Planning a wedding is an exciting time but also can involve a long list of costs to plan for the special day. Details for example like paying venue deposits, the costs of catering, and buying clothes for the big day as well as the costs of photography, and for transporting guests and for lots of other details need to be paid for.
Creating a thoughtful wedding budget means so much more than just creating a spending plan for your wedding. It gives you a plan to make decisions, avoid going into debt, and spend money on the things that truly matter to you both.
Remember, you don’t have to go for the cheapest option for every element of your wedding. Instead, make a thoughtful plan for a meaningful day that won’t compromise your financial well-being.
Start With an Honest Financial Conversation
Sit down with your partner to discuss money before you begin researching venues and comparing the work of photographers. This conversation, though less than ideal, will serve as the basis for all of your future wedding planning decisions.
How much money each of you have saved up, how much you each earn, what debt and expenses you each have, and how much you each can afford to contribute to the wedding on a monthly basis are all things that you should discuss in this honest conversation. This conversation may be less fun than picking out flowers or trying on wedding gowns and tasting different wedding cakes, but it is the foundation of all of your wedding planning.
It is also helpful to determine each other’s expectations. One person may even be more excited about a big formal wedding while the other can’t wait to celebrate with close family and friends in a much simpler setting. Both would make for a great wedding.
Be specific to each other regarding what you can afford. Set a real spending ceiling for the wedding (as a % of total budget) and discuss the parameters and trade-offs of that spending ceiling.
A budget for your wedding should be based on what you can afford to spend and not on what you believe you should spend to have a decent wedding.
Decide Who Will Contribute
The amount that each couple can afford to spend on their wedding varies greatly. Some couples may be able to afford to pay for the entire wedding themselves while others may receive help from their parents. In some cases, a couple may even have several people contributing different amounts towards their wedding.
Don’t automatically assume that your family members will be able to contribute to certain costs. Ask for their input and make sure you know how much they are willing to contribute and whether their contribution comes with any expectations. For example, the family member who is paying for the venue may want to have a say in the choosing of the venue and the guest list.
Be very clear with family and friends as to whether they are covering the full cost of items and if there are any other expectations. For example, if your father is paying for the venue, then he may expect you to choose that venue and possibly be involved in choosing the date and guest list.
Once all contributions have been confirmed for a certain amount of money, write these down and include them in the couple’s overall wedding budget.
► Your wedding budget is an essential discussion as the beginning of planning. See more tips on just engaged: what to do next.
Set Your Priorities Before You Start Spending
Almost all couples cannot afford to have everything they want for their wedding, so they have to set priorities for how they will spend their money.
First, choose three things that are the most important to both of you to spend money on. Then decide on other things to cut back on to stay within your means. As an example, you can choose to hire the best photographer but have the simplest of decorations for the tables. Also, instead of having expensive formal tables, you can have a buffet with casual seating.
For example, the couple who wanted excellent photography would have hired the photographer of their choice, but also chose to have simple decorations on the tables. The couple who wanted an excellent sit-down dinner would have looked for ways to cut costs elsewhere, for example by having digital invitations instead of printed ones.
This way, the funds are not spread out evenly and wasted on things that are less important to you.
A wedding should reflect your values, not a standard checklist.
Build a Detailed Wedding Budget
It’s also good to track your money in categories instead of in a single total amount, in order to better understand where your wedding money is being spent.
Common wedding expenses include:
- Venue rental
- Catering and drinks
- Photography and video
- Wedding clothing and alterations
- Music or entertainment
- Flowers and decorations
- Invitations and stationery
- Transportation
- Marriage license fees
- Hair and makeup
- Gifts and wedding favors
- Tips for vendors
- Accommodation
- Wedding insurance
Estimate each category first. Then, research typical costs for each item to arrive at more realistic numbers.
Keep in mind that the listed prices do not include tax, delivery, service fees, set-up charges, etc. Ask the vendor for a detailed quote. Ask for an estimate that includes all costs.
► Get the wedding budget breakdown to determine what percentage to allocate per category.
Create a Separate Wedding Savings Fund
When you save for your wedding in a separate account from your everyday spending money, it is easier to keep track of how you are spending your wedding money and avoid spending it accidentally.
Set up automatic transfers into the Separate Wedding Savings Fund from your checking account after each payday. You can open up a Savings Account to hold your wedding money or use a budgeting category in your current checking account.
Even modest contributions can grow over time. For example, saving $200 every two weeks would total $5,200 in one year.
For couples with irregular income, setting aside a percentage of each payment instead of a fixed amount each period can help them save consistently for their wedding.
It may also be wise to research the date which your income becomes available, i.e. how to get paycheck early, to better coordinate a payment for wedding expenses that occur on a particular date. However, don’t mistakenly assume that the date that your income becomes available is greater than your actual income for that month.
Pay for all wedding expenses with money that you are sure you have in the bank.
Watch Out for Hidden and Last-Minute Costs
Many wedding budgets fail because the couple only accounted for the larger expenses, and did not factor in the smaller charges for things such as venue alterations, postage for invitations, vendor meals, cake-cutting fees, parking for guests, delivery charges, and even the beauty trial for hair and makeup.
The extras: Alterations, postage, vendor meals, cake-cutting fees, parking, delivery charges, overtime for the beautician, hair trials… you get the idea. These little charges can add up in the end, and as they happen one at a time, they can seem insignificant at the time.
Allow for unexpected expenses by keeping 5% to 10% of your total budget for additional expenses as they arise. Using the $20,000 wedding budget as an example, this would translate to saving $1,000 to $2,000 for unexpected expenses as they arise.
This way you can take care of any unexpected expenses without going into debt or dipping into your emergency fund.
Begin Budgeting for Your Wedding Today
Budgeting for a wedding requires a true commitment from both partners to honest discussion of their financial goals and needs, and how their priorities for the wedding will dictate the spending on individual aspects of the celebration.
Set a realistic amount for your wedding and work together to track your progress to make the best financial decisions for your special day.
A great wedding is not about how much you spend. It’s about how you plan to use your resources to create the perfect wedding for you!
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