Wedding Debt AdvicePosted by Kim Rix on November 24th, 2009

Dear Bride and Groom,

I’m sure you are already planning what your life will be like once you are married. The house you will live in, the holidays you will go on together, the first Christmas card you send as Mr and Mrs. What you might not have thought about is the upwards of ten thousand pounds in debt which couples expect to be in to have their dream wedding.

I was horrified to read that in 2008 a study showed that most women in Britain expected to take on between 8 and 10 thousand pounds worth of debt to have their dream wedding – perhaps inspired by their favourite celebrity wedding.  Some women will go as far as re-mortgaging their home to be able to afford designer dress or five star honeymoon. That’s crazy!

You have to ask yourselves whether, during your first few years of married life, you would rather be spending your hard earned money paying off your wedding debt or enjoying furnishing your marital home or taking nice holidays together.

Your wedding can be beautiful and still be in budget! You need to take a careful look at your finances and set your budget accordingly. Give yourselves time to save and use a budget planner to keep track of your anticipated and actual spending.

Of course if you have savings and help from family then some of the pressure will be take off of you. But just because you have the money doesn’t mean you have to spend it all either!

You can take out a loan or buy extras on your credit card but only if you absolutely know that you can make the minimum payments until it’s cleared. You really need to weigh up whether you will be compromising your quality of life for years, for small aspects of one, albeit very important, day.

Engaging the services of a wedding planner can assist you in keeping within budget and avoiding the clutches of debt. First of all together we set a realistic budget and make a pact to stick to it. Working together we can find all the things you require at a great price – I’ll do all the shopping around and negotiate to get you the best deal possible.

Your wedding will be the most special day of your life, regardless of how much money you have. Remember it is only the beginning of your time together.

Kind regards

Kim Rix

Your London Wedding Planner

Finding a Good Wedding PlannerPosted by Kim Rix on November 17th, 2009

Dear Bride and Groom,

You may be considering using a wedding planner for a number of reasons. Perhaps you feel under pressure for time, you are not sure where to start or you know exactly what you want and you are looking for someone who can help you see it through from beginning to end.

There are plenty of people in the UK (and abroad) who sell themselves as a Wedding Planner but how do you know who to trust?

Here are my tips for finding the wedding planner who suits you.

Recommendations

The most obvious way to find out if a wedding planner is any good is through recommendation. This could be a personal recommendation from a friend, family member or acquaintance but if it doesn’t come through them there is another way to find out.  Ask the planner if he / she has any testimonials from previous clients or even suppliers that you can talk to.

Documentation

Any planner worth their salt will have examples of previous weddings. This can include photographs, budgets, scrapbooks of research materials and even copies of invites and ceremonies.  A good planner should sit and go through some of these with you and give examples of wedding that are close to your ideas.

Budgeting / Contracting

A wedding planner should always be upfront about their charges and not add on any ‘extras’ that haven’t been discussed. You should always get a contract between yourself and the planner that details all the services you should be receiving and also any obligations that you should fulfil. If your planner is hesitant about budgets or doesn’t produce a contract I would steer clear.

Connections

One of the great benefits of using a planner is that they have fantastic connections with service and product suppliers. The planner should be able to give you a list of good suppliers that he / she works with regularly and what makes them special. Usually a planner is given discounts for their orders as they place them regularly and this should be passed on to you. Basically that means you can get a little more for your money!

Personality

It is essential that you find a planner that you get on well with – someone who complements your personality. So if you are quite highly strung you need someone who is efficient and can keep you calm and relaxed. Or if you are quite laid back then you need someone who can nudge you into making decisions and setting tasks for you to complete.

Above all your wedding planner should be honest, open and accountable.

Kind regards,

Kim Rix

Your London Wedding Planner

Wedding Insurance – Why You Need ItPosted by Kim Rix on November 10th, 2009

Dear Bride and Groom,

I know many couples that do not see the benefit or need to take out wedding insurance. But with the average wedding costing around eighteen thousand pounds it doesn’t seem unreasonable to take out protection. After all, you’d buy insurance for a new car that cost £18,000!

No one wants to think about anything going wrong on or leading up to their wedding day but at least with insurance you have the security of knowing that you won’t lose out financially if the worst does happen.

The most common claims on wedding insurance (and therefore my top reasons to buy it) are:

-         Damage to the wedding dress

-         Problems or cancellations with the wedding venue

-         Wedding suppliers going bust

-         Damage to photographs.

All of these things are just horrible to even imagine happening to you. But it is worth taking a moment and thinking about what you would be able to do in any of these situations. At the very least you would have to pay out for repairs and replacements on top of the likelihood of losing some very substantial deposits. Wedding insurance safeguards you from losing out financially and allows you to be able to cope with any problems that do arise.

Obviously each policy is different and you will perhaps need to look at a couple of different providers to find one that covers you for all the things that you are most concerned about. It is also a good idea to check the excess on the policy and see if you can lower or raise it to suit you.

Don’t forget to look for any optional extras. Some policies even come with discounts on other wedding services that could be worth looking at. With most policies available to look over online it is easy to shortlist a few favourites and then speak to the companies about any questions you have.

As most insurance providers now offer wedding insurance its worth speaking to some of your existing providers and see if they can offer you a discount for holding multiple policies. You might also want to check what could already be covered under existing home policies e.g. Wedding rings.

As part of my service I help couples to find insurance that suits their needs and sits within their budget. I think it is a really valuable service – although I hope you never have to use it!

Kind regards,

Kim Rix

Your London Wedding Planner

Wedding Shows, Are They For You?Posted by Kim Rix on November 3rd, 2009

Dear Bride and Groom,

How is your planning going? Stuck for ideas? Not sure what to plan next? Scared of leaving something out? Can’t find the supplier you need?

You are probably considering visiting a wedding show for ideas, inspiration or suppliers and that’s not a bad idea. Wedding shows are great for being able to see and speak to a lot of predominantly local suppliers. You get to see, touch and even taste some products on offer without the pressure of being in a shop environment.

There is also a lot of inspiration about! From venues to floral arrangements and favours you can see a diverse range of styles and choices and steal all the best bits to make your own.

On the down side it is a high-pressure environment. Wedding shows are often crowded and busy, mostly with women so the groom might want to give it a miss – or you might want to set him a mission to complete with his best man!

All the companies there want you to buy their product or service so there can be a bit of pressure to buy if you are showing interest. In the bigger fairs where there are so many stalls, shows and salespeople it can become quite overwhelming. The sheer realisation of all the different people who need to be engaged to make your wedding go off without a hitch can leave you feeling stressed and under a fair bit of pressure.

My advice would be to go to the smaller local fairs to start with. Don’t go with any intention to buy on the day, just go to take it all in and get some inspiration. You will end up walking out with a bag of samples, business cards and other materials so you will never forget the things you like.

If you can, try to go with a list of things that you really want to learn more about and stick to it. This will keep you focussed and hopefully get any of those burning questions answered. Set appointments to see people you like in the next few weeks and enjoy shopping around.

I am happy to give my couples advice on good wedding shows in London to visit and a strategy for getting through the day!  With my extensive contacts you can talk me through your newfound ideas and I can match you with my trusted suppliers.

Kind regards,

Kim Rix- Your London Wedding Planner

ps – Come and meet me!  I’ll be exhibiting at the Hampstead Wedding Show on Sunday 22 November.  See you there!