A wedding is always a happy affair, but there’s no reason you should get into debt because of holding one. It may be hard to please everyone, but following a few tips may help you have a memorable event without breaking the bank. Read on to see some of these ways that you can realize a frugal wedding that does not feel cheap to you or your guests.

Have a Short Guest List

The numbers are really straightforward for this tip; the more guests you have, the more money you will spend. While size may be relative for some, any number below 100 people is generally safe enough to be considered small.

Fewer guests will not only help you save on food and drinks, but also on venue charges as you won’t have to get a large venue. With the average budget for just the wedding ceremony and reception standing at $28,385, the expenses add up really fast.

To help you bring the numbers down, analyze your guest list and invite only those people you have talked to in the last two months or so.

Focus on The Things That Matter Most to You

There’s no need to hire a DJ if you and your spouse-to-be aren’t big on dancing. The crowd may enjoy it, but this is your special day. You should do what makes sense for you and what makes you happy.

If you’re not a fan of white dresses, go for another color that may cost less on top of being perfect for your taste. Saving on such things is bound to trim a noticeable amount from your expenditure as well as make the event more personal. Avoid falling for expensive wedding marketing options like renting fancy gowns and such.

Expect Pushback But Stay True

It’s totally normal to get pushback from friends and family who all want to have input on your wedding. Gently but firmly let them know that you two have a plan that you intend to follow for the best outcome.

Here’s a sad statistic for you: between 40% and 50% of marriages end in divorce in the United States. It would be even sadder to end up divorced and in debt for your wedding. Each payment will be another reminder of what could have been, and at this point, there is rarely help from parties who shared opinions while planning the wedding.

Ask For Help When You Need it

Just because you decided not to have a wedding planner does not mean that you should carry the whole burden yourself. Ask your friends and family for any help they can spare, from baking to makeup, and you will be surprised just how much these things cost otherwise. Event marketing experts usually pick expensive services to share if they are paid on commission, so watch out for this.

When people chip in, they will probably also enjoy the actual wedding more knowing that they played an important role in getting it to happen. Host a thank-you dinner to thank them for their help after all is said and done, and have the perfect excuse to extend your celebrations!

Don’t Be Tied up By Traditions

You can follow a different path for your wedding in many areas starting with the venue. If you have a relative or friend who is willing to let you hold the event on their property, then this can save you money.

You can also pick an off-peak time to hold your wedding, like a Sunday or a weekday as long as your guests will be fine with it. Unorthodox lunches like getting takeout instead of having an expensive catering service may also be a notable way to keep expenses low. Don’t be too fast to get on board with wedding planners marketing expensive services when you can get the job done at a fair price.

With 18% of adults aged from 18 to 24 years saying that they never check their credit scores, it is fair to assume that choosing to take out loans to finance an expensive wedding may not be an option when you discover your credit isn’t great. For this reason and frugality in general, cut costs whenever you can, but don’t make substitutes that will leave your wedding feeling tacky and poorly planned.

Family vacations are a great opportunity to spend time with the family and explore but they do, however, require a lot of planning and implementation of safety precautions to ensure safe travel. Here are a few tips to help you make sure your next vacation is a safe one.

Do Your Research

It is important to note that there are 1,580 U.S. resorts and 204,100 units as of 2019. With that many options, it is essential to do some research on the place you would like to visit to make sure that the environment is suitable for you and your family. It would also be good to get the whole family involved in finding the perfect location to make sure everyone is happy and excited.

Come Up With a Budget

Setting a budget for your vacation would be the next most important stage of your planning. This would enable you to plan everything else accordingly and to make the process much more organized. The danger of not budgeting is you could end up overspending which may leave you in a fix when the fun is over and on the other end of the spectrum, you could underestimate your finances and end up doing less and spending less because there was no financial plan. You can then decide on accommodation, activities, and other things after this stage is successfully completed.

Book Your Accommodation

When that is done, finding accommodation that is safe for the family would be another crucial thing to tackle. There are a vast number of hotels marketing their space providing options for accommodation in their resorts and one would be tempted to go with the cheaper option without really looking at safety which may in turn make the whole vacation frustrating because of poor housing. So it is important to look for affordable as well as safe accommodation. A good way to get reliable facts is to contact the owners of the respective accommodation.

Check Your Travel Insurance

It is also very essential to make sure that you have travel insurance. This is crucial because anything can happen and you’ll want to be prepared for any mishaps that may occur during the vacation like illness or injury. The National Floor Safety Institute has noted that slips and falls are the main causes of worker’s compensation claims and the main cause of occupational injury of people aged 55 years and older. It’s clear that injuries can be caused by anything. That said, it would be wise to be proactive and make sure your insurance is guaranteed.

This may be done by contacting your insurance company and checking with them if your current insurance covers international travel as well as local. It would also be wise to be proactive and make sure that you have communicated your intention to take a vacation place of work. This would enable the company to find a substitute employee to work when you’re away and for you to get your vacation days off in time.

In that spirit of being proactive, making sure that you have made copies of your important documents is key to smooth travel. This would include documents like your passport just so you can keep the original safe from getting misplaced as you travel.

When all the basics are covered, making a packing list for you and your family will ease the pressure on the day set for traveling. This can be done effectively by informing the family of the essentials they would need based on the activities that you may do as well as the weather at your travel destination. Packing an emergency first aid kit would also be another good idea to just be prepared for anything that may happen.

It is evident that there are many things to think about when planning for a safe vacation and this list is by no means exhaustive but just a guide to assist in this long process.

According to the International Labor Organization (2020), there are 2.3 million men and women workers all over the world who succumb to work-related injuries, accidents, or diseases annually; this is responsible for over 600 deaths happening every day. Occupational accidents accumulate to at least 340 million while 160 million are victims of work-related illnesses each year. The European Agency For Safety and Health at Work (2019) mentioned that work-related diseases include skin diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, work-related cancer, and stress and mental health disorders. Among all these, there is a striking increase in the number of workers suffering from work-related stress, anxiety, or depression (or SAD). Statistical data from Health and Safety Executive (2020) mentioned that the total number of cases alike was 828,000 which is significantly higher than the previous years at a prevalence rate of 2,440 individuals per pool of 100,000 workers. In fact, SAD accounted for 51% of all work-related ill cases. It was also found the SAD is more prevalent among public service industry employees. This includes health care workers, academic teachers, public service professionals, and all other careers from within those industries. All these individuals showed higher levels of stress, compared to all careers, which were entailed by rigid work schedules and deadlines, overload of responsibility, and lack of managerial support. Also, the national health issue on the emergence of COVID-19 also contributed to the impact on work-related ill-health data.

With job functions continuously getting even more challenging, especially in these trying times of the pandemic, many companies have been obliged by the circumstance to lay off workers. This meant, unfortunately, that those who remained are added a hefty burden of tasks to still keep company operations running while employee payroll remains the same and the cost to operate remains at a bare minimum. Imagine spending roughly one-third of your professional adult lives within the four walls of your office and surviving on a daily basis, stress can really get its way to you, and it heavily affects not only your physical but also your mental health. Fortunately, more and more companies are recognizing and imposing the practice of self-care, an advocacy that needs to be successfully committed to by their employees. Because, if workers are down, there is no way that the productivity level will go up. Companies craft both mental and physical fitness strategies to decrease employee attrition and thus achieve increased productivity rates, healthy discourse or engagement, and therefore overall success.

Certainly, keeping yourself fit and healthy is now also part of your job. As an employee, you are highly encouraged to establish self-care routines. Self-care is defined by the World Health Organization as efforts you should do for yourself to establish and maintain health as well as to prevent yourself from being ill. In other words, take good care of yourself. You can file a leave to enjoy a weekend of traveling, go camping, finish a book, start a new hobby, join a fitness class or set up a small business. Things you may find worthy of your time, give you a renewed perspective towards work and make you learn new things. There are plenty of ways that can be your roadway to being fit and healthy. It usually just involves choosing the healthier option and you can have the best of both worlds. Maybe instead of going to work in a car, try walking. Make use of AirPods and Spotify to entertain yourself while doing the minimal cardio. For lunch, instead of having heavy steak and mashed potatoes, some lean protein and greens might just be what you need. Do not make the mistake of eating too heavy and then, later on, feel bloated and lazy to perform work after lunch. Happy hour after work can still be a thing too, but perhaps you want to skip the beer and be posh enough to hold a wine glass with finesse. Healthier options do not always have to be that boring.

Employers take this advocacy seriously and provide it in multidisciplinary ways. No vendo Fridays are common wherein they discourage the use of vendo machines that you toss your last dollar in for a bottle of soda. Clean canteens are also popular in which only healthy meals are offered by the workplace lunch lady. Water breaks are often assisted by the positioning of water stations on almost every corner of the workplace. Partnerships with fitness and wellness businesses like yoga, CrossFit, and gyms are part of your incentive and benefits packages. Mushrooming of advocacy activities like bike-to-work days, sports festivals, quit the sticks, biggest loser, and 30-day fitness challenges have been lauded in various work cultures. All these are made fun, interesting, and sticking to the ultimate objective of keeping employees healthy.

As an employee, take advantage of perks provided by your employer that are suggestive of self-care. You only say you do not need them but you really do. Acknowledging the need is nearly half the journey to staying mentally and physically fit. Take your leaves and off days with utmost responsibility by recharging, unwinding, and relaxing. Exhaust your medical, dental, vision care, and even psychological care allowances. Participate in social gatherings and maintain friendly relationships with your colleagues. Through this, you are not only building a network of friends but are also being one with your company’s goal of valuing life more than just the work itself. Stress and other illnesses are truly inevitable. But by knowing how to practice self-care makes it easier for your immune system to do its job of protecting you.

Keeping an active lifestyle, drinking your vitamins and minerals, having complete and quality rest, staying hydrated, and eating healthy — are your keywords to success. Taking time to take care of your own needs makes your clients and your organization happy. If you want to get a piece of advice for health, physical or mental needs which you find hard to meet, you can always excuse yourself from work and reach out to someone who can help. Times can get tough but when you do things to keep the doctor away, you can make your life become more meaningful.

About the author: Regi Publico is a full-time writer based in Manila who is also an artist for fun. She takes pride in her towering collection of books and loves reading about anything under the sun. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge through every article that she writes.

One aspect of your journey as a parent that excites you the most is getting your kids involved in family activities. It is easy to convince the children to engage in game night. Convincing your kids to participate in the upcoming home renovations, however, may require more work. Here are a few tips to encourage your little ones to work alongside you in the quest for a remodeled home.