Overwhelmed with Budgeting

It's totally okay to push back the wedding date until you're financially ready to take on those expenses. Weddings are not cheap, but I don't have to tell you that! We're fortunate to have my dad help us, but without him, I think we'd also have to move back the wedding date.

A lot of people work second jobs to fund their weddings, but don't take on more than you can handle. Enjoy being engaged, save up, and go from there!

I happen to have a job which allows (requires) a lot of overtime certain points of the year. We looked at how much we could save per paycheck without affecting bills, normal spending etc. Then anything we got additional (overtime pay, bonuses, Christmas money, taxes) all went to the wedding savings account. I also made sure our savings account earned interest even if is was just a little.

Also anything I could turn in for gift cards I did. Credit card points, work incentives and even the WW vendor rewards. To me every little bit adds up!

We're fortunate enough to have a bit of help from both of our parents, but at the end of the day, we'll be contributing the most towards our wedding. He had moved some money from his savings to our wedding account and I had started saving a little bit right around the time my friend got married, which was around 6 months before he ended up proposing.

We've been throwing our tax returns in the savings along with checks we get from small gigs (we both work as actors) and little bits from our paychecks that we can spare. I occasionally drive for postmates for some extra money. But mostly, it's been looking at what we can save and what we can afford to have in a certain amount of time. It's very overwhelming, but you can do it! It's totally fine to push the wedding out to when you can afford it (that's what we ended up doing). Look at things in your budget you can afford to cut down on, or even your cutting down a guest list.

Once you two lay the groundwork for the budget, it'll get easier. Just remember to breath and that you aren't on any timetable.

Figure out what you too can realistically save in a year or two. Let that be your guide as to when you have the wedding and how much you spend. If need be, keep your list short. Consider lower cost options like a brunch wedding, shorter cocktail reception with heavy apps and stations, having a smaller reception at a restaurant. There have been some great posts here and you can research on the internet low cost alternatives for venues, dress, etc.

Some things you shouldn't do: 1. Stress over it - this is a wonderful time in your life and planning should be generally fun, 2. Don't go into debt for a wedding. Spend only what your comfortable with. Celebrations come in all shapes and sizes.

Definitely cut back on things that you can live without like routine manicures, Starbucks coffee, unused gym memberships, etc. This stuff adds up quickly so it's best to divert those expenses to your wedding savings. I picked up a second job dog walking and sitting to supplement my income since I'm pretty much the only one of us two contributing (FH is a student and the money he does make goes to our shared expenses). Otherwise, there's no shame in pushing the date back until you can afford the wedding you want (or if you'd rather sooner than later, cut down on your guest list)!

I know what you mean. Our parents are helping with our $45K wedding (not including RD, Day-After Brunch, Couple's Shower, Honeymoon, or rings) but of that, we are still playing $20K plus $16K for the honeymoon and $6K for the rings. AND we are planning on buying a condo this summer. Granted it's all happening about the same period but sometimes I feel like we're just draining money.

I think pushing back the date if you want a bigger budget is totally fine! But if you want to get married ASAP, lowering the budget is totally okay too. Something that helped me, is downloading the app "Acorn". It's an investment app, and it rounds up all your purchases. So you buy lunch for $14.98 and it puts the extra $0.02 in your Acorn account (or whatever the change is). Then you can opt to put whatever amount in monthly. I have been doing it for less than a year, and put no money in monthly, just round ups and I have over $400. Not a ton of money, but enough to pay our officiant or for our desserts! We also opened a joint savings account for our honeymoon and put $100 in a month each automatic transfer. It's helped us save without having to constantly think about saving. You should also get a larger tax return if it's your first time buying a house? So if you can wait until you get your 2018 tax return next January/February/etc., it may be quite a bit to help with the wedding! Good luck!

I pushed my date back due to this very reason. My fiance and I are paying for everything ourselves as well so we pushed our date back.

We've had a long engagement, but we have had several financial setbacks along the way as well. I've been stressed about money the whole time, but it's all coming together. Sit down and go over your budget. Cut unnecessary expenses and determine how much the two of you can really put back every month. If that isn't enough for your wedding goal, then push back the date if adjust your goal. We both got second jobs in order to pay for the wedding we wanted.

There are lots of ways to save money (diy centerpieces, buy linens vs rent, diy invitations, etc), but things still add up rather quickly. Determine what means most to you on your wedding day and work around that in the budget.

We are also paying for our wedding ourselves. We are about a year out from our date. I figured out how much I could take from my weekly paycheck and still be able to afford my bills (for me it is $100 a week). So I pull that out of my account so that I don’t see it in there and spend it on something else I don’t need. I also try to purchase smaller things when I have spare money so that they aren’t coming out of my bigger wedding savings. My FH gets tips at work on top of his regular paycheck so he is putting his tips strictly towards the wedding, so that is a good amount but I don’t factor it into the guaranteed money I have saved.

FH and I got engaged October 2015, purchased our house in January 2016, and are getting married in October 2018. It's a lot to take on in a short amount of time, which is why I'm glad we had a long engagement. Our house mixed with some job changes really set us back with being able to afford a wedding, since we are paying for it mostly by ourselves.

We have cut back almost entirely on eating out, and only go out one or two nights a month as a date night where we spend any money. We hang out at home or with family and friends, have home cooked dinner and spend time together instead of spending money. We set aside as much as we possibly can from each of our paychecks for the wedding, after we've paid our bills and put some in savings. It's really really hard, and I feel bad like I'm restricting FH and I from having any fun, but we know what we need to do and sacrifice in order to have the wedding of our dreams and we find other ways of having fun. We've had picnics in our living room during the winter, have fires in our backyard in the summer, go hiking and camping.

Definitely get yourselves on a budget, figure out how much you are willing and able to spend on the wedding, and don't spread yourselves too thin. Remember, as a homeowner there are ALWAYS unexpected costs. Every time I turn around it feels like my house is about to fall over and something breaks or needs replacing 😂

My fiancé and I are paying for the wedding ourselves as well. We made a lot of cuts and are doing an unconventional wedding that is better suited to our tastes. We are having our ceremony and reception at a brewery, we invited only 100 guests (21+ to cut out all the kids), didn't invite all the family (the count would have been at least 150 people if it was just family), BBQ buffet, Sunday wedding in the afternoon, no DJ, no open bar, minimal decorations, donuts instead of cake, etc.

You can either make cuts to your wedding, extend your engagement, or work some extra hours in order to save more money. Also, if you have friends that have talents like floral arranging, graphic design, photography or even DJing, you can save a lot of money if they can gift you a service for your wedding. The main thing is not to start your marriage in debt.

We sat down and budgeted out our bare essentials and talked about where we can cut corners (i.e. less trips to the bar, eating out less, getting rid of Spotify or Hulu for awhile). We both also work a side job and are going to take every penny from that extra job and put it away. You'd be surprised what you can come up with in a year's time. (Our side jobs are only 8-16 hours a week so it's very manageable). I also added up how much money I spend on stopping for a coffee a few times a week and decided to cut that cost by just making coffee at home. Simple little things will make all the difference.

We've also committed to going for more walks, watching TV at home, etc. instead of going on dinner dates all the time.

Me and my FH are in a little of the same boat. We both just have things to save for or buy that take priority. It seems silly to us to drop $10,000+ to show people how much we love each other. We settled for a ceremony in a beautiful public park, and reception in my parents backyard. There’s tons of things I would like to add to make it beautiful but most likely a year after the wedding no one will care/ remember if we had the best decorations or the most expensive favours