The Rachel Cruze Show - Have Your Dream Wedding for $8,000 (Or Less!)

Episode Date: July 6, 2020

Your wedding day is one of the most expensive days of your life—but if you know me, you know I’m going to help you do it for less. Like, way less. In the latest episode of The Rachel Cruze Show, you’ll learn:   How to save 300% on your wedding reception My step-by-step guide to creating a wedding budget that actually works Four wedding lies everyone believes and how to keep them from ruining your marriage   Sponsors pay the producer of this show, The Lampo Group, LLC, advertising fees for mentioning their services or products during programming. Advertising fees are not based upon or otherwise tied to any product sale or business transacted between any consumer or sponsor. The following sponsors have paid for the programming you are viewing:   — Zander Insurance     Helpful Links: Zander Insurance Get my Wedding Gift Bundle here Tuft & Needle Just Between Friends Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are lots of ways to overspend on your wedding. Get that grand total and stick to that budget as close as you can. Money-saving hacks from a wedding blogger. Think about what are the three things that are really important to us as a couple. A couple who has $8,000 to spend on their wedding. We've done some research. I think we can find this for around 600. Go through the list and say, okay, what are things that we value as a couple?

Definitely the clothing. The photographer. Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of, the Rachel Cruz Show podcast. So glad that you are here. Well, I found that, man, so many of us, we are still feeling the effects of the coronavirus. And one of the craziest parts is that many people missed huge life events, so whether that was prom or graduation or one of the biggest events in your life, your wedding. And some of you out there, you had to postpone or even cancel completely. That happened to one of Winston's friends. He was getting married, and they ended up

having to cancel everything. And they were going to postpone it. But then, we got a text one morning at like 8 a.m. And they were like, hey guys, get on Zoom tonight at 6 p.m. because we're going to get married tonight. We were like, what? Like, what is happening? This is just, it's so crazy. And I don't know your situation. If you've had to reschedule your wedding or you're just starting to plan it for the first time. But I want to help you reset and plan a wedding within your means. You can still have a wedding that you love and still start out your marriage with cash in the bank. So in today's episode, I'm going to do just that. I'll debunk. some wedding lies that everyone believes. I'll help a couple create the perfect budget for their wedding,

and I'll share some money-saving hacks for my wedding blogger. And the key here, you guys, is just don't go into debt for your wedding. So this episode is to help you do just that. Okay, we talk about no debt on the show a lot. But this is the truth. The deeper you go into debt, the longer it's going to take you to get out, and you end up spending so much money when you're not budgeting and you just say, oh, yeah, let that on. I'll tack that on. Because when you're just borrowing money from the bank, it's like, yeah, add in some more flowers. Yeah, we'll add some more people. We'll get a band instead of a DJ. Like, you start making all these decisions and you end up spending so much money for one day. Okay? Let's just be honest. I love my wedding day. It was great. I want you to love it too.

But the rest of your marriage, you have so much time to spend. And if you take one day, go deep in a financial hole, you're really probably going to regret it. Okay, you really will. I've talked to so many people and they're like, why did we spend so much on our wedding? Like, it was insanity. I'm like, I know, because we get caught up and we believe this lie, like, oh yeah, your wedding should be like this, this expectation, this level, and it's just not the truth. So, I don't want you to feel guilty if you have a small budget for your wedding. So if it's $1,000 you have to spend, that's okay. You have $1,000.

So just spend it and be wise with that. The wedding is not about impressing everyone else. It's about you and your spouse. So be realistic about your wedding. And put your effort into the marriage, not the wedding. That is what I told my brother when he got married. I was like, listen, Daniel, cut that wedding budget in half, save the rest for marriage counseling because it's a much better investment in your life, I promise you. And all of you that have been married for a while, you're just like

nod in your head saying, yep, I hate that the truth. Now, you've probably been told a lot of things about weddings that are just lives. Like you've been told probably, your wedding sets the tone for the rest of your marriage. Or it's the best day of your life, so spare no expense. But the truth is, that might mean that you're still making payments on your five-year wedding anniversary. Now, these aren't the only things that you've heard. So let's break down a few of the lies that everyone has been told when it comes to weddings. All right, lie number one, that all prices are the same no matter the events. Lie, lie, lie. Listen, some vendors mark up prices simply because it's called a wedding. One of my friends got married, she went to go get her wedding

cake and the bakery had just specialty cakes and they had wedding cakes. Well, she looked, she was like, well, I could just call it a specialty cake, make it look like a wedding cake. And that's what she did. She paid $50 for her cake versus hundreds of dollars of what the wedding cake would cost her. Another lie is that you have to spend a ton of money to get the perfect engagement ring. The average cost right now of engagement rings is $5,900. And the whole idea of like, well, he needs to spend three months of his salary on a ring. Okay, that rule came from a marketing campaign that the De Beers Diamond Company ran in the 1930s. Guys, they just wanted to sell bigger diamonds. So how do you spend less on an engagement ring? Well, stick to your budget. Now, we recommend only spending one

month's salary on the ring. Okay, I'm going to interrupt myself just then, because I think this is a big place where you really can save money. And I think as a culture, we've been warped into this idea that I just have to have this status and will I have to have this wonderful engagement ring. It's just like that's what everyone's going to be looking at because it's the truth. After you say, yeah, we just got engaged. Most people are like, let me see the ring. And you want to be proud of it and all that. I understand it.

But honestly, it's a ring. It's a ring, you guys. And if he's going into debt for it, I'm like, no, no, no, no. You do not have to spend a godawful amount of money. On the engagement ring, you really don't. And you can save so much money just not by doing Tiffany & Company or Cartier, even though those are great companies. Of course, we would all love a Tiffany engagement ring. But most of it, it's not in the budget for a lot of people. And so don't force it into your budget and just say,

you know what, I can have a great ring because let's all be honest. How many people do we know who've been married 20, 25 years? And they get a solid upgrade on their engagement ring. So the time can come for a great one. Don't feel the pressure to have to have a great engagement ring right now in your life. There's another lie that you have to meet your guests and your family's expectations. But the truth here is that you need to create boundaries, and this is going to help you. Wake up, this is your day. You get to choose. You get to decide what your wedding looks like. So who cares if your guests want an open bar? Just give them a little bar of chocolate and they're going to love you anyways. Or if mom and dad were to invite everyone, you know, Aunt Felicia,

twice removed, and she's on the wedding guest list, you just need to say, bye Felicia. Sorry, mom, sorry. just getting me a little bit nicer than that. But you know what I'm saying? Go through and say, no, this is my wedding. So here are the takeaways. It's more important that you guys start out on the same page than just meeting everyone else's expectations. So start your marriage off on the right foot with my wedding gift pack. So this comes with the contentment journal, the total money makeover, the conversation starters for couples guide, and his and her envelopes and more. And these are just some of my favorite things. You guys are going to love it. And if you have a friend getting married, this is the perfect wedding gift. I want you to love your marriage and start your

marriage off on the same page. Now, the last lie is that you have to go into debt and spend a ton of money in order to have the perfect wedding. One third of American couples go into debt for their wedding. And lenders are issuing up to four times as many wedding loans, and they did just a year ago. And according to an article I read, one lender said that people are borrowing, on average, $16,000 for their wedding. And you guys, that's probably on top of other debt they have, like student loans and credit cards and car payments. So you're really crushing your dreams by adding debt into your life. And I'm just not okay with that. It doesn't have to be that way. A bigger wedding does not mean a better marriage. So in the next segment, I'm going to bring on a couple who has $8,000 to spend

on their wedding. And we're going to talk through. How do you budget? How do you save? And how do you still have a great wedding. Hey moms, Rachel Cruz here. I'm tired of spending so much money on clothes for my kids all the time just to have them outgrown every season. That's why I love shopping consignment. And Just Between Friends is my new favorite. It's a twice a year consignment marketplace that helps you shop the brands you love for 50 to 90%

off. They make it super easy to shop smart and stick to your budget. Find out when Just Between Friends is happening in your area at JBF Sale. That's JBFsale.com. All right, Mitchell, Malia, thank you guys for being here. Thank you. So fun. Okay, engaged.

Okay. For the wedding. How you feeling? Feeling pretty great. Pretty good. Yeah. You're just ready for it to be here? Yes.

Definitely. That's kind of how I was. I was like, just, God, let's just do it. Exactly. So money, big part of the wedding, right? The wedding budget, it's a big one. So I always start off with couples when we talk about wedding budgets is you have to figure out your total.

So it's like, this is what we're going to spend. So do you guys have that number? We do. I think we do. It's $8,000. Eight thousand. Perfect. Is our baby little budget.

No, it's so great. Okay. That's the thing. These days, I'm like, you can pull off anything for any of my money. So that's great. Okay, so I printed off a wedding budget here. Very easy, very simple. So go ahead and write the top number there, which is $8,000 on the top of the wedding budget.

And then the next thing I always recommend is to go through the list and say, okay, what are things that we value as a couple? Like, here are the things we want to put money towards because we've just, We love it. So do you guys have a couple of those things? Maybe three, four things? Definitely the clothing, the dress. The dress. All right.

Put a big circle on that. Where is that guy here? She works in fashion. So that's a big thing for her. It's just a little important. It's just a little important. It's just appreciate it, right? You want it.

Exactly. I love that. And the second thing was a suggestion from family, and it's the photographer. Yeah. That's a good one. I've heard that the memories are important. Yes, absolutely. Better to have visual representation. Because at the end of it, that's all you really have.

It's so true. Yes, get a good photographer. Okay. So off the top of your head, do you have an idea of, okay, this is how much we're going to spend on the dress? This is how much we want to spend on the photographer. Well, we kind of already spent it on the photographer. All right, so it's done.

Perfect. So put that total. What is that? Okay. So whopping 3,200. Beautiful. Massive chunk of our budget. Part of it.

But hey, it's what you value. It's what you want. In clothing, not sure yet, but between us both, we're budgeting about two. 2,000. Yeah, 2,000. Yep, perfect. All right, go ahead and mark that there. Okay, I'm going to jump in right here because what we just did with their budget is one of my favorite philosophies around budgeting.

A lot of people think, okay, I'm on a budget that means I don't have a lot of money to spend or I'm on a budget. That means I have to be really cheap or I'm on a budget. Things are going to be really tight. No, no. A budget gives you freedom to spend money on things you want, on things you value. And what they just did is they just listed out their dream stuff, exactly what they wanted. in a realistic world, and they were able to put numbers next to that and actually still get what they want. And you'll find out a little bit later as I continue talking to them that they still are adding on other things and having help from other people and all of that, which is so great.

But again, listen, your budget, you're able to prioritize things that you want. So this is about a wedding budget, but think about when you go on vacation. If you're like, okay, you know what, we really value staying really close to the beach. We want to be able to walk to the beach, not drive if you're going on a beach vacation. Okay, then take your budget and you actually can. make decisions around your money about where you stay. And you may put more money towards that versus going out to eat or going shopping on vacation. Like whatever it is, you get to decide what you value and put your money towards it.

And a budget does that for you. I mean, it's you being intentional. It's you being purposeful for things you want. So remember, you can have a great wedding, a great vacation, a great Christmas, a great life, and have a budget. Because a budget is permission for you to spend things that you want, need, or value. And so then you've got to figure out, okay, what do we have left to spend the money on? And this is a great place to look to see, okay, what are things that we can cut? So I even just go down the list.

So do you guys have a venue right now? We do. Okay, how much is that? Your total was eight. Eight. Okay, perfect, yep. Go ahead and add that. Awesome.

Okay, marriage license usually is going to cost like, yeah, about $100. Yeah. Have you got a pastor's gift yet or you can skip it for right now? Perfect, no worries. Okay, rings. We've done some research and we think. that we can, what would you say? Maybe six or seven?

I think six, yeah. Six hundred. Perfect. All right. Go ahead and add that down. How about tables, chairs, tablecloths? Is this like a, do you know within your venue what they have provided or what they don't? They do provide some tables, but we don't know if we want to use them.

We haven't really decided. We have yet to decide. Perfect. So we can skip on that. How about chairs, tablecloths? Anything there? Same situation. Same situation.

Okay. Perfect. How about table decor? I think we budgeted $200 for that, actually. $200, perfect. All right, yeah, go ahead and put that down. Flowers. Luckily, that's provided by his parents.

Yes. Oh, that's great. My parents have offered to come over flowers. You know the best part of that? You just cross it out. It's gone. I would love to. Oh, yeah.

Just feel the money saying. Thank you. What a beautiful. Oh, that's so good. So good. Okay, it says photo of us. Yes. What is that?

We would like to have, as is one of our decorations, just photos of us printed out. All around. Yes. I love it. Okay. How about the music? Like, do you guys want to DJ or do you know yet? We're going to have a friend demanding a Spotify playlist. Oh, I love it, you guys. However, string quartets. This was his request. This was a string quartets. This is a string quartets.

It's beautiful, yes. Yeah, I think we can find this for around 600. Okay, yes. We may have to cut it? Yeah, well, let's go ahead and fill it all out because then we'll go back and see, okay, what do we have left from the eight grants. Nope, that's perfect. Okay, invitations. Say 50, right? Say 50-ish. Do 50.

Possibly. Yeah, okay, so cake, this is a big one. Have you guys thought through this one at all? Yes. We have briefly. And this is also something that my parents have offered to help cover. Yes. They are Costco proponents.

Yes. I love them already. They decided that they can get a couple cakes from Costco and put it together on their own. Oh, that's so great. I was going to say, because that's a great place that you can, I had a friend and she actually, instead of getting like a wedding cake, she did like a celebration cake is what they called it. Oh, cool. just made it white and made it look wedding-y.

Exactly. But it was like half the price. So there's places to cut that. But a wholesaler like Costco. Okay, so they're going to pay for the cake. Yeah, so. Marking that out. Covering that.

Are they covering most of this? They're covering it. Any food. That food. That's all that comes up. Okay. So I can cross all those out. Yay.

Which is a massive part of the budget. Yeah. Okay. Place to go. So that's like the night of the wedding. Oh, yes. Are we going to get an hotel or. Yeah.

But we think we're just hoping our apartment or house is ready at that point. Okay. Go stay there for the first time. Skip that. Do it. Okay, in pre-marital counseling. Does your pastor do it for free? I feel like a lot of churches and stuff.

We'll do that for free. So we're not having our church do the wedding. We're having a friend who's a pastor to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he recommended us a few counselors that we haven't reached out to me. Okay, perfect. I mean pre-maral counseling. It's worth the investment.

We have it in the budget. Definitely. We agree. But there are places, like some churches and stuff. They'll do it for free for a few sessions. So we can leave that blank for right now. Okay. So let's add up what we have so far.

It's like 7,600. So with the 400 left, which you can, I mean, honestly, like a nice gift card here for like a hundred bucks, I think would be very nice. Your party gifts, I mean, you guys can just write a letter or something like print out a picture of you guys. I mean, like with you and each bridesmaid or something, like you can go real. Yes, I would go so simple there. Your sister and my best friend. Yeah. So I would really, I mean, and then string lights.

People have string lights everywhere. I would ask around. That's true. And stuff. and you can just like plug them in together. So the big part I see, you know, the tables, chairs, tablecloths, all that for the reception.

We actually have a wedding planner coming up next. We'll be talking about all of that reception stuff. But sometimes venues, I feel like venues can, they offer some of that stuff for free as part of the venue. And a big place is the string quartet,

like you guys said. So if you do have friends, if you went to Belmont, everyone's so musical there. So musical. So maybe you could like cut that down a little if you needed to for a little wig or room. But honestly, you guys are killing it.

Like, this looks great. Because here's what I love about it. You did what you want, and you got your dress. You put in the photographer, like, those were the big things. So you make that your starting point. And then from here, you just figure out, okay, here are things that we can cut. Here are things we really don't need. And you're able to make decisions based on that.

So is this feel good? How do you feel? Yeah. It does feel good. Actually, I feel a better putt it. Do you? Yeah, I do. Having it all in one place is very helpful.

It's so helpful. I know. Budgeting, whether it's, you know, regular budgets that you do monthly or it's a wedding budget for something, like having it visual. So it is. It takes everything that's like kind of stressful up here. Puts it right here. So thank you guys so much for being here. This is so great. And I'm so glad you feel a little easier. Thank you. Love it. Love it. And for you guys, think about all the creative things they just did. I mean, everything from a cake from Costco, a Spotify playlist, like this does work. So go the budget route.

I promise for the long run, oh, it's so, so worth it. Now, if you guys are looking for an easy way to organize all of your wedding numbers in one place, I've created a fun wedding budget printable. so you can work out these numbers together. So click the link below. All right, coming up next, I have founder of Nashville Brideguide.com. Alyssa here. And we're going to talk all things wedding and what you can do to save money

at your wedding and your reception. She has such great information. Now, we filmed a segment for the Rachel Cruz show video version that you can check out on YouTube or Facebook. But for you podcast listeners, we recorded a special segment for you. So that's coming up next.

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Plus, it chips free. And you get to keep it for $100,000. night's risk-free. If I'm wrong, just send it back. Alyssa, thanks for being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. I love diving into wedding stuff. It's so great. So tell me a little bit about you and your background so that the listeners kind of know who you are and all your expertise around wedding stuff. Definitely. So I'm Alyssa to Chico. I run Nashville Brideguide.com and I feature local Nashville weddings on my blog, style shoots. I do vendor interviews and it's really everything Nashville wedding. It's a great

resource. Yes, for sure. people planning weddings because the money portion is obviously a massive part of the wedding day, right? Oh, for sure. And I just feel like there's so many ways to overspend on your wedding. So we're going to break down some of these for the listeners because I think it's really important. And again, you're around it all the time. I only planned one wedding.

I only plan on planning one wedding from the rest of my life. Yes. But, man, you're around this world so much. So you probably see some really common themes throughout it. Oh, for sure. Yeah, there are lots of ways to overspend on your wedding, but we've definitely broke it down into four different categories today. So the first one is kind of obvious, but it's not sticking to your budget. So after you get engaged, a lot of people get really excited and they're like, oh my gosh, I got to go dress shopping right away.

Or, you know, I have my eye on this venue and I got to book it. But before you do any of that, it's so important to sit down, whether it's with your parents who are contributing money, any of your relatives or if you two as a couple are contributing money, get that grand total, get that whole amount of money and stick to that budget as close as you can. Another great way is to go ahead and break it down even further into like, okay, this is how much money I should spend on my wedding venue. This is how much money I should spend on my wedding planner. And a good way to really know how much to spend on each of those is to think about

okay, what are the three things that are really important to us as a couple? Maybe three to five things. So picture your wedding on your wedding day. How do you envision it? Is it like, hey, I want to walk down the aisle and just be surrounded by flowers. Flowers everywhere. Right? I know. Then definitely invest in a really good forest. Or if you're like, hey, I want my wedding to just be like this grand party at the reception. Then spend money on entertainment or your DJ or a band. So definitely break it down to those three things. And that's where you can spend the most of your budget. I think that's great. Well, the first tip of just figuring out that grand total, because like you said, it's such an emotional process. It is. Like, you get engaged. You're excited. You're obviously in love. And like all these great things are happening. And so quickly your emotions can overdrive facts. Oh, yeah. And reality because you're like, oh, yeah, I'll just spend a little

bit more here because I'm sure I can fix it somewhere, but you don't even know we're going to fix it somewhere because you don't have it written down. So, really figuring out that grand total is so key. That's going to give you a lot of peace of mind and a lot of control. And then picking out your favorite things. And I love that you said that too, because we talked about this earlier in this episode, but that's what a budget is. It allows you to spend money on things that you value and you want. So take advantage of that. If you're out there, like, make sure you figure out, okay, here's what I want. And there may be, you make it in there and say, okay, you know what, maybe spending like $5 million for a wedding dress or something like crazy is probably a little too much.

Like, you know, so maybe, yeah, you may have to say, hey, I'm going back down a couple of things, but you still get that priority because you're listing it first. And I think that that's key. Totally. And wedding planners can help with this. I think there's a big misconception across the board that, like, oh, don't get a wedding planner. They're too expensive. But honestly, they're worth their weight and gold, really.

It's like if you tell them you're all in budget, they can really help you stick to that. I almost think of them as like your financial advisor or like your accountant almost in a way where it's like they know the industry. They know the vendors in this industry in your town that you're getting married in. And they know who can stick within that budget like, say for flowers or like for your venue, really whatever it is. It's like they've done this a million times before. Hopefully they have. Right. Right.

The experts. Yeah. Okay. So four wedding planners. It's been like a decade since I've done. gotten married, so I don't know this answer. Yeah. Do they usually, like, require a percentage of what you're going to spend total?

Do they have a flat feed? Is it depends? Yeah. It depends on the planner, really. There are some planners who do, like, month of planning, and, you know, that's at a fixed cost. Or there are some planners who do full planning and it can take a percentage. So it's really, it's dependent on the planner. That's so great.

Okay. Now, another place that people overspend is the guest counts. Oh, my gosh. The amount of people you have at your wedding. The guest count. This is seriously like the biggest way you can overspend on your wedding. I mean, think about it. It's like if you invite 200 people to your wedding versus inviting 100 people to your wedding, you're virtually spending about two times the amount per person. So also if you can take that all in wedding budget and break it down per person for your wedding, you can really see, you know, what you can spend your money on.

And that's a very interesting philosophy. I remember when I got married, I did have a wedding planner. She helped me. And that's how they did it. Like I gave them the budget. Okay, well, how many people at the wedding? Okay, that's going to be per person. And I remember being like, no.

I mean, the people are just going to eat the food. That's it. Like, shouldn't it just be the food? Like, no, no, no. It's the whole budget as a whole. Oh, yeah. You really break it down. So that's, it was such an interesting way to look at it.

I guess I had never thought about it in that way. Oh, yeah. But that really is the smart way to go about it. Oh, definitely. Yeah, for sure. And I know, like, we were chatting earlier and you were like, once I got an RCP saying no back, you were like, yes. I know, it's so terrible. I was like, okay, that saves us a little bit here.

I know. And you're like, hey, I have more wedding or more room in my wedding. And I was the worst because I'm such an extrovert and I'm like, I just want everyone to come to everything. I know. So right out of college, I was like telling my college friends that were not invited. They were not on the guest list. Like, I would see a group out, like at dinner. And I'm like, hey, come to my wedding. I did that.

I mean, I was the worst bride ever. Like, people totally came. that were not on the guest list because of me. And then here, I'm not going to go on a rant here. But also, I look back through my wedding pictures of my reception. And there are people in my pictures that, like, I realize, oh, wow, I invited this couple, but they brought their two teenage sons. And one of the teenage sons brought his girlfriend.

And they're like in like a reception. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. Like on the invitation, that's like a good etiquette, though, isn't it? Oh, it totally is. Whoever is on the invitation is who's invited, right? Exactly. I didn't pay for those three people and they showed up. And so, yes, I invited people that were not on our wedding guest list out of just spontaneity. But also people brought people. And I was like, no, that's adding to the head count. Yeah. So yeah, it's just, it's crazy. But you can cut that down a lot. And I would say this to that, be proactive as the bride, as the groom, that this is your wedding. Yes, there's respect that, like, if your parents are contributing financially, sure, you want to kind of give them that nod and that respect. Totally. But also, it's your day. So if Aunt Merla from out of town, second cousin wants to come or whatever. Like, it's okay to say no, right? I mean, do you feel like brides struggle with that? Yeah. Oh, for sure. It's definitely a give and take. I mean, it's like,

oh, man, my parents are paying for the majority of this or a part of it. So it's like they should have their say in it. But then it's also this thing of like, it's our day and we can kind of do what we want. So there's definitely a balance. There's a lot of family dynamics and everything that going to a wedding day. For sure. Yeah. Okay. So another way that people overspend, is just on decor items. Oh, yeah. This is where you can drop a lot of money. Definitely.

Especially going from your ceremony to your reception, there are lots of ways you can save on decor items. So, for instance, if you have this amazing ceremony backdrop, find a way to incorporate that into your reception, too. So your guests aren't just seeing it for the 15 minutes that you're at the altar. You know what I mean? And you spent all this money on this, like, grand backdrop or something. So, yeah, see what you can reuse.

from your wedding ceremony to your reception. So whether it's like florals on your altar or like florals coming down your aisle, like maybe have your planner or your florist come and like take those florals from your ceremony and bring them to your reception and use them as centerpieces or like put them on your cake table or something like that. So there's definitely lots of ways you can save in that way. We did that. All my bride's bouquets we ended up putting at tables.

Yes, exactly. as like some centerpieces because yeah there is there's oh gosh and the and the decor especially flowers I don't think I realized how expensive flowers were and when we like when I did my dream of like here here's everything I want and I remember she came back with the number and I was like okay I feel like I could buy a house with that amount of money like I was like it's insane so we cut a lot so even in our ceremony we got married in December like down the aisles because I love the aisle because we got married kind of a traditional church of a center aisle and all of that and so we did like a greenery-based type thing.

Oh, that sounds beautiful. But you didn't have to pay for flowers because they weren't flowers. Totally. Even though it was like, I don't even know what you would call it. I'm terrible at this stuff. I don't know. Evergreen or something. I don't know.

I just know it was a lot cheaper than a flower. Oh, yeah. That was my thing. And they're in season too. That's another good tip. Maybe that's it too. That's good. Yeah.

Even pick flowers in season. Yeah. And your last tip for not overspending is not accounting for unexpected costs. This happens in life and with your wedding. Oh, for sure. I would recommend probably setting aside maybe 10% of that all-in budget just for things that you aren't thinking of. I mean, if you want to tip your wedding vendors, that's a cost that you might not think of right off the bat. Accommodations or travel for any of your vendors who may not be from in town.

Like, I just think about my wedding, like our officiant wasn't from the city we were getting married in. So it was like last minute, oh, no, we have to get him a hotel. Oh, that's a great point. We have to figure out food and, you know, all that kind of stuff. And we just didn't think about that at the beginning. So set up, breakdown, tax, delivery, all of that. It's usually, you know, kind of budgeted in with your cake or your rentals and things like that. but it's something that you might not think of off the bat, like, how am I going to get my cake from the bakery to my venue?

Or, like, how are all these chairs just going to magically show up at my wedding ceremony? So, you know, it's kind of breaking all that down. Your planner can help you with all of that, too, and really factor in the costs. And do your research. I mean, you can go online and get so much wedding information, I feel like, to help you with all of it. But, yeah, there still are going to be things that come up that you do not remember. Yeah. So it's such a good point because, again, this happens all the time in life in general,

but especially with big events like weddings. So, Alyssa, thank you so much for coming. Yeah, thanks for having me. This is so helpful. And again, if you're out there planning a wedding, whether because you had to reschedule because of quarantine and everything, or you're just playing it for the first time, remember these tips because it's coming from a pro, and it really is that importance. All right, I hope you all learn so much from this episode that you can have a great

wedding on a budget. Okay, you can have a wedding of your dreams, a wedding that you love, and still be smart with your money. And I want to hear from you. So what's one wedding lie that you find yourself believing? Because let's be honest, we've all done it. So go into my Facebook community and comment there. And if you're not subscribed to this podcast, make sure you do that. And again, the video version of this episode you can find on YouTube or Facebook. And if the spirit leads, you can leave a review here on this podcast. But man, you guys, this is, such an important topic. And again, I hope you take what you've learned and apply it to your life because it will save you money and stress in the long run. And as always, make sure to take

control of your money and create a life you love. So if you guys enjoyed this podcast, we have more from the Ramsey Network, like the King Coleman Show. According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly 70% of Americans are disengaged at work. If you dread going into work every Monday morning and you're just trying to make it to the weekend. The Ken Coleman show is for you. Everyone has a sweet spot. Your sweet spot is at the intersection of your greatest talent and greatest passion. We will help you discover what it is you were born to do and then we'll help you create a plan to make your dream job a reality. You matter and you have what it takes. Join the conversation on the Ken Coleman show. To hear full episodes, just search Ken Coleman wherever you listen to podcasts or go to

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