So your big day is fast approaching. Think you have accounted for every expense you will incur? Think again. Unexpected expenses can completely throw you off on your special day. Here are some incidentals that can sneak up on you before you even realise it.
1) Gifts for the wedding party: If you want to gift your betrothed, their family members, and your friends, budget for it well in advance. Gifts don’t have to be expensive. You can give them personal, thoughtful presents to tell them you love and appreciate them. However, if you have a large number of guests, it can become a costly affair.
2) Previous night’s stay: If you want to get ready at the venue, you will have to book a room for yourself a day before the wedding. This is a good move as it will ensure you are not running around in a frazzle on D-day. You could ideally ask a family member or friend to stay with you to calm your nerves.
3) Wedding favours: Wedding favours or gifts can range from sweets to scarves to bags and sarees – it all depends on your budget. It’s a sweet gesture to let your loved ones know how much you value their presence to making your day even more special. So you would want to account this in your wedding budget.
4) Guest transportation: If you have friends and family flying in, you will have to transport them from the airport and train stations. This means hiring cars and drivers. You would also need to ferry them to the wedding venue and back. It is handy to have a couple of extra cars for those just-in-case moments.
5) Room service: This is slightly tricky. If you are hosting your guests’ stay in a hotel, room service bills can wreak complete chaos on your budget. Instead you could keep a basket of goodies in each room with a polite note saying it’s a gift from you, but room service and mini-bar costs will have to be borne by guests. Even then there may be some who expect you to pay for their room service. Allocate some money for this anyway.
6) Unexpected guests: In Great Indian Weddings, everyone and their relative turn up. This means more per-plate meal costs. If you are expecting 200 guests, keep provision for 250 guests at least. After all, you wouldn’t want to run out of food. If there are leftovers at the end of the party, send it to an orphanage or shelter for good will.
7) Vendor meals: You might have a DJ, a live band, photographers, videographers, and many more people working hard to make your wedding as perfect as possible. Remember to ask them to help themselves to some food, and add the number to the meal list.
8) Corkage: Most venues allow you to get your own alcohol, but charge you a corkage fee per bottle. This could be anywhere between Rs 50 a bottle to Rs 2000 a bottle depending on how chic the venue is. Add this overhead to the cost of the actual liquor.
9) Overtime: Weddings tend to exceed expected schedules. It could be because you started late or because you’re having such a merry time that you lose track of time. Most venues have an overtime charge for the rental of the place as well as the wait staff who have to hang around. Enquire about the overtime rules before you hire them.
10) Gratuity: If the venue organisers and vendors have gone beyond your expectations, a nice tip would be a much-appreciated gesture. Plan how much you would like to tip each vendor so you have an estimated cost to work with. If you’re happy with the services you should also write online reviews for the vendors to boost their business.
11) Post-wedding expenses: The expenses don’t end on the wedding day. You should mail thank-you notes to your guests after the wedding. So there will be printing as well as postage costs. You will also need to get your photos printed, which can be an expensive affair so you need to account for this as well.
Keeping these expenses in mind consider a personal loan from HDFC Bank. If you sense any unexpected expenses creeping up, HDFC Bank can have loans disbursed in less than four hours for loans up to Rs 40 lakh. With flexible repayment options and competitive interest rates starting from 10.99%, planning for such expenses will help you stay ahead and have a stress-free, happy, and memorable wedding day. Apply for one now and have a blast!
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