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Wedding Packages
Begin with a plan.
Whether you have a few weeks or an entire year to prepare for
your wedding, a plan is essential. Use a ring-bound notebook to
keep track of names and phone numbers, prices, needs and wants,
menus, ideas, lists and correspondence. Tape pictures from
magazines and stapled receipts into the notebook. With this
record, you will not only manage the event, but you will have a
wonderful record of the evolution of your ideas and tastes as
the special day comes together. Here's a wonderful product that
will keep your records and appointments straight.
Click here.
Step 1 - Get Engaged
- Congratulations!
Step 2 - Select a
date for your wedding or the best time
of the year (if you can be flexible, it may save you money and
allow you to accommodate additional items.) This will determine
how much time you have to plan and pay for your wedding.
Step 3 - Hire Events to
Enrich, a professional wedding consultant
whose
training, expertise and contracts will help make your wedding as
close to perfect as it can possible be. We can save you
considerable time, money and stress when planning you wedding.
We have information on many ceremony and reception sites as well
as reliable service providers such as photographers,
videographers and florists, which will save you hours of
investigation and legwork.
Click her to
find out more.....
Step 4 - Determine the
type of wedding you want: location, formality, time of day,
number of guests.
We highly recommend a Wedding
Website to keep track of communications with your guests. Here's
a beautiful product that's easy to use.
Click Here
for more information.
Step 5 - Determine your
budget and how expenses will be shared.
Well, now that you are engaged and
you have selected the best time of the year for your event, it’s time to set aside the
romance for a moment and talk dollars and cents. Unless you are one of a chosen few,
where the "skies the limit", you will need to set a budget for your
wedding.
There are several different
approaches that can be taken, you will need to take a few steps
But, you've got to determine a few things:
Many brides and
parents go on a fact finding mission to find out all the
possible costs, then decide what they can afford and select the
items they want to budget for. Wedding dates can change when
they discover that certain times of the year, certain days of
the week and even the time of the wedding reception can save
them money so that they can achieve more of what they hope to
accomplish. This part of the process can be achieved more easily
by using a wedding consultant. By explaining to a consultant
what you are looking for and an approximate budge (there is a
big difference between a $15,000 budget and $30,000 for 100
people
The traditional rule of
the bride’s family paying for the entire wedding is fast becoming
history. Today, there is much more sharing of expenses
between the bride's family, the groom's family and the bride and
groom. Many couples are getting married later in life and are well
established with their own careers. These brides and grooms are able
to pay for more of the expenses and sometimes want to pay for the
entire wedding themselves.
A good way to help you
define your budget is to set priorities. The bride
and groom should discuss which elements of the wedding are most
important to them. For instance, is it the reception location, the
bridal gown, or the entertainment that is most important? You should
choose about 3-4 items that are your top priorities and set the rest
of your budget from there. It's more likely that you will spend more
of your wedding budget on those items you consider a higher
priority.
Now, let's look at some
of the costs. Your reception, including the food and beverages, can
average 50% - 65% of your total budget. Therefore, the reception location you select and
how many guests
you invite will have the most impact on your budget.
Today, the average
wedding costs between $15,000 & $32,000. Here's a recommended
guideline based on a $28,000 wedding budget for about 100 - 125
guests:
Premier Bride reports:
the
average wedding in Hampton Roads for
2007 was
$28,000.00
|
Category |
% of Total
(Typically) |
Avg. Cost |
|
Ceremony |
3% |
$840 |
|
Wedding Attire |
8% |
$2240 |
|
Photography |
9% |
$2520 |
|
Videography |
10% |
$2800 |
|
Stationery |
3% |
$840 |
|
Reception |
35% |
$9800 |
|
Music |
2.3% |
$644 |
|
Bakery |
2.3% |
$644 |
|
Flowers |
5% |
$1400 |
|
Decorations |
3% |
$840 |
|
Transportation |
2% |
$560 |
|
Rental Items |
2% |
$560 |
|
Gifts |
2% |
$560 |
|
Parties |
3% |
$840 |
|
Wedding Consultant |
9.7% |
$2716 |
|
Miscellaneous |
.7% |
$196 |
|
Total |
100% |
$28,000 |
The above is simply a guideline to help
you get started.
Step 6 - Develop a
record-keeping system for payments made.
Here's a wonderful product that
will keep your records and appointments straight.
Click here
Step 7 - Review the
marriage license requirements from the location you are planning
to marry. Here is the
State of Virginia's Marriage Requirements.
Click here
Step 8 - Find the
location for your Wedding Ceremony and Reception.
It's important to know that
the most popular locations will book early and quickly. It's
important to have a signed contract and a deposit at both
locations. Many Brides are choosing to have the Ceremony and
Reception at the same location. It is a delightful thing to do.
Your out of town guests especially appreciate it.
