FINDING THE CASH

Money management is not an easy trick to master and it is something that a lot of people struggle with. Your bank or building society should be able to provide some free advice to help you on your way, or alternatively why not keep a simple record of where each penny is going on paper, a spreadsheet or money management software package. Once you know how much is ‘spare’ each month, simply multiply this figure by the number of months between now and your Wedding month – this simple calculation provides you with your potential savings amount. Knowing this value can even help you to set the date of your wedding based on how much you need to save and how long it will take you to save it!

Contributions: After you announce your decision to get married, you may find that parents and certain other relatives are immediately forthcoming with offers to contribute to your Big Day. In this situation you and your partner will need to come to a decision - to accept the money or not! We cover money from this source in much greater detail in the article entitled Contributions and it is well worth a read.

Alternative Funding: If your total savings plus any potential contributions won’t stretch quite as far as you want it to, or at least, not quickly enough, there are additional options for financing your wedding, but they may not necessarily be suitable for all:

• A loan: In today’s world a great number of people owe money - whether it’s a mortgage, car loan or credit card. Whilst we would not recommend getting in to debt for your Wedding, (it’s certainly not the ideal start to married life) it may be a necessity for some people to do so. If you feel you really need to get that little bit extra for your day, make sure that you remember to reduce your savings by the amount you will need to repay each month, and always shop around for the lowest interest rate for your loan.