A wedding is a beautiful and wonderful event where a couple gets to celebrate the saying of their “I Do’s”. Countless hours are spent planning details and the backbone of all that planning is the budget. I remember me and my now-wife hovering over our computers researching the options we wanted and constantly referencing our budget titled, “The Plan”. Budgeting for a wedding can be tough and staying on top of the budget can be even tougher. Today I wanted to outline a few tips from our experience that can help ease the burden of wedding budget planning.
One of the first steps with a wedding budget is identifying where the money is coming from. If the couple is paying for the wedding, agreeing to a set number will help clear expectations at the beginning. If money is being contributed by parents or other family members, don’t forget to say thank you! Make sure all outside contributions are acknowledged and appreciated. Identifying the different sources of income to support the budget leads to the estimated number to start with.
This next step is the most important step, prioritizing what is on the budget. Once all the items on the budget are laid out, seeing them in the order of importance will help identify which items to spend more money on. A good exercise is to have the groom and bride create their own list and compare their priorities. Some examples of wedding items include:
- Venue
- Food + Drink
- DJ/Live Band
- Flowers
- Photographer/Videographer
Once the list is agreed upon, the next step will be researching and reaching out to vendors to get a dollar amount for the costs. After each line item has a cost that the couple is happy with, tracking the budget will be the next step. Wedding budget monitoring is a constant exercise to ensure nothing goes over budget.
The golden question when it comes to wedding expenses is how they can be reduced. When looking at wedding costs, determine which wedding items the vendor will oversee and what items the couple will handle. My wife and I did a lot of DIY projects to help save costs on the decorations, flowers, and miscellaneous items. This allows more control of how each item will look but at the same time can create more stress as the date approaches. Another way to save money is to look at options for timing the wedding. Winter and Summer tend to be less popular for weddings and most venues offer discounts if your wedding is during those time periods. Additionally, if the wedding is on a day other than Saturday venues can offer an additional discount.
At the end of the day, this is the bride and groom’s special day. You should cater your wedding to the way that you want it. These steps were ways that helped my wife and I plan our wedding and save money along the way. I hope this was helpful for you as the first steps are taken for the big day!
