Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash
1. Never take a loan
It’s fine to take a loan from the bank to purchase your first home but you should never ever take a loan to pay for your wedding.
Your parents may be willing to bear part of the cost, or in some case, pay for the entire celebration, which is fine, but let’s not get into debt before you even tie the knot!
2. Contract issues
As with any other business contract, you should always read the fine print before you sign.
Make sure every item that is confirmed is listed clearly in your contract, and check with your vendor that the item is exactly what you asked for.
Many brides I know had a verbal agreement with the vendor and signed the contract based on blind trust – they ended having to pay more for what they wanted, as what was promised was not listed in the contract – the vendor went back on their word.
3. Credit woes
With all the credit card perks and benefits, couples are tempted to use their cards to pay for all the wedding costs.
But they don’t see the hidden costs in using plastic all the time – the credit card interest and finance charges! You can use plastic to pay for a small part of the costs but try to pay cash for the big-ticket items – or use NETS!
4. Be focused
Most vendors will try to upsell their services and products and before you know it, you are taken in by their persuasive sales tactics and have committed to extra items, and costs, that you did not budget for.
As much as you love the extra flourish and frill for your wedding, ask yourself if you really need it, and whether it will break your budget.
Always stick to what you budgeted for; if there are extra funds leftover after everything is committed, you can look into adding more frills.
5. DIY pitfalls
DIY-ing stuff for your wedding may actually costs a lot more that getting a vendor to handle it for you.
For big-scale weddings or celebrations, it would be nearly impossible to DIY certain tasks like the decor (imagine blowing up thousands of balloons for your giant ballroom) or even the dessert table (how long will it take to bake enough cupcakes for a thousand guests?)!
My tip: Keep your DIY tasks to simple items like the guest book, ang pow box or even your wedding video clip.
Sometimes it would be more cost- and time-savvy to leave the rest to the experts.
See also: 6 THINGS YOU MIGHT REGRET NOT DOING FOR YOUR WEDDING!