Tips to Save Money on an Outdoor Wedding

Considering an outdoor wedding? Whether you’re planning an event for yourself, or you’re hosting something for your children or other family members, you can save a lot of money by choosing an outdoor wedding rather than renting out a hall or event center. 

To me, outdoor weddings are the ultimate in beauty and romance, but they can be a little tricky to pull off—and that’s not just because of weather restrictions.

Here are some tips to help you save money and still have a beautiful memory that commemorates the special day. 

Consider acoustics.

Don’t forget to consider acoustics for your outdoor wedding. If you’re having a relatively small wedding (say, less than 80 people) in a more confined outdoor area, then chances are you won’t need any special audio equipment for the ceremony or for outdoor dinner toasts. 

If it’s a larger wedding, however, you may need to consider renting audio equipment. Although this might seem like an extra expense at first, it’s significantly cheaper than getting a live band or DJ, and will give you professional sound that your guests will love. 

Let the outdoors be your decor.

One major perk to planning an outdoor wedding is that you can have all kinds of beautiful, natural scenery at your disposal. 

Why not let this scenery take the spotlight by keeping your decor to a minimum? You may have all kinds of decor ideas in mind after seeing them on Pinterest—like that ornate floral chuppah or that extra intricate photobooth—but ask yourself first if those things are really necessary for your outdoor venue. In other words, try to take off some of the stress in wedding planning by letting the outdoors be your decor. 

This also helps you save significant money, as flowers and decor can be a major financial drain on the wedding budget. 

Research your wedding city.

Before making any commitments with any venues, you should definitely do some research on the place where you’d like to have your wedding. What is the climate generally like throughout the year? 

What are temperatures, rainfall, humidity, etc. like during the month you’re shooting for? Are mosquitoes or other bugs ever of concern during warmer weather months? 

These are things that you’ll want to know from the get-go to help inform the decisions you’ll be making down the road.

Make a plan for rain.

Even if you’re getting married in the desert, you absolutely must make a backup plan for rain. No matter how optimistic you may be about having nice weather on your wedding day, you simply never know. 

When making a plan for rain, you generally have two options. You may either rent a tent or choose to use the indoor parts of your venue. If you would rather go with the tent option, you may want to put down a deposit on a tent just in case. 

If you would rather use the indoor parts of your venue, be sure to go over the alternate floorplan with your venue coordinator. You may also want to keep a stash of umbrellas on hand in case they’d help your guests stay dry.

Make a plan for cold weather.

Even if you’re getting married in the spring, cold weather can be an issue as well. The good news is that you still can have an outdoor wedding when temperatures are somewhat chilly. 

First, you can rent a tent that features side flaps, keeping the side flaps rolled up until temperatures start to drop. In addition, you could work with your tent rental company to have space heaters set up with your tent. 

You might also consider offering your guests warm drinks, blankets, and/or hand warmers to keep them warm.

Make a plan for hot weather.

Hot weather, of course, can be uncomfortable for guests as well. Create a plan for shade if you think there will not be adequate shade at your wedding (such as renting a tent). 

You could also place large outdoor tables at the tables at your reception, and you might offer guests fans to use during the course of the day.

Don’t forget about power.

How is the access to power at your wedding location? Will you need generators to power up the lights, speakers, caterers’ appliances, etc.? 

Will it be possible to draw power from a nearby building? If you’re worried about power at all, consider having an electrician survey your setup for advice about your power needs.

Think about mosquitoes.

Ask the coordinator at your venue if mosquitoes are ever an issue with outdoor weddings. If so, plan to supply bug spray or to incorporate bug repellent candles in your decor. 

Keep in mind that even if mosquitoes aren’t usually an issue, they could become one if it has rained heavily in your wedding location during the week before your wedding.

Family Matters: How to Manage Your Finances After a Major Personal Injury Lawsuit

If you are in the process of going through a major personal injury lawsuit because you have been injured, you might be concerned about your finances. 

Keeping yourself afloat can be challenging when you are recovering from an injury, and lawsuits can last for a long time. If you are concerned about your finances during this difficult time, consider these tips for best results.

Hire a Lawyer

First of all, this is not a situation that you should try to handle all by yourself. Instead, it is a good idea to work with an attorney from a firm like Bennett & Sharp PLLC. Then, your attorney can help you handle every step of your case and can help you get the compensation that you deserve.

Negotiate with Your Creditors

A lot of people in this type of situation just ignore their creditors because they have no way of paying them. 

However, this usually is usually not the best course of action. Instead, you will want to let your creditors know about the situation. If you are in the middle of a lawsuit, for example, your creditors might be willing to work with you until you receive your settlement.

Seek Temporary Income Sources

Even though you might think that you have a settlement coming, the truth is that you and your family have to survive in the meantime. 

Therefore, you could be concerned about money. Luckily, there are temporary income sources that you can look into. 

For example, you might be able to sign up for short-term disability, or you might be able to find an online gig that is part-time and that can allow you to make a little money while recovering from your injury.

Handle Your Settlement Carefully

When you do receive your settlement, you might find that you have a lot of unpaid bills and other obligations to take care of. It can be easy to go through this lump sum of money faster than you think, however, so it's critical to handle your settlement carefully. 

Make sure that you have a plan in mind for how you will spend it so that you don't go through it too fast.

Dealing with your family's finances can be challenging even when things are going well. When things are going badly and you are going through a major personal injury lawsuit, however, things can be even more difficult. 

Luckily, following these tips can help you manage your finances and take care of yourself and your family, even during a difficult time.

Ways To Dig Out From Business Debt

It’s time to avoid bankruptcy and enjoy business growth in the more solvent manner possible. Lenders are currently tightening the reins on borrowers for everything, starting from health to materials. 

It is creating some trouble for the small business owners, as they are straining under the current weight of debt, growing right under their nose. A study has clearly stated that 8113 companies on a global basis were victims of bankruptcy. 

It is no doubt 57% increase from the last time such report has been taken. This automated access was a major part of the bankruptcy data along with the management company. 

Avoid bankruptcy as much as possible

You cannot deny the fact that bankruptcy is one small step towards salvaging a company. However, his move comes handy with steep price, which you have to pay for. 

The court filing fees along with the attorney ones can easily add up to around $10,000. Other than that, you have loan term damage, which is caused by bankruptcy to owner’s personal credit scores and business. 

So, you have to play the chords right and quite easily if you don’t want to mess it up all over again and work on small business bankruptcy in the easiest manner possible.

Some options to gather on

If you don’t want to fall within the same fate and don’t want your business to be a victim of bankruptcy, then there are certain points available for you to considerate. For the first step, try cutting on unnecessary costs and even trying to free up cash. 

You need to work on trying ways to identify parts of the said business, which got our company to debt on first place. In case, the customers are not paying right on time or if the expenses are too high to consider, then you might want to ramp up collection efforts and ditch some unwanted expenses, like costly phone systems or even office space, which is unwanted.

Check your budget again

In case you find out your debts to be piling up more than usual, then it is basically the current budget of your company, which isn’t working. 

During such crisis situation, you are asked to create a budget, solely based on the present financial situation of your business. Always ensure that your business revenue will be able to cover more than just your fixed monthly costs, like utility bills or rent. 

After that, you have to allot a particular amount of your budget for covering variable costs like that of manufacturing materials.

Prioritize the debts now

It is important for you to tackle the highest interest rates of your business first. That way you can ease down a bit on the repayment procedure and check out for the ones with lowest interest rates. 

It is important for you to check on the higher ones, as with time, the interest rates keeps on growing. So, the one with higher interest rate should be handled first. 

Checking out for credit card consolidation and going for it for your credit card debt issues is a smart move these days. It is effective and can lower your worries and trouble with ease.

4 Secrets To Getting The Best Terms On Your Next Auto Loan

Many car buyers are heavily focused on getting the best sales price on their next vehicle. While the sales price you pay for your new car can play a major role in your monthly auto expense for the next few years, the loan that you use to finance the vehicle is also an important consideration to focus your attention on. 

After all, the interest rate and loan fees as well as the term you select can all affect your monthly payment as well as how quickly your loan balance is paid. These tips can help you to get the best deal possible on your next car loan.

Know Your Credit Rating

You may have seen ads for very low interest rate car loans, but these offers are only available to buyers who have excellent credit scores. The lower your credit rating is, the higher your interest rate likely will be. 

It is important to know your credit rating before you apply for a loan so that you can determine what a competitive interest rate is. In some cases, it may be beneficial to repair your credit before buying your next car. You can pull a free copy of your credit report online once per year. 

When you shop for rates on your own, always ask for the rate available based on your credit score before you apply. This will prevent unnecessary dings on your credit report from too many credit reviews.

Shop for Auto Loans on Your Own

Your impulse may be to make the car buying process as easy as possible, and your plan may be to walk into the dealership and apply for your vehicle loan onsite. However, you may get a better deal when you shop for an auto loan on your own. 

This way, can determine what the best deal possible on a car loan is through your own efforts. Search the website to compare interest rates before you apply to save time and energy. 

Once you have been prequalified for an auto loan through the lender you found, you can compare your best loan terms found to the offer the dealership gives you.

Check Out Dealerships Before You Buy

Some dealerships are unfortunately well known for providing bad loan terms to their customers. You can use google to find dealerships by searching something like “st george car dealership” to find local businesses, read online reviews, and select the best local dealership to visit based on the experiences other buyers have had with them. 

While you still want to compare the dealer’s loan offer against the offer you found, heading to a reputable, honest dealership may provide you with the best overall results.

Negotiate Terms

You may not realize it, but you can negotiate many aspects of your auto loan terms in the same manner that you negotiate the vehicle’s sales price. For example, many dealers charge a higher rate on auto loans they set up because they get a kickback from the lender. 

Therefore, you can negotiate the interest rate as well as the loan fees. Present the prequalification letter that you already have in hand to the dealership, and ask them to beat the offer. 

It never hurts to ask, and the worst that could happen is that the dealership says no. You always have the loan offer you found on your own to rely on if this happens.

The car loan you set up can affect your budget for several years as well as your net trade-in value until the loan is paid off. 

The last thing you want is to accept loan terms that are more expensive than what they could have been. If you plan to purchase a car soon, put these tips into action to start looking for the best deal available.