them all off ebay and local $2 dollar shops (sounds tacky but came together quite classy.) My aunty owns white lycra chair covers so they were free, I bought chair sashes, table runners and round mirrors for centreprieces off ebay, metal birdcages as centrepieces from Crazy Clarks, acrylic table scatters from ebay, candles and tea light candles from Big W, greenery for inside the birdcage from $2 discount shop to go along with the candle in the birdcage. All my weddng favours where bought from ebay, which were white wedding dress and tuxedo boxes, which I filled with mini pink musks and printed off stickers which said 'thank you', and stuck them on the bonbonierre boxes. A good friend took over doing all he decorating the day before so I could relax.

Get organised

Use an excel spreadsheet and write down everything you are getting and keep a tally, continually factor in everything else that is standard like food, flowers, entertainment etc. and a basic price of what you expect it to be as rsvp's keep coming in.

Banking to stay on budget

Open a seperate bank account and only use money from it so you can see at any time how much you've got left and what you still need to pay for.

K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple, sister. Don't over indluge and be so self-entitled to everything you think you want, because usually noone else will notice anywhere near as much as you will.

Choose wisely

Of course the biggest budget helper is the suppliers you choose. Shop around, do a lot of research, compare everything! Dont be afraid to ask questions. Websites are not always up to date, so it's always best to make a phone call as they might have something that isn't on their website that you want.

Emma Nayler Photographer was a stand out supplier. I was on a budget a really trying to keep to it. She was most accommodating and it really helped. 

My Hand-picked Team That Made It All Happen

Ceremony venue: Catalina Cruises, Noosa River

Reception venue: Australis Noosa Lakes

Photographer: Emma Nayler Photographer

Decorations: DIY

Dress: Hills In Hollwood Sunshine Coast, Allure Bridal.

Makeup: Sister

Hair: Sister's friend

Accessories: Birdcage net hair piece came with purchase of dress from Hills in Hollywood, Earrings from Diva

Shoes: Novo

Favours: DIY White Wedding Dress and Tuxedo Boxes filled with pink musks.

Cake: Family friend is a cake maker and decorator! 

Transport: Arranged by Catalina Cruises to get to ceremony. Transport to location photos was organised by my husband and were all friends vehicles, White VE GTS, VL Turbo, & a Torana. (he's a Holden fan.)

Entertainment: Family friend is a DJ as well a member of a four piece Band! The Dukes of Rhythm. A+ for their entertainment.

Gift Registry: Made our own. Wrote a list of wants/needs and gave the list to Mum for people to ask about. Notations were made in our invitation to call her.

Officiant: I'm a member of a church so my Bishop was willing to provide the services for free. We invited him and his wife along for the whole day.

Florist: Jo Shadbolt (friend)

Our Honeymoon (over and beyond the wedding budget)

We honeymooned in Phuket, Thailand. $3,750 included return flights, 10 nights accommodation in honeymoon suite and buffet breakfast daily, along with an Elephant Trek. Including spending money on dinners and shopping, the whole thing cost $5000.

The post Savings Tips From a Savvy Sunshine Coast Bride appeared first on The Bride's Tree.