Sabrina Rivers, Author of The Tax-Deductible Wedding wants you to know you really don’t have to blow your savings on that one special day. The Tax-Deductible Wedding is a fantastic resource to help take the mystery and anxiety out of financing for your wedding. This book is your wedding-cost-control survival guide and provides practical advice on how to throw your dream wedding while saving money and having much of the cost be tax deductible! Hoorah! Here are her 5 favorite tips, shared especially for the readers of GirlieGirlArmy.com!;
1. Start by creating a Budget
How to Create a Budget: Mention the word budget to most people, and they cringe. Or they get the “deer in the headlights” look as if creating a budget involves some kind of voodoo magic, or that it’s too hard to do. Think of a budget this way: It really is just a tool that you can use to track how your money is spent and to set goals and limits on how much you want to spend. One way in which we recommend saving time and money is by looking at different wedding packages in Leicester, you can find brilliant offers when buying the services you will need as a bundle. Just be careful to check what is included in the package you are paying for! When doing a budget, you need to make sure that you include all of the details related to the costs of goods and services that are part of your wedding. Have a budget for the dress, cake, flowers and rings. You can find a great range of titanium rings online for fantastic prices, just do your research! Here are the six steps to creating a wedding budget:
- Decide on the style of wedding and number of guests
- Determine all of the goods and services that you will need to buy/rent to host that style of wedding (including tips)
- Decide on your budget priorities
- Decide on the total budget amount, and also break it down by expense category (make sure you include as many details as possible when estimating your costs)
- Decide on what expenses the bride or her parents will pay for and what the groom or his will parents pay for
- Fill in your budget worksheet
2. Choose a Tax Deductible Location
Location, Location, Location: Brides and grooms spend hours looking at brochures, visiting venues, and fantasizing about where their ceremony and reception will be held. Most couples may think about location as the atmosphere for their day, as well as the scenery and backdrop that someone like these Blacksburg wedding photographers will use to create magical and memorable wedding day photographs for you and your family to cherish. Did you know that your wedding reception site can be tax deductible? Most couples have no idea. There are many options to choose from when picking out a ceremony and/or reception venue, and if you decide to go with something less traditional, you could save some money. The organization must have 501 c status to qualify as a non-profit organization.
Some fun and interesting alternatives for your wedding venue include:
- Museums
- National Parks
- Botanical Gardens, Public Gardens, and Arboreta
- Historic Sites
- Wildlife Preserves
- Farm/ Animal Sanctuary’s
3. Other Tax Deductions that we all forget about
Wedding Leftovers-Do Not Let It Go to Waste!
Now that the big day is over, what to do with all the leftovers? Food, flowers, and unwanted wedding accessories can all be donated.
Food
Leftover appetizers, entrees, bread, condiments, fruit, desserts, etc. from your wedding can be donated to a local shelter or food bank/food pantry, which can be found at FoodPantries.org. For example, America’s Second Harvest has a network of over two hundred food banks that they distribute food to on a daily basis. Before you decide you want to donate leftovers to a food bank, clear it with the caterer, because they will have to prepare the food for pickup, and each group has different requirements about what kinds of food can be donated, in what form, and in what kind of containers. Call the food bank for any rules and restrictions.
Flowers
Rather than just toss the flowers out after your wedding, why not donate them to a hospice or other charitable hospital? Chances are the cost of the flowers, if donated to a charitable organization, will be deductible.
Accessories
You’ll likely want to keep certain items from your special day to remember it by-perhaps your “something blue” or a cherished family heirloom you wore-but there will definitely be other items that you’ll never use again. If they are not particularly sentimental, such as your wedding shoes, the handbag you used for the dollar dance (if you had one), or even that slip that kept shifting around when you walked, you can find a consignment shop that donates proceeds to charities such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Not only will you help out a good cause, but another bride-to-be will be ecstatic to find a bargain or two. Also, if you have any leftover balloons or decor that you used to decorate the reception site with, you may want to consider donating them to a local children’s hospital. You could brighten someone’s day.
Honeymoons
Well, we are not finished yet. You probably thought we were at the end of the tax-deduction possibilities, but I have saved the best for last: Your honeymoon can also yield a tax deduction. What better way to get closer to your main squeeze than by taking off on a honeymoon and the adventure of a lifetime, all for a good cause? Read on.
Going Global for a Tax Deduction
Global Volunteers is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian development organization founded in 1984 with the goal of helping to establish a foundation for peace through mutual international understanding. They offer a short-term service program that places volunteers in twenty countries worldwide.
Build a Home for Someone Else Before You Start Living in Yours
Doing something together that reinforces your shared values helps to deepen your bond, and this can be a great activity to do during your honeymoon. One way to do that is to help someone else realize his or her dream of owning a home. Habitat for Humanity International has helped build homes for thousands of people who, due to financial hardship, might not ever have owned their own home.
Planning and organizing, figuring out how to do a budget, estimating how much your wedding will cost, determining what is tax deductible-I think we have covered all of the parts of the initial phase of planning your wedding. The next important area to cover is how to save for your wedding and how to save on your wedding. Because if you don’t have a plan for this part, you will not be able to get to your final destination-the altar.
4. Finding a Sponsor/ Barter (other options)
Bet you didn’t think that a little shameless self-promotion could save you money or maybe get the entire cost of your wedding covered, did you? It will involve a little legwork on your part, but you could definitely save some serious cash if you manage to get your wedding sponsored or barter for like services. From the reception to the honeymoon, there are businesses related to travel, food, wine, hospitality, entertainment, transportation, fashion, jewelry, music, makeup, nails, hair styling, luggage, shoes, clothing, etc., and each of these businesses needs to get their product or service in front of the buying public. What merchants really want is to be able to market directly to their target audience in a way that is easy, inexpensive, and will leave a lasting impression on their potential customers. Oh, and they want those customers to tell their friends and families about the product or service being marketed. Word of mouth and a positive recommendation trump advertising almost every time. The reality is that all business owners want to raise their profile and name recognition, and they need to do so by using any means possible- and sponsoring a wedding could give them the creative edge they’re looking for. Also, there are plenty of online bartering networks that will link you up with someone who maybe be looking for your services.
5. What’s really important?
Have fun doing it, don’t lose sight of the real reason you are getting married -that wonderful person standing in front of you!!
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