When her elder sister decided to get married, Sonia Singh knew it would be an elaborate affair. What this 27-year-old freelance writer hadn’t
bargained for was her sister’s approach – she wanted the wedding to be the event of a lifetime. When the day dawned, she was “more of a host and less of bride”. The five-function event included a hen party and sangeet. “Marriages are so unpredictable. The least you can have is an elaborate wedding,” says Singh.
She was entirely on trend. Weddings and all the traditional paraphernalia associated with them are increasingly becoming more important than the institution of marriage itself. Item girl Rakhi Sawant’s reality TV swayamvar exemplifies the trend. Surprisingly, Gen X is focusing on tradition, which is increasingly fashionable.
Sociologist Mala Kapur Shankardass agrees that “it has become trendy to show that you are in with traditional mores. And what better way is there to indicate your cultural awareness than having a traditional wedding?”
Today, old is seen as new and every girl’s dream wedding just got bigger and fatter. Incidentally, the Indian wedding industry is estimated to be worth Rs 1,25,000 cr and it’s growing by 25% a year.
This is reflected in television soaps and Bollywood movies. Industry consultant Meher Sarid says her clients regularly ask her to replicate the weddings shown on TV. “Serials and movies use traditions from different parts of the country and make them ubiquitous,” she says. This is why bhangra might feature at a cocktail party for a Tamil wedding and a traditional Muslim wedding might have a mehendi party.
Market research professional Pavithra Ram says weddings are increasingly more important because “marriage isn’t a big deal anymore”. “Couples are usually seeing each other for sometime before they decide to tie the knot or are in live-in relationships. That’s why the ritual of a wedding instills a sense of newness and becomes first priority,” says the 25-year-old. Ram speaks from personal experience. In December, she cements her four-year relationship with “a wedding ceremony, a reception and a dance party”.
Wedding ritual, of course, is increasingly traditional, but not ethnic, insists Vandana Mohan, CEO of Wedding Design Company. “Contemporary and fusion are out, staunchly Indian is in, be it clothes, jewellery or decor,” she says. Streamlined fish-cut lehengas have given way to fuller ones, the décor is increasingly Indian-inspired and traditional jewellery styles such as polki or stonework are the rage. Who knows, some girl may even decide to hold a real live swayamvar, muses Sarid.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/sunday-toi/view-from-venus/
A-big-fat-and-very-traditional-wedding/articleshow/4872637.cms
The recession can make it hard to focus on the bride when the bill for the wedding is looming.
"I think that brides today are not giving up their dreams of their weddings because of the economy," she said. "They’re just taking that same appropriated money and putting it in different locations."
For example, if a bride wants a big, fancy cake, she might spend more money there and less on flowers, Diehl said.
Brides seem to be sticking pretty tight to their budgets, she said, and while they’re not likely to cut back too much, they’re also not splurging like they used to.
"It seems overall, worldwide, brides are not looking to cut their budget," she said. "… But now they’re sticking to budgeted amounts, doing more unique things, so they can still fulfill all the dreams they’ve had."
Wedding experts say there are a number of things couples can do to get the most matrimonial bang out of their buck. They include:
Number of Guests – Knowing how many guests you expect to come to your wedding will help guide you when brainstorming for wedding locations. In general, two-thirds of the guests you invite will attend — even less if it is a destination wedding. A large group of guests will require more parking, bathrooms, rentals, and space. A smaller, intimate affair can take place in any number of venues, and in reality, has a much smaller impact on the environment. For the low-maintenance types, eloping with just your sweetie and a witness to the local courthouse is your cheapest and greenest option.
Travel – Ideally you want your wedding to be easy for all of your guests to arrive with minimal travel. If your family and friends all live nearby, the greenest thing you can do is have it in your home town. If everyone is scattered across the country, consider picking a central location, or a spot where a majority of your guests live. Unless you elope, at least some of your guests will likely have to travel to get to the wedding, and since travel is the biggest environmental impact, consider buying carbon offsets to reduce the carbon footprint of your guests travel. Terra Pass and Native Energy both offer carbon offsets for special events — Terra Pass’ can even specifically tailored to weddings. Also suggest that guests rent fuel-efficient vehicles like the Prius — they can check major rental companies like Avis, Enterprise and Hertz.
Ceremony & Reception Venues – Once you have an idea of how many guests will attend and in what city it will take place, you can scout out venues. Naturally green wedding spots are ones that require little fuss or decoration. Some naturally eco options include city parks, gardens, beaches, backyards, organic farms, local CSAs, national and state parks. While relatively fuss and decoration free, these outdoor locations may require renting chairs, tables, and tents, dealing with travel logistics, or even getting permits. Churches are also eco, requiring little decoration and no rentals. Many churches these days also have recycling programs and buy renewable energy.
There are many other types of venues that hold weddings regularly like hotels, restaurants, museums, historical buildings and resorts. These can be great options, since they usually have all of the chairs, tables, rentals, wait staff, catering, etc., but not all practice environmental-friendliness, so do your research and ask questions! Find out whether or not they recycle, buy organic or local food, clean with safe cleaning products, or buy renewable energy. Without these eco practices in place, your venue may not be green at all.
Reception – Keeping the reception within walking distance of the ceremony minimizes your guests traveling between the two. Also morning and afternoon weddings are becoming increasingly popular again — an option that requires less electricity and thus, reducing your environmental impact. Help support your local economy by hiring local companies for rentals, catering, cakes and entertainment. Avoid buying new things or disposable items at the reception and rely on rental companies to supply all of your linens and place settings.
Destination Weddings – Destination weddings are really fun and a good chance for a vacation, but require more time and money for your guests. Be considerate of the travel required to get to your destination and the costs associated. Look for eco-resorts and destinations that use environmentally-friendly practices just like you would with a local venue.
BRIDGETTE’S STORY
With our family and friends scattered around the country and Matt and me in Park City, UT, there was no easy solution our wedding’s location – almost everyone would have to travel. When thinking about locations we factored in travel times, airfare costs, activities during the weekend, car rentals, hotel accommodations and the overall feel of the wedding. We knew we wanted an outdoor wedding, because Matt and I spend so much of our time outdoors. We also wanted it to be special to us as well as a memorable location for all of our loved ones.
In light of that, we decided to have the wedding at one of our most favorite spots in the world – Zion National Park in Southern Utah. We love the serenity, the red rock canyon walls, the Virgin River cutting through it all. The park and lively neighboring town, Springdale, would be able to provide a myriad of activities for our guests to take advantage of — and the area already had a free public shuttle, so no one would need to drive once they arrived. Additionally, most of our family and friends had never been to the park and hoped to extend their stay to enjoy all that the park offered.
We searched Springdale and the National Park for the ceremony site, looking for a place that could accommodate 100 people, had amazing views and fit our budget. For the ceremony, we settled on a little hotel in town, called the Canyon Ranch Motel, which has a beautiful lawn with old growth trees. Our guests collectively booked the entire motel, which meant we could avoid disturbing others and have the whole place to ourselves. The reception was at the Springdale’s Community Center, which had an indoor and outdoor area and was just a short walk along a dirt path from the ceremony. We rented chairs and place settings from Zion Party Rentals, which is a local rental company.
When the big day arrived, we found that our guests enjoyed the National Park, took the shuttle everywhere, relaxed by the pool, took hikes and spent a lot of time outdoors. Because our guests made our wedding into their own vacation, we had more opportunity to spend with them while sharing a place that was very special to us.
JILL’S STORY
My hubby and I live in New York City, but most of our family is in the San Francisco Bay Area, so getting hitched in San Francisco was a no-brainer. We knew that some people would have to travel for our wedding, but since airplane travel has a huge carbon footprint, we wanted to minimize the number of people who had to fly out for the wedding and make it easiest for our immediate family to attend. Locating our wedding in San Francisco, and then having a follow up reception a month later in NYC gave our New York friends the option to skip out on flying out to California, while still allowing them to celebrate with us in a more convenient local.
Once we settled on San Francisco, we wanted to choose a place that was meaningful to us, as well as easy-to-get-to, and would allow the ceremony and reception to all be held in one place, minimizing any sort of carbon footprint (and inconvenience) that comes from having to drive from one place to another. We choose the Presidio in San Francisco — a historic military base that has been converted to a national park –because it is beautiful, serene, and my family has ties to the area (my grandfather lived and worked at the Presidio, and my grandmother is buried there). Perhaps the most important factor for us, however, (and the most important ‘green’ factor), is the fact that the Presidio has a whole host of historic buildings: chapels, cabins, officer’s clubs and the like, that are frequently rented for events – minimizing the hassle and the need to truck in furniture, seating, decor, canopies or anything else offsite. This not only made setting up a breeze, but it seriously cut down on carbon footprint to have everything available on site. Of course, guests were also happy that they could easily walk from the old mission interfaith chapel where we had the ceremony to the reception party at the Golden Gate Club, just down the hill.
My husband and I were thrilled with the location we picked for our wedding. Not only was it ‘green’, but it was beautiful and scenic, super convenient and easy for us and our guests, and special and poignant for us due to our personal ties to the area
Source: inhabitat.com/2009/06/20/green-wedding-guide-location/
Go the extra mile to show your support for a greener wedding. Here are some things to consider when you have decided to go for a gren wedding:
Simplify
The overarching theme here should be simplification. There are eco-friendly versions of most wedding products, but the best option is usually to forego the items altogether. Reuse wherever possible – and save not only resources, but cash too.
Weigh the expenses
That said, some items you just can’t live without, and usually the green version is more expensive than the original. You’ll need to factor this into your wedding budget. To keep your budget in check, determine which areas you’re willing to spend more on for a good cause (i.e. organic cuisine), and where you can save to make up for that added expense (i.e. forego the wedding dress or favors). This wedding budget guide offers even more budgeting advice
Patronize
Many new companies have entered the growing green weddings market. Before booking your vendors, check out businesses that claim to provide green services and confirm that they really do.
Inform
One green turn deserves another. Let your guests know the steps you’ve taken to plan your green wedding, and show them that an elegant event doesn’t have to be harmful to the environment. Who knows, many of your guests may be inspired to do the same.
Invitations & Stationery
1. Recycle – use recycled paper or paper made from alternative fiber – such as hemp or bamboo. Check out these resources for an array of custom, recycled papers: Custompaper.com or JamPaper.com
2. Splurge on calligraphy – calligraphy may cost more, but it saves inks, toners, solvents and chemicals involved in printing.
3. Condense – save trees by minimizing inserts and other paper products. Always print on front and back, and try to fit it all on one sheet.
4. Go completely green – send all correspondence via email. The etiquette gods may swoon – but if you’re dead set on being green, electronic mailings are the most earth friendly way to go.
Location
1. Rent for a cause – find a venue that will benefit from your site rental fee – such as a museum, gallery or other cultural organization. Confirm how that venue will use your fee.
2. Go outside – a beach, the woods, gardens – they all make an ideal setting for a green wedding (just be sure to leave it as you found it).
3. Find a green venue – some venues are demonstrating a commitment to saving water and energy, reducing waste, or serving locally grown/organic menus. Check out these resources for green minded venues:
– Green Hotels Association (www.greenhotels.com)
– Green Seal (www.greenseal.com)
Décor Elements
1. Use candlelight – not only are candles energy efficient, they also create a soft romantic glow for an elegant reception. Better yet, look for soy candles – they’re cleaner and longer burning since they’re made from a renewable resource.
2. Use bamboo – one of the most sustainable materials on earth, bamboo is an eco-friendly décor option with an organic, modern feel. Use bamboo stalks for centerpieces or other décor elements.
Flowers
1. Think double duty – invite your ceremony arrangements to the reception! You can use them to decorate your cake or gift table – you’ll waste less and save money doing it.
2. Buy organic, locally grown blooms – organic flowers are grown in an environmentally friendly way, without pesticides.
Getting locally grown ones will save the fuel burned from transporting the flowers. If you can’t find a local florist who can provide organic blooms, order yours from OrganicBouquet.com
3. Conserve cut flowers – using cut flowers just once is a waste. See if you can share yours with another wedding taking place on the same day.
4. Skip cut flowers altogether – top your tables with potted arrangements for guests to take and plant in their yards after the wedding.
Menu
1. Think organic – ensure that you, your guests and the staff won’t be exposed to pesticides. Many caterers specialize in organic foods, and almost any caterer can provide an organic menu if you ask them.
2. Think local – if you’re concerned about the cost involved in a completely organic menu, go local instead. Serving locally grown food eliminates fuel reliance and supports local farmers. Check out Localharvest.org or Localfoodworks.org to find farmers markets, farms and other sources of local food.
3. Reuse utensils – find a caterer who recycles materials and/or uses linen and china instead of disposables.
4. Donate the leftovers – work with your caterer to send leftovers to a food shelter or other organization.
Cake
1. Sub ingredients – have your baker use organic and/or local sugar, flour, butter and eggs. Some bakers even specialize in organic cakes.
Attire
1. Go secondhand – a used gown reduces fuels used in creating a new one.
2. Get green fibers – natural fibers like silk and organic cotton are better for the environment than synthetic ones.
3. Go couture – if your wallet can afford it, couture gowns are usually made from natural fabrics.
4. Donate – provide a green gown decision for another bride when you give or sell yours after the wedding.
Favors
Avoid wasteful trinkets – donate to a charity in the name of your guests
Transportation
1. Limit long distance travel – have the wedding in a location where few guests will have to fly to get there.
2.Walk – host your room block, ceremony and reception at the same site – or within walking distance
3. Carpool – organize car pools for your guests in hybrid vehicles
4. Getaway in low emission style – get creative and use a non-motorized vehicle for your final sendoff – bikes, horseback, sleds, skates, wagons, or any old school conveyance will do.
Other Green Ideas
The truth is – no matter how great your green intentions are, most weddings have a huge environmental impact from the fuel used transporting your guests – via car or plane – to your wedding. Since this is extremely difficult to avoid, the “greenest” brides are purchasing carbon offsets to reduce their wedding’s footprint.
How it works: calculate the mileage guests will travel, and offset their carbon dioxide emissions by donating to programs that plant trees or preserve rain forests. TerraPass.com <http://www.terrapass.com> is a website that does this for you – you enter your wedding details, and the site calculates your footprint, charges you accordingly, and then invests the money for you in energy saving technologies.
Article Author:
Cori Russell of Elegala.com and Gala Weddings Magazine
The engagement period will probably be the most gloriously tranquil time of a couple’s wedding process. You both soon will be faced with decisions, compromises, and debates — some simple, some funny, some tough, but all important.
While it’s important to bask in all the happiness, there are also a few tasks that should be handled pretty quickly. The couple need to set the budget and a timetable for planning the wedding, buy the rings, and announce the engagement.
For those folks that have more budget to play around with, some decide to add a consultant into their budget. This is definitely the way to go if you both don’t have time to plan the wedding or you know you both will argue over every minute detail. Keep in mind that you can opt to choose a wedding consultant that works by the hour. This allows you both to do most of the planning but provides an outsider’s perspective for some of the more difficult decisions.
Please use the following guide to find and record all the details of your consultant before hiring them. >> Click here for the PDF file
Using an hourly consultant
Consultants who work by the hour are an excellent choice if you want to plan everything yourself but wouldn’t mind a little objective feedback once in a while. For instance, when he wants beef and you want chicken, a consultant might lend some insight into the most popular entree selection, the pros and cons of offering multiple entree choices, and which selection will help you stay on budget. You might also want to hire a consultant on an hourly basis so you can use his/her list of vendor recommendations, such as florist, reception halls, musicians, and so on. Then you can do the actual calling, interviewing, and hiring!
Source: http://www.howstuffworks.com
Here are some money saving tips that FB would like to share with you. Use a couple of tips to save a few bucks or use more and save $1000+.
The Most Important Money Saving Tips
The Wedding Attire Search
Flower Power
I Have No Idea How To Decorate!
How Can I Cut Corners on the Invitations?
I Don’t Want to Spend a Fortune on Favours/Bomboniere
Wedding Cakes too expensive? No Problem!
What about my Hair & Makeup?
Using a Caterer & choosing a Reception Venue
Photographers charge too much!
Photographers equipment and development costs alone are huge. Then there are batteries, film, an assistant and the hours of work on and after the wedding. You can save money on enlargements and albums but don’t penny pinch when it comes to the photographer. After your wedding day, the only things you have left are your pictures and your video. These are the only 2 services that last a lifetime and can be passed down to the next generation.
I think I’ll just forget about a Video
Some couples think that having a video is a waste of money. How many times will we actually watch it? As necessary as still pictures are they can not capture the mood, movement and sounds of your wedding day like a movie can. One of the biggest misconceptions is that you have a great memory and you’ll remember everything about your day. You won’t, you can’t, there are too many things going on and you’re on cloud 9. Keep this in mind.
Do I Have To Pay a Fortune for Transportation?
Choosing Your Music Service
Do I really need a Wedding Coordinator or Planner?
Let’s face it, the ONLY service you need to get married is an officiant.
Source: http://www.frugalbride.com/frugalhintstips.html
Setting a budget for the ceremony and wedding reception is somewhat easy — you have what you have and that’s that. Sticking to the budget is where things get tough. For now, the engaged couple needs to sit down with both sets of parents to discuss how much money they have, how much money they need, and who will be footing the bill for what part of the wedding.
Click here to print a sample worksheet for footing the bill.
It’s going to be difficult at times, but try to plan a wedding within your means. Before you begin, determine a priority list for the ceremony and the reception. Ask yourselves a silent question: Is what we are spending on this item really worth it to both of us? After all, needing five years to pay off the reception is not the way to go, especially since most newlyweds have a long list of wanna-haves, such as a first home and/or new furniture.
Click here for a sample worksheet to determine priority lists.
Now that you have heard wedding bells and experienced the joys of your wedding ceremony, it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll merge your finances. The budget management situation of a newlywed couple is not something to take lightly – the foundations you build right from the start will affect the entire relationship. Don’t simply think that “things will sort themselves out.” That’s the mindset of a financially troubled marriage.
Over 90% of couples admit to arguing over their budget management, and 34% cite it as a major problem in their marriage.1 Imagine not planning out who will handle your bills and organize your joint savings, let alone plan an overall budget for the family – and you might just cringe. Each spouse has their own interpretation of “important” expenses, and they’re going to spend accordingly without some joint agreements.
Coming up with those agreements, though, can be hard without the proper ways to track spending. Especially for young newlyweds in their late teens or early twenties, knowing what to do with taxes, savings, and 401k plans can be so confusing that many often revert to simply avoiding the subject altogether. Unfortunately, the theory of “if we ignore it, maybe it’ll work itself out” usually leads to more tension than satisfaction.
As if that weren’t enough, many newlyweds these days are thirty-somethings who are combining households and finances – a complicated issue by any measure. Whether you’re 19 or 35, then, there are several key factors and financial items that should be on any newlywed’s To Do list after the excitement of the wedding dies down.
1. Combining and Optimizing Insurances
Job One for any “financial marriage” is for both of you to change your insurance coverage. If both spouses have insurance coverage, it’s best to examine the different plans and costs to decide where the combination should occur. For instance, if the husband has insurance coverage that allows for free spousal coverage, you can set the wife up under that policy and start cutting your spending immediately.
If you can duplicate coverage, that’s good! Duplication ensures that should a medical emergency occur, your insurance policies should cover all of the important issues. If you are paying for insurance under one policy, but not the other, it may be a good idea to place the insurance coverage under the free policy and eliminate the charged one, if possible. Look for ways to lower your overall costs without losing coverage for both.
Mint’s Tip: A popular comparison site for health insurance is eHealthInsurance.com. They list many of the major insurers, and don’t require you to input your personal information before seeing the plan specifics such as monthly premium, deductible, and coinsurance percentage.
Aside from just medical insurance coverage, you’ll also need to combine homeowners insurance, renters insurance, auto insurance, and possibly life insurance. Make sure that you aren’t paying for the same coverage twice, and combine everything when and where possible. Your overall costs are cheaper when combined – for instance, auto insurance policies always offer multiple-driver and multiple-car discounts. Since most policies will require you to complete these changes within 30 days of your marriage, it’s a quick way to see financial savings immediately.
Keep in mind, as well, that your insurance coverage policies need verification of the marriage in order to proceed. Don’t just wait around and count on filing the marriage certificate paperwork to get that document in time! Most offices take 4-6 weeks to process your certificate. Make it a point to go down to your local county recorder’s office and get a copy, so that you can set up your policies quickly and efficiently.
While you’re changing your insurance coverage policies, you’ll also need to change your beneficiaries should something go wrong. Most people allow their spouse to be their beneficiary for all bank accounts, savings accounts, retirement plans, and insurance policies – so you’ll have to make those decision, as well. Also, some employers require that you identify the person who would receive your final check should something happen to you. Make sure to identify that person as your spouse, as well.
2. Juggling the Tiny Details and Plan for the Unexpected
There are also other issues that should be addressed before you race off to the honeymoon. If one spouse will be changing his or her name, for example, that change should be filed with the social security administration. That spouse will be issued a new social security card and, with that information, can change driver’s licenses or IDs to reflect the change. Anyone who sends you mail – such as credit card companies, magazine companies, and even, where applicable, your alumni association – should be alerted, too.
Now that that’s all taken care of, you’ll need to upgrade your wills next. This step is particularly important, as an old will can cause a terrible knot of problems should something happen to you or your spouse. Don’t stall from addressing these concerns quickly – although planning for situations like these can be difficult, ignoring them will only compound the problem. Make sure your desires are made clear.
3. Figure Out Where You Both Stand Financially
Your next obvious step is one that’s hard to overlook: reviewing all credit cards and other debt obligations between you and your spouse. Many people have credit cards, while others have student loans, child support, and alimony. It’s a good idea to sit down and plan out a way that you and your spouse can pay off these debts. While a perfect solution would be to eliminate your debt prior to getting married so as not to burden your spouse with your own debt, this isn’t always a possibility. Therefore, it’s important for both parties to work on making their family and their marriage debt-free.
4. Budget Management For Your Future – Together
Beyond just paying off debts, though, you’ll want to review your financial goals for life. When do you both plan to retire? Do you own a home yet? If so, do you want to plan on moving into a larger home? If you don’t own a home yet, you’ll often want to draw up a timeline goal for buying one. How long will it take you to save up money for a down payment, and what can the two of you afford when it comes to a home purchase? Set goals together, as a couple, so that you both have a clear understanding of your desires, your goals, your milestones, and the means by which to accomplish them.
This last step brings us to a key point: a newlywed couple absolutely must develop a budget. It is essential that the two of you work out your income, your monthly expenses, and debt obligations. Once that’s been determined, you can make key decisions on how to save money, create an emergency fund, or invest in options for the future. Without a budget, you are going to experience a difficult time together!
With this budget in hand and your plan for the future set, your debt repayment plans laid out, and your key financial information changed over, as a couple you’re ready for a successfully and financially responsible marriage together. Stress levels will be lower and your foundation will be set for a strong marriage based on financial responsibility. Hopefully, all of this planning will ensure that money will never be what comes between you both!
Source: http://blog.mint.com/blog/finance-core/four-steps-for-responsible-budget-management-for-newlyweds/