What could I do with all that money??

When you're stuck on a tight budget for your wedding, it can be somewhat of a downer. Going with the "glass is half full" state of mind, I thought I might list some motivators for all the good things about keeping your wedding costs from spiraling out of control. Think about what that money you saved could be put toward...

1) Credit Card Debt- whenever I can't pay off my full credit card bill at the end of the month, it looms over me until I finally can... except it usually just gets worse and worse. Once I let myself go $100 over, the next month I seem to be in $200 debt and it spirals out of control. Think about the headache if you had a bunch of wedding charges lingering on that credit card :(

2) Student Loans- you can never start paying those off early enough. The sooner you start pitching in toward that, the sooner you will be able to relax.

3) A Down Payment- what better way to start off your marital bliss than by having a house of your own? My husband and I were able to save up enough money to put a good down payment on a house and our monthly mortgage is actually cheaper than most of our friends' rent.

4) Completing your registry- this is something that is often forgotten by newlyweds. Once the party is over, you may have 20-30 items that you really need for your house/apt that were never purchased as gifts for you. You'd be surprised how expensive it can be to complete that registry- even after you narrow down the needs from the wants.

5) Your sanity! Like I said before, debt can really get inside of your head and make you feel trapped until you're finally able to pay it off. Your wedding is a truly amazing, once in a lifetime event, but you can certainly pull it off without putting that kind of strain on your first few years together as newlyweds. Be creative and enjoy figuring out ways to make it work as an affordable event- you'll be happy you did once the honeymoon is over :)

Remember, the wedding is just the beginning

When couples are planning a wedding on a budget, the stress can set in pretty quickly. The way you handle the challenges that come up in planning your special day reflect the way you two will handle other problems in the future of your marriage.

You need to remember the importance of communication and compromise in a marriage. The wedding is the easy part- imagine a lifetime of managing financial burdens that will come up. Money is often a huge source of marital conflict and it doesn't have to be that way, if you can talk about it without blowing up. That is the trick- being able to keep it a conversation and not an argument.

I'm especially talking to the ladies here- if you all are struggling to make ends meet right now (which a lot of soon-to-be newlyweds are...), you need to be willing to cut back on some of the traditional wedding extravagances that brides indulge in, and keep your fiance in the loop of what things are going to cost. Don't try to hide things from each other- you will both find out eventually! The point is that you need to put everything out on the table. You don't want to be surprised by either of the other's debt that has been raked up.

Don't let planning the happiest day of your life become so much of a burden that it isn't fun anymore- planning a wedding on a budget can be a really good experience. If you can learn to prioritize and research the options that are available to you, you can definitely make it work. People have planned weddings on less than $5K, so just realize that it is possible.

If you and your future spouse can sit down and discuss not only your budget, but also how you're going to make that work before you start the wedding planning, you'll be setting yourselves up for a great foundation of your marriage. Good luck!

For more information on planning your wedding on a budget, visit http://www.budgetwiseweddingmd.com