The economy was NOT supposed to affect your wedding and ultimate passage into marital bliss. How could you have planned around something that is completely not under your control? But it has. Now what?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are aware that the “economy” is in bad shape. Simply Beautiful will break it down in a series to give you advice on, When the Money Runs Out.
If you and your fiancé find yourselves in a situation where you must take a timeout from the wedding plans to seriously assess your finances and the question has come up as to whether or not you can still have a wedding, you are not alone.
When cancelling the wedding is too much of a loss/penalty and raising funds is not possible a postponement may fit.
Simply Beautiful has had the experience of ceremony and reception venues willing to work with the couple and change the date of their wedding. Be cautioned when taking this approach that you may not have a say in what date, day or time your wedding will take place. If the venue is willing to do this without penalty, thank you lucky stars. Ask for 3 possible dates from your main venue and work everything else around those 3 initial dates.
Before committing to a new date, contact all of the vendors you’ve already booked to inquire if they will be able to accommodate the new date. If all vendors are a go…you’ve got yourself a postponement. This can give a few months or almost a year to re-group financially.
With any cancellation, postponement or significant change in wedding plans there are items of etiquette that should be handled delicately and tactfully.
1. Inform your guests as soon as possible.
2. Inform your vendors.
3. Discuss the topic of refunds and deposits sympathetically and not confrontationally.
4. Gifts should be returned if the wedding will not take place within a year.
5. Compensate your wedding party for their expenses if the wedding will not be taking place or they are no longer able to be in the wedding due to the change.
6. Consider enlisting the services of a professional wedding planner to help you develop a realistic budget and keep track of spending if you decide to give the planning another go.
One of the very first, most important parts of the wedding planning process is to determine your budget. Your wedding planner will most definitely help you research and create a budget with you for your wedding. There are also tips and tools to help your figure out a working budget.
Check out these Simply Beautiful posts for more budget advice: Wedding Costs, Financial Cold Feet, Realistic Wedding Budgets.
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