Wedding Cost

May 27, 2009……Are you one of the 88% who overspent on your wedding? According to Visa Inc.’s study the average wedding costs $8,721 and some 88% of couples agree they overspent in some area of their wedding. At the top of the list was food, drink and cake followed by hotel, honeymoon, reception and clothing.

According to Jason Alderman, Senior Director of Financial Education, Visa Inc., “The money conversation needs to happen as soon as you become engaged, not while you are on your way to the altar.” He also stated that for most couples the wedding is the first major financial decision they make.

Visa offers the following budgeting tips:

• Decide what parts of the wedding are most important to you.
• Hold your ceremony and reception at the same place.
• Keep guest lists small.
• Don’t have a Saturday wedding that is the highest price and demand day.
• Try outlet stores for your wedding attire.
• Don’t have an open bar; keep the options to two or three.

Okay, you’ve already had your wedding and now need some financial planning. Money Management International offers a great many sources to help newlyweds handle their money. The latest eBook, Love and Money: Your Guide to the Coupling of Finance and Romance, discusses both the serious and fun sides of combining 2 financial situations. Their experts in finance have the following tips for before and after the wedding:

• Disclose all of your debts to each other before heading down the aisle that way you start out with you both being on the same page and leads to open, honest communication.
• Discuss values and set priorities before marriage. Learn to budget together and create realistic financial goals.
• Make financial goals together it helps make for a stronger marital bond because both are making sacrifices to reach the same goal.
• Decide on each person’s responsibilities. Even if only one of you pays the bills both should know how if the need arises. Many couples have found that one partner take the short term financial responsibilities like paying bills, and the other partner have the responsibilities for long term finances like savings and retirement plans.
• Pay debts on time and as soon as possible.