Marissa established a preliminary wedding budget in February 2006 based on the information she could find making phone calls and doing some canvassing around. Along the way we have stumbled into extra costs that where not on the original budget. We are now getting closer to knowing what the final amount will be.

Thankfully Marissa has had training and a lot of experience working in a job requiring her to master spreadsheets and Geoff has a basic understanding of how to use spreadsheet software. We have been able to use this as a tool for keeping track of our wedding budget and what we are spending the money on. Using a spreadsheet has made it easier for Marissa to let Geoff know where we are at with the wedding finances over the long distance and has allowed Geoff to keep a close eye on how much is remaining to pay and ensure we will not spend more that we will earn in the time before the wedding.

As it stands now, we are at the start of April and have estimated we will have another 48,200 Philippine peso to spend before we have paid for everything. We have already spent over 143,000 Peso. This is a lot for two people who are low-income earners but we are nearing a final cost for the wedding so it is getting easier to be comfortable we can afford it in time. The bulk of the extra hidden costs have been the international money transfer and related fees we are charged when sending money using Ikobo and Western Union so it is not only the extra things we need for the wedding that have added to the wedding expenses. Managing the spending of money and using the fees wisely has been one of our main discussion points and one way we can make the most of our income.

We have had a lot of discussion about the wedding budget and financing. The wedding budget has been one of the most stressing parts of our relationship so far. Our wedding is the first step of many towards the happy life we both desire. Managing the finances and doing the wedding cost planning has been a tough challenge that we have had to work on together. These challenges will make us stronger in the end and we know it is the love we share that is the most important thing to help us both through this rough part of our wedding plans.