\  Home  Service Finder  MyWedding Needs  Wedding Guide  City Select  Wedding Search  View Favorites	Balancing Your Budget   When deciding the total cost of your wedding it is important that you and your fiancé acknowledge a realistic amount of funds that you will be able to contribute in order to start planning your master budget.    After some discussion you can then start to calculate additional means of money, perhaps from your parents, other relatives, or a close family friend. It would be a good idea to prepare a saving plan for you and your fiancé to follow. Start preparing this from as early as the engagement date to roughly the final month before the wedding. This will help you to decide how much money you will have saved for your wedding and then your honeymoon. Put away funds to certain areas of the wedding, these should be based of the degree of importance to you. For instance if your dress were more important then balloons it would be better to allocate more money towards your dress. To help you and your fiancé to stay on budget, after your final decision you should record the final cost and continue to do so through out your preparations.    After completing your budget you may find that you have gone over your set limit in a certain area. If this does occur you may want to cut your budget back in another area. It is important to remember when calculating your budget to include any PST, GST or gratuities in all pricing that occurs.   In many circumstances couples today come to agreements with family members regarding expenditures. That member may pay for the guests whom they invite or perhaps the family of the groom may pay for liquor. It wouldn't be unusual for a close family friend to suggest paying for the limousine as a wedding gift. While we're discussing money it is also important for the couple to discuss and start planning "newlywed finances". This involves where and how these financial records should be contained. The two of you need to take the time to determine short and long term goals that you both have. A short-term goal for instance would be an appliance or furnishing, long term could be a car or a vacation. It would be a good idea to also maintain an emergency fund for unexpected circumstances. Six months prior to the wedding you should keep track of your separate incomes and expenses this will help you to divide future expenses and determine how much money you will have.