How to Create a Wedding Budget

This tip is for all the newly engaged couples out there.  First congratulations!  Being engaged is such a fun, memorable and once in a lifetime experience.  Now it’s time to start planning your wedding, right?!? Wrong!! As soon as you get engaged people start asking “when are you getting married, where are you getting married, what are your colors…..and the list goes on”.  With all the questions, you start feeling a little pressured to jump into finding a venue and booking a date; but do you know the one, single most important thing you need to do before you start planning?  Set a budget! I know budget is such a nasty little word, so let’s call it your wedding investment. One of the most common mistakes we see couples make is booking their venue before they have a true understanding of their budget and estimated wedding expenses.  This results in you being “venue poor”, meaning you spent too much on your venue and now have to compromise on the rest of your vendors and details.  All of those beautiful pins on your Pinterest board may now never become a reality.  By forcing yourself to talk about the b word before you start planning, it allows you time to really think about what are the most important wedding elements to you as well as research what items really cost.  So where do you start?  Let’s keep it simple. Read on to learn five steps for setting a wedding budget.

Step 1

Decide who will be contributing to the wedding budget and how much.  Will each set of parents be contributing to the wedding budget? Will one set of parents pay for the rehearsal dinner?  In addition, discuss how much you and your partner feel comfortable contributing to the budget.

Step 2

Once you have your total wedding investment amount, decide what will be included.  Does the budget include the dress, rings, rehearsal dinner, hair and makeup, or just the wedding detail elements such as venue, food, bar, entertainment, and decor?

Step 3

Now that you have a wedding budget in mind, take time to think through how important each wedding element is and prioritize them from most important to least important.  For example, If having a wedding band is a top priority then you know this is an important line item in your budget and will need to be at the top of the list.

Step 4

Next, decide what vendors you will need for your wedding and research the average cost of each vendor in your area.   Tip: wedding planners in your area already know these costs, so hire them first and budgeting gets a whole lot easier 🙂 Use theknot.com online budgeting tool (if you don’t have a planner) to allocate how much to spend in each category. Be sure to spend less than 50% of your total budget on the reception space (rental, food, beverage and fees). How do the expenses compare to your total budget?

Step 5

Finally, set your guest list.  Don’t guess.  Spend the time to write down each guest and make an A and B list.  Your venue, bar, and catering will all depend on your guest count.  If your budget is looking too low based on your estimated costs, you may want to consider limiting your guest list in order to save on food and alcohol.

Now you are ready to start looking for your vendors, taking time to always cross reference your wedding investment spreadsheet to ensure you stay on track.  If you go over on your venue, you will need to lower the investment on another item. Hint: If you work with a planner, we have wonderful CRM’s that track your budget for you!  Make sure to know if any contributing party has strong opinions about any vendors hired.  Enjoy planning!  Wedding planning is such a fun experience and will be much less stressful if you go into the process budget first instead of heart first.

If thinking about your budget overwhelms you, we want to help. Schedule a free consultation call today!