Look, nobody’s perfect. Some people are super organised, and some people are not. Luckily when my now-husband and I were planning our wedding, he was on top of logistics and I was in charge of making it look awesome. But if you’re both fun, terribly-disorganised, creative types, it can be hard to keep track of vendor payments. We spoke to Justin Kearns, co-founder of payment platforms Tucr and Wedding Wallet about how his experience of getting married inspired him to help other couples keep track of their wedding budget.

KEEPING TRACK OF VENDOR PAYMENTS

This image is under copyright of Golden Moments Wedding Photography & Film

I married my beautiful wife Sinead on the 11^th of August last year. We had our wedding ceremony in a church in the Nire Valley in Ireland. We both have family ties to the area so it was the perfect setting.

Even though I co-founded the company, the first time I actually used Tucr in my personal life was when I bought an engagement ring for Sinead. Tucr is a payment platform that allows you to pay vendors in instalments – pretty common practice in the wedding industry. But keeping track of all the suppliers you’re working with, who you’ve paid deposits to, and who requires the full amount on different dates is really hard to keep track of. So we decided to launch Wedding Wallet – a wedding finances app.

WEDDING WALLET

The simplicity of seeing all our supplier payments in one place made the experience significantly less stressful. We actually got a little buzz every time we made payment because it was taking us one step closer to our wedding. And it meant there weren’t any bills due to be paid off on the day itself, so we could kick back and enjoy the wedding we’d dreamed of without chasing after anyone with a cheque.

It massively helped us avoid overspending and to stay on budget. Because you can see when you’ve got money going out, it also helps you make decisions about what you can and can’t afford. We also created a payment link in the app that you can send to friends and family who want to contribute towards a wedding expense.

THREE TOP BUDGET FRIENDLY TIPS

1) I got this tip from an experienced wedding photographer: if you find a photographer you love but who is a little out of your budget, you can ask them if they are interested in offering a discount in exchange for using your wedding pictures in their marketing material. If you’re friendly and easy to work with, you’d be surprised how many will say yes!

2) I’m a bit biased here – but definitely pay your suppliers off bit by bit through instalments. It really helped to relive our financial stress, because real life doesn’t stop when you’re planning your wedding. If you have to pay off 3 vendors at once and then your car suddenly breaks down you can be in a bit of trouble.

3) Our idea of a dream venue was part country house and part hotel, were experts in organising weddings and could work within our budget. It seemed like an impossible task and we had no idea where to start – until we came across a wedding venue-finding platform and voila, suddenly we had it all. So use a venue finding platform and contact the venue directly to see what packages they have to suit your budget.