Taking on some of the planning means that you need to know where you're willing to spend your dough. You and your bride will work this out in one of several ways. You'll take the money you've saved for this wedding, factor in any monetary gifts from your parents, and come up with a rough estimate for how much you can spend on the entire wedding. From there, you'll need to determine whether you're going to spend the bulk of that money on food, on the reception hall, on the bride's dress … you get the idea.

Prioritize

As one groom puts it, “Your wedding is all about your priorities.” He expounds on this theory by explaining where he and his bride chose to spend their wedding funds — on good food: “If people are going to sit around their tables complaining about the food, what was the point of all the planning and spending? I'd rather serve pizza and have everyone discussing how wacky and creative that was while at least enjoying a meal.”

Break It Down

A simple item like the guest list (which is the best item to start with, as a high guest count will cost you big bucks, while a low guest count may be fairly economical) isn't so simple after all. Your caterer or banquet manager will give you a price per guest, or an approximation (a price for 100 to 120 guests, for example). If you plan on feeding and watering your guests (with an open bar), and providing eating utensils and linens for them (as you really should), you'll be shelling out a fairly sizeable chunk of change.

So, step one in your Budgeting Extravaganza (it helps to think of it in these terms — add all the fanfare you can muster to the bean counting) is to determine how much you're willing to spend on which parts of your wedding. This takes you right back to setting your priorities. (It's a cycle, see? You can't complete the one part without first addressing the other part.)

And then you must commit to your Wedding Goals. Unfortunately, in the world of wedding planning, you're usually allowed very little “wiggle room.” Since so many couples are out there looking for the same services as you and your fiancée, you're at the mercy of the wedding industry. For example, if you book a room for 200 guests and plunk down your deposit (after signing a contract with the caterer, of course), you're going to be held to this plan. You can't decide a month down the road that you would rather put the balance of what you were planning on spending on a reception toward your honeymoon. Bottom line here: Don't throw any money around until you and your bride are absolutely, positively sure about the expenditure.

Organize

Get yourself organized before you talk to any wedding vendors. Even if it's against your nature, even if it's against your bride's nature, it's essential for the two of you to come up with some sort of filing system. You should not take your copy of the receipt the jeweler has handed you and stick it in the glove box of your car. You'll have real problems finding it there if your rings never arrive in the shop and someone wants proof that you've already paid for them.

If you don't have a filing cabinet, choose one spot where you'll both put any wedding paperwork. It can be a desk drawer or a bureau, or a kitchen drawer, as long as it isn't your Junk Drawer. Designate this new spot as your Wedding Planning Headquarters. Better yet, get yourselves a brightly colored folder to slide in the drawer for easy access. Every time you open that drawer, you'll see that folder easily — and that will make placing papers into it that much easier.