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When planning for your wedding, you’ll often find the same several wedding tips across wedding blogs. These tips are great to see, of course, but there are some fine details many couples planning for their wedding don’t quite realize they need to make note of until the time comes. Here are five wedding tips you may not have thought of while planning for your upcoming nuptials.
Know Your Percentages
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There is a specific formula you should follow when planning for your wedding budget. Obviously it can be adapted to your needs, but the baseline budget formula should be as follows: 48 to 50 percent of total budget should go towards the reception; 8 to 10 percent should go towards entertainment/music; 10 to 12 percent should go to photo/video; 8 to 10 percent should go to personal attire; 8 to 10 percent should go to flowers; 2 to 3 percent should go to invites; 2 to 3 percent should go to gifts; and 8 percent for should go to miscellaneous items like a wedding coordinator. Make sure you allocate extra funds (five to ten percent) for surprise expenses.
Investigate Blackout Dates for Your Area
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Before you try to book venues and vendors, look into the area you plan on having your wedding and see if your chosen wedding date falls on “blackout” dates. This could mean a trade conference, parade, major concert, or another date that could impact hotel room availability and traffic. You’ll have to decide if you would be fine with competing for hotel space, or if you’d prefer to move your wedding by a week.
Check Your Credit
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Since weddings are expensive, this might be a good excuse to sign up for a credit card with a rewards program. As long as you can pay it off, consolidating all your wedding-related purchases onto one card will help you accumulate thousands of reward points. These could give you airline miles or shopping deals, both of which could potentially be used for your honeymoon.
Don’t Forget to Schedule Setup
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Sometimes couples might forget how long setting up the wedding venue can take. Depending how much decor and elements your venue has, you may need to start setup the day before the wedding. Talk to your vendors to learn more about their timeline for setup– and if you’re doing it with some friends, make sure you budget your time wisely.
Learn About Marriage Licenses Early
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Television makes it look like getting married just takes an ordained minister, but you have to get a marriage license for things to be official. Make sure you check your your state’s license requirements and confirm when they’re open. Even though some places are open from nine to five, they may only issue marriage licenses at slower times of the day and week. Once you have the license, give a copy to someone you can trust (like a parent or a maid of honor) just in case you misplace yours before the wedding.