Internationally known wedding expert Mary Churchman offers professional advice to couples planning and preparing budgets for their wedding.
When it comes to planning and budgeting for your wedding, some couples turn to professional wedding coordinators and planning experts for advice. Internationally known bridal consultant Mary Churchman is a wedding advice columnist and author of "Champagne Weddings on a Limited Budget" and "Your Wedding Planner." Her work has helped many couples realize their dreams for a perfect wedding. We took a look at her book "Champagne Weddings..." and her website and here's what we learned.
Before you can even begin to arrange meetings with florists, dressmakers and caterers, you need to establish your budget. And before you can establish your budget you need to know what you plan on spending money on and determine where you might be able to cut costs. Ms. Churchman acknowledges this basic truth in her book when she says, "Not knowing what you want can cost you a great deal as you run around heather and yonder piecing things together with no earthly idea of what is you really want."
Her solution is for couples to ask themselves what their guests will notice and what will they not notice about the wedding. She emphasizes the need for this simple frame of reference before budgeting for your wedding. She points out that you should ask yourself what you remember most about a particular wedding. And whether it is good or bad, what you remember is what counts. Here are some examples:
* How many details do you really remember about her wedding gown? * How were the pews decorated? Or were they decorated at all? * How was the altar decorated? * What did the bridesmaids'dresses look like? * What was the overall effect of the wedding? (casual, elegant, etc.) * How was the reception? What do you remember about the music, food and drinks?
Your answers to these questions will give you an idea of where you might want to spend your money and will reveal what your guests might remember about your wedding. Once you figure out where to spend your wedding dollars, Mary Churchman's advice to the bride centers on three things to always do while planning the wedding to stay on track.
* Always keep your budget in mind * Add all of the wedding expenses up at least once a week * Stay organized to the best of your ability. Keep everything in one place and don't underestimate the benefits of a wedding planner book.
Oh, and let's not forget the most important part of the process - have fun!
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