Getting engaged is no doubt a reason to celebrate, but once the excitement wears off, many couples face the ofttimes-dreaded task of saving for a wedding. These days, the average cost of a U.Southward. wedding ceremony is roughly $30,000, though in some parts of the country, it's considerably more than. Take Connecticut, for example, where the boilerplate wedding costs close to $44,000, or Massachusetts, where the average wedding comes in at just under $40,000. And if yous live in or near a major city, you lot might exist looking at double those figures. The average Manhattan wedding, for example, costs a whopping $88,000.

If those numbers are enough to make you book the next flying out to Vegas and elope, worry not: Saving for a wedding is ofttimes a matter of careful planning and prioritizing. Here are four means to do it.

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1. Come upward with a budget

Your first step in saving for a wedding involves coming upward with a realistic budget. Kickoff by looking at venues, meeting with vendors, and collecting pricing info. Next, break down your costs by category (such every bit venue, photographer, ring, florist, so forth), and prioritize the categories that are well-nigh important to you. If, for example, you care more about your band than your photographer, you can leave yourself room to spend extra money on music as opposed to pictures.

Once you have all of your numbers, add upward your anticipated costs to come upwardly with a grand full. Don't forget to include smaller expenses that might add up, like tips for your wait staff and transportation to and from your wedding. If that figure is one you can beget based on parent contributions and your current and predictable savings, you're all fix. If non, y'all'll demand to work backwards toward an amount y'all can swing. Otherwise, you risk taking on wedding debt, which is not a great way to start off a marriage.

2. Institute a savings timeline

The average U.S. appointment lasts fourteen months, which gives y'all a fair amount of time to save coin for the big twenty-four hour period. That said, it'southward of import to map out a savings timeline to ensure yous stay on track. If, for example, y'all take a year to save for your wedding, your estimated costs total $thirty,000, and you simply have $15,000 coming from savings or parental gifts, you'll need to relieve $one,250 a month, on average, until your wedding engagement arrives.

Furthermore, you lot should create a schedule of when you demand to pay your vendors and then you're not defenseless off guard downwardly the line. You might, for case, need to give your band a deposit three months before the wedding and pay the balance shortly after the fact. In other words, even if your wedding is a twelvemonth away, you lot may not have a full 12 months to save up all the money you'll demand to pay for it.

3. Look for extra sources of income

If saving a chunk of your bacon will only become you lot then far in financing your wedding, your next motion should be to seek out boosted sources of income. Y'all could try selling some unwanted piece of furniture, electronics, or collectibles to bring in extra cash. Another selection is to take on a side task to generate more income. While the extra work might be a lot to juggle, information technology's something yous'd conceivably only demand to do for a limited time.

4. Accept advantage of discounts and lower-cost alternatives

If y'all're willing to compromise on certain aspects of your wedding, you could wind up slashing your costs significantly. Some venues, for example, charge less for weeknight weddings than they practise for weekend events, while others charge less during what's considered the off-season. If you lot accept 150 guests and can knock your cost per head downwardly from $100 to $90 by postponing your wedding ceremony for a calendar month, or getting married on a Th evening, you'll save $i,500.

You as well have the option to bypass certain vendors to cut costs. Have a friend take a video rather than pay a videographer, or skip the fancy limo and ask your bridesmaids and groomsmen for a ride. Finally, sending out electronic invites versus newspaper ones could easily save you close to $1,000, and you might accept an easier time tracking responses to boot.

No matter what steps yous take to save for your wedding, the fundamental is to avoid overspending and starting your spousal relationship off in the red. An estimated ane-third of couples become into debt to pay for their weddings, and at a fourth dimension when you're supposed to be enjoying the newlywed phase, you don't need that burden weighing you downwards.