Published by TheWeddingSite.com - All about getting married in Malta
Getting married? Better to be a Certified Public Accountant, unless you’ve got some seriously super smooth ninja budgeting skills, yourself! We know that keeping track of the Euros for your special day is not exactly a piece of (wedding) cake, however, it needn’t be the kind of dreary, daunting task, that puts a damper of your excitement about the festivities.
Never fear, TheWeddingSite.com has listed some great tips which can go a long way towards (financially) preparing you (and your cheque book) for the big day.
Save and plan ahead.
As the old adage goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. This is especially true for financial planning. Weddings involve a major expense, which is conveniently rationalised under the guise of celebrating a major life event. Moreso when you’re getting married in Malta, where local weddings are traditionally extended well beyond colleagues, friends and family. So think smart and think ahead. Putting a little money away is especially smart, if your idea of a wedding is a thinly-veiled excuse for a splurging extravaganza of glittering opulence.
Reality check.
Notice the gap between what you want and what you can actually afford. Be brutally honest with yourself and forget about the white horse-drawn pumpkin carriage. Leave that to Cinderella – or her modern-day less classy, bustier equivalent – Katie Price. This is the time to consider the musts first and then – if you have enough funds left over, go for the wants!
Socrates (who is pretty much credited for being one of the fathers of philosophy) once said that what screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s supposed to be. Same applies to weddings. Be brave and throw all your shoulds out of the window. Focus on those ideas which you can materialise in this particular version of reality, and not some mystical parallel universe, yet to be discovered.
Discuss Psychology Today ranked financial problems and related stresses as one of the main culprits of relationship problems, and also divorce. This makes discussing the wedding budget openly and directly with your partner a critical task. This is a time for those uncomfortable conversations about who will be contributing what to the wedding and what say they will have in the event. And yes, here goes the analogy of the band aid… It’s more painful to peel it off gently, so rip it off and be done with it. Just remember to be considerate towards your partner’s feelings.
By far, the majority of the expenses of getting married in Malta will be eaten up by the catering, bar and venue – so make sure you allocate at least 50% to those. The dresses, suits, transport, flowers, cake and the photographer will be the remaining main elements which you need to list and track. For a list of wedding service providers in Malta visit our Wedding Suppliers list.
Here’s a real nifty trick to keep up your sleeve; factor in a reserve fund of around 7% into your budget. That way if you go slightly too wild on the spending, you can gently reel yourself in, with composure and without jeopardising the entire event.
Thinking about a 700 person wedding on a Euros 15,000 budget? Nope – you’re not thinking. Day dreaming is what we call that! The guest count is the single item which will have the biggest impact on your wedding budget. So you have ample reason to strike off out that nasty second cousin, twice removed from your guest list. You never got on with her anyways, right?
Your wedding is all about you two as a couple– it’s a salient moment in your lives, the memories of which will be treasured for years to come. This is all the more reason to be sensible and ditch all notions of the silly pre-wedding stage photo shoots which will no doubt be cheesier than a triple cheese sandwich, in ten years’ time!
Amid all the latter day options for wedding styles, surely you can get creative and find something to suit your personality, taste and budget, nonetheless. And this could be just what gives your wedding that special touch of authenticity and memorability.
Flight of fancy: If all else fails and the numbers simply don’t add up, you can always elope and spend the money on an epic fairy-tale like honeymoon!
