Though it's one of the most difficult topics to discuss when planning your wedding, the wedding budget is the most important. Knowing how much you can spend before you start to book your sites and vendors is an absolute must.

While many parents contribute to their children's weddings, it is not at all uncommon for the bride and groom to pay for their own weddings. Before you hit up mom and dad for some cash, evaluate your
own finances and determine what you can financially contribute to this event.

The average US wedding costs well over $19,000 so be prepared for some
sticker shock and look for ways to cut costs where ever you can. Whether you spend $20,000 or $2,000, you can have a gorgeous wedding. Doing your research early on will help you find bargains and give you time to explore your options.

Consider opening a separate checking account or designating a credit card just for wedding expenses. This is an ideal way to track purchases and if you use a credit card, you will have some protection against fraud, defective merchandise and other problems. Never, ever, ever, ever use cash for deposits!

So, who typically pays for what in weddings?

Bride pays for:

This is some good information. Thanks!

I should have handed this to my parents and my in-laws.....It really was weird when they came the day of the wedding (in-laws) asking if we needed help paying for anything....But I could never be mad at them or my parents (who didn't ask if we needed help when we first got engaged)-because as the first children (from both our families-everyone tends to do the courthouse) to be married in a real, actual traditional wedding on both sides, both families didn't really know where to jump in, nor have they ever understood the traditions that weddings entail...including me and DH. So we were soooo working on a learning curve.

Looking back, we could have been a little more lenient on letting our parents have more input, but the little input they did have was so-off putting, plus my mom being not ready to let me go, we totally put our walls up, and paid for everything ourselves...which was fine, but we lost out on some other perks that would have made it a little better.

Its important to have this information if you were/are like me when planning your very special day....If budget is being covered by the couple, go ahead and let them pay for whatever they can afford if your parents ain't got it like that...Its always a touchy subject, because those who pay INSIST on giving input, at the couple's aggravation so think about that.....This is good info G!

Thanks

You're more than welcome ladies. Actually, my inspiration for this post came after my first appointment left this morning. Imagine it's 8:15 AM and I'm meeting this potential couple for the first time and both mothers insist on coming. Which is sort of odd for me, because the first initial meeting, I like to meet the couple alone so to have a feel of their vision of their day without feeling the pressure of Parents and besides, if I know what they want, I can more offer them support better when it comes to Parents and make sure that the way they see this happening will happen and that they don't feel like they have to give in to their parents on everything. All that being said. My day started early, with my first appointment at 8:00 AM, by 8:15 AM, my Bride was in tears, the Mothers were at each other's throats and poor girl couldn't get a word in edgewize. Since my office is a room out of my apartment. What I did was take both mothers to my living room, offered them some Camomille tea and ask them to wait for me a minute. As they sipped their tea, I went back to my office and tried to calm down my tearful bride and a groom who doesn't have a clue what to say or do for his bride. I offered them some tea as well and ask them to talk to each other a while and I'll leave the room to talk to their mothers.

Going back to the Living Room, I gave a silent prayer to Jesus for patience and sat down apposite the mothers and talk to them for about half an hour about how wonderful it was that both of them could be here for their children and what a great job they've done to educate such wonderful young people. And that they need to trust in that education and allow them to share their views. Needless to say smoozing was on overdrive for me because I was looking for ways to diffuse the volitile situation. I gave them the same brochure that I just posted (I created this a few years back). The parents found them helpful started to talk to each other instead of yelling at each other. I then excused myself to check on my bride and groom because they're the most important people in this equation. As I entered my office (which is the 2nd biggest bedroom of my apartment), my bride was very calm and all she could say was how sorry she was for the behavior of their parents. I dismissed that immediately because you can't be responsible for how someone choose to act, even if that person is your mother. I gave them some information and we set another appointment for this afternoon, after they've spoken with their families.



*** So I thank you ladies for finding my post helpful. Discuss your wedding with your parents ahead of time. Respect their inputs, but remember too that it's your day and it is your vision that must show through. Once you've spoken with your parents and you know how much you can contribute and how much they would contribute, it's easier to move forward with the planning.