Monday, August 18, 2008

Accountant's Eye View

Good morning!



Hi! It's Audra again. Only this time, I'm speaking to you as an accountant. I wrestled with Susan for control of the Monday, Tuesday and Thursday spots in the blog this week to talk money to all the prospective brides out there (and Moms and Dads of the brides who are hoping to get a bit of control over the money).



This is sort of going to be a workshop for you. So if you're a bride, know someone who will be a bride, or know parents of a happy couple...or if you're a bridesmaid, this is your week! We're talking money...and how to get and keep control while having the wedding you envision.



When I sat down to write this post about budgeting your wedding, it occurred to me that everybody's wedding was different. No one spreadsheet would work for everyone. So I suggest that as a first step, you write out your vision for your perfect day.



Does it include a ceremony? Is it a religious ceremony or a civil ceremony? At the beach? In a church? In mom's living room? The office of the local Justice of the Peace?



How do you and your bridal party get from the ceremony to the reception?



What do you see at the reception?



Some brides can simply write out their wedding as a "story" of sorts. Others cut pictures from magazines and create picture boards of their special days. Either way, I want you to get a clear picture of your entire special day!



Now, am I asking you to do this as a "fun" exercise? Partially! LOL But the picture board and/or written versions of how you see your perfect day will help you to breakdown what you see into line items for a budget!



We'll talk a bit more about creating a spreadsheet for a budget tomorrow. For today, though, I want you to either write out your vision of what you see happening at your wedding and reception or create a picture board of your wedding so you get a visual of exactly what you want.



Tomorrow, we'll work on segregating items to create a spreadsheet that will help you create a budget. And Thursday we'll talk a bit about Bridesmaids. Before you choose the most expensive dress in the dress shop, I want you to consider just how much money your bridesmaids will be spending to make your wedding, shower and bachelorette party the "events" of the season, so that they can budget too!



Audra

posted by Susan @ 6:00 AM