avoid stress in your wedding

A friend of mine email me and ask me if I could help him...because he is getting married and dont know how to budget his money. He believes in the traditional way of getting married where the groom or the family of the groom shoulder the majority of the expenses. He told the family of the bride that he would shoulder majority of the expenses. He never had the idea that it would be very expensive. They planned a wedding without looking for the possible amount they have to prepare, he thought his money would be enough. Now, he is trapped. Her already paid for the church and the reception venue...leaving him a few money in his wallet. Now his problem is, he needs to pay for the cake, wedding gown, souvenirs, flowers, clothes of their parents, wedding ring and a lot more. He doesn't want to tell the family of the girl about it... he would die of embarrassment. I really don't know how to help him... I mean he is already in the middle of everything and its hard to back out.

There are lots of things to consider in preparing for the wedding.
If you have enough money, you could look for a wedding planner who will take care everything for you. But if not, the couples should plan their own wedding.

Couples could start by making a wedding list... where they should write everything that they want for their wedding. It should be categorized into few categories like expenses, wedding plans, budgets and miscellaneous. It can further be sub-categorized into more specific details like guests, costumes, venue, catering, photography, wedding gifts and so forth. By creating an organized system, you can properly start to plan and trace the progress and money disbursement better. And prepare it as soon as you have intention to tie a knot. You can start saving for your wedding and insert all the relevant details of your savings into the financial folder. If the groom would be the one to shoulder most of the expenses...he should be the one really interested in doing this.

Then after listing everything, couples should start to visit the church or the venue of the wedding ceremony. They should inquire about the fees of the venue, arrangement of the venue, marriage license, the musicians of the ceremony (if they want it to be more dramatic).
After that, they should look for the bridal gown, wedding souvenirs, dress of the bridesmaid, parents, theme of their wedding, invitations, rings, and flowers.
After that, they could look for the reception venue, the foods, cake, wine and everything that will be used in the program like doves, signature frame and the arrangement of the venue.
The earlier you do this, the better... this way you could choose and budget your money...making your wedding not that expensive but elegant.