Wedding Dresses

Wedding dresses and other costs of becoming a couple.

Marriage is a wonderful invention; but, then again,
so is a bicycle repair kit.
Billy Connolly

Every bride wants to look beautiful on her wedding day, and often thinks this means spending a fortune on the wedding dress.

However, there are perhaps even more important issues to consider before you tie the knot. Money Management for Women by Sheila Freeman and Helene Richards, helps you get a grasp on the realities of financing both the wedding and the rest of your lives together.

You meet, you fall in love, you decide to move in together – a common scenario. Splitting up a few months or years down the track is almost as common.

In that first flush of passion, you think you will be together forever, but the reality is that one in three marriages end in divorce. Those irritating little habits (he blows his nose at the meal table or leaves his wet towel or dirty underclothes on the floor, she has twenty-minute showers using all the hot water or uses his toothbrush) are bearable in someone you see only a few times a week, but they can become intolerable on a permanent basis.

Financing the wedding and financing the marriage ...

Each partner brings individual life experiences into the relationship, and people from contrasting ethnic backgrounds may have vastly different cultural expectations and attitudes. Also, if one partner has a wealthier background than the other, incompatible spending habits may cause conflict. It is fine to have opposing points of view, as long as you can both accept these differences and are prepared to compromise.

So be prepared. Financial matters are a major cause of relationship problems. Take off the rose-coloured glasses for a few hours, sit down together and set ground rules before you move in together. You are in love, but love tends to disappear when the bills arrive. People have different ways of dealing with money and you will not reform your partner; a spendthrift will always spend, a miser will spend rarely.

Money Management for Women by Sheila Freeman and Helene Richards will equip you, not just for handling the expenses of the wedding day, but for keeping in control of your family finances for the rest of your life together. Written with particular reference to the Australian experience, this book covers principles relevant to all:

• Can we afford to get married?
• Can we cover ourselves against a wedding day disaster?
• Should we have a pre-nuptial agreement?
• Can we afford to have children?
• What options do I have for childcare?
• How can we afford a family holiday on a strict budget?
• How to deal with job loss.
• How do blended families survive?
• How to live well on a budget.

Find out more here