Wedding Budgeting Tips
One of the first things you’ll need to do after you get engaged is set a wedding budget. This budget will affect every choice you make when it comes to the style and feel of your wedding. Meeting with vendors and hearing the dollar sings continuously ring in your ear can be a frustrating part of planning your wedding. However, we’re here to offer some advice that can make budgeting become less of a stressful subject and more enjoyable because you are planning what will be a perfect day no matter what! Here are a few tips below to ensure that your budget doesn’t spiral out of control and cause you to do the same.
Tip #1 - Do Your Research
Wedding budgets come in all shapes and sizes and one person’s budget will look completely different from the next, but familiarizing yourself with what is common and knowing what percentage is normal for each category can be helpful. Ask around to friends and family who have gotten recently married to see what things they were expected to cost more and also what they wish they would have spent more or less on. Looking around your town and seeing what a venue costs and what a photographer costs can help you firm up a budget and knowing where the bulk of your budget will be spent. If you hire a wedding planner/coordinator (like us!), they can also help with this topic!
Tip #2 - Who’s Paying?
Now, this can be a difficult conversation to have with your fiancé and both sets of parents, however, it is extremely important in determining the final amount for your budget. Whether your parents are paying or both sets of parents have decided on what they want to contribute, there can be some unexpected costs that come up, so keeping everyone aware and also talking with your fiancé about what the two of you can contribute is important. Take a look at your finances and decide as a team what you are willing and comfortable spending. This will help in the long run by keeping each other in check.
Tip #3 - Plan and Organize
Please, make a spreadsheet. This will help immensely. Being able to keep track of your total budget and percentages of each category will help ensure that you stay on track. Also, having a section in this spreadsheet dedicated to when payments are due and how much will also help to keep you sane in the long run. You can then take items that might not have met your set budget from that category and put it into a different category that might be able to use that extra money.
These are just a couple of tips to help ensure that your budget remains what you originally planned for it to be. There is no need to get overwhelmed and stressed by your budget. Take it one day and one payment at a time. No matter if your wedding costs $500 or $50,000, it’s going to be the best day ever because you’re marrying your best friend and starting a new life with them by your side.