FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 18, 2018 • BRIDAL • THE QUEENS COURIER 57
bridal
Money-saving wedding-planning tips for any budget
Weddings can be expensive, and most
brides and grooms need to establish a
budget before they start planning the
wedding so they can aff ord to get hitched.
Many couples are now getting married
later in life and paying most or all of the
costs themselves, so it’s important to start
budgeting sooner than later.
Th e following tips will help you and
your fi ance keep your costs down so you
can stay within your wedding budget.
1. Set a long engagement - Th ere are
two benefi ts to having an engagement
of a year or longer. First, it allows you
to spread costs over several paychecks.
For example, if you get engaged this
spring, you can choose one month to put
a down payment on the reception hall,
and another month for purchasing the
wedding dress and renting the tuxedo. A
third month could be used for purchasing
honeymoon trip tickets, and a fourth
month for the photographer’s down payment.
During your engagement you can
also start putting money into a savings
account so you aren’t strapped for cash
immediately following your wedding.
Th e second reason a long engagement
makes fi nancial sense is that many couples
will set a seasonal theme for their
weddings, wanting to decorate the wedding
and reception hall in that theme. Th e
best time to purchase decorations and
supplies for seasonal events is immediately
following those events, because stores
discount them when it’s time to get them
off the shelves.
If you are planning a fall theme, for
example, keep an eye on the shelves for
these kinds of discounted decorations
right aft er Th anksgiving or Halloween.
2. Combine your resources - A couple
living in the same household can save
hundreds of dollars monthly by combining
expenses related to rent/ mortgage,
utilities, groceries and even transportation.
If you recently became engaged and are
considering moving in together, calculate
how much money you’ll be saving so you
can apply those savings toward your wedding
budget. During the moving process,
you can save additional money.
For example, when you combine your
households, will you need two sets of
dishes and furniture? Probably not.
Perhaps you can even host a garage sale
to sell the items you don’t need duplicates
of; then you can put that money toward a
wedding-related item.
3. Find the best deals - If you’ve always
dreamed of getting married under a tent
at a local park, you might discover that
tent rental far exceeds your budget -
especially if you live in an urban setting.
Sometimes it’s cheaper to rent equipment
like tents, folding chairs, wedding canopies
and other decorations from businesses
that are located outside of your
community.
To save even more, drive your personal
car to the community where you’ll be
renting the equipment, rent a Penske
truck to transport all the equipment to
where your wedding will be, and then
return the equipment in the truck once
you’re fi nished with it. Th en you can simply
pick up your personal car for the drive
home. If you have friends around for the
wedding, ask them to be responsible for
this part of the wedding so you can concentrate
on other plans.
When you and your loved one begin
planning your wedding, keep your budget
balancing stress to a minimum with
these helpful money-saving tips.
Courtesy BPT
BRIDAL & EVENT HAIRSTYLING..............................$125.00-$250.00
CHRISTIE suggests trial run thru. Deposit required
BRIDAL TRIAL........................................................$65.00
BRIDAL MAKE-UP APPLICATION - DAY OF EVENT....$100.00 & up
SPECIAL OCCASION/BRIDAL TRIAL.........................$125.00
BRIDAL STYLING - DAY OF THE EVENT.................$125.00 & up
BRIDAL PARTY....................................................$85.00-$95.00 & up
CHILDREN HAIR DESIGN (under 12 y.o.).............$65.00
Bridal Spa Parties priced upon request.
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