The very first step in wedding planning is setting up a budget. Its critically important to understand your overall budget so you can start allocating properly and make smart decisions. Even if you are a groom who plans to stay relatively uninvolved in the planning itself, you should take the time to be involved in the planning process and make sure your groomsmen do not get short changed with their gifts.

When I went through the wedding process, my wife and I did a tremendous amount of research and relied heavily on the advice and suggestions from the plethora of resources available on the web. After sifting through hundreds of "experts" time tested wedding budgets we adapted to what was important to us and then followed with discipline.

About 6 weeks prior to the wedding we started discussing our groomsmen gift budget when we realized we had not set aside any money and panic set in. How could we overlook such an important detail?

We had written checks to florists, negotiated prices for place cards, and put deposits down for food and music. Yet we had no money to show our appreciation for the most important people in our lives?!? Most of these these things we allocated for were not going to make it past the night while our friendships and the gifts we wanted to give could last a lifetime. How could all these "experts" overlook such a critical detail.

Do not make the same mistake we did. We recommend that you put aside 2% of the overall wedding budget for your groomsmen gifts, best man gifts, and father of the bride/groom gifts. The more groomsmen you have the less you spend on each one. If you keep your wedding party tight, the more expensive the gifts you can get. We also recommend that you spend more on the best man gifts and father of the bride gifts then you do on the groomsmen gifts.

I know what the "experts" will tell you but its your wedding and your money. If you ask me, I am taking friends over orchids.