Your loved one finally proposed to you and now you’re happily engaged. How amazing!
After the first shocking, exciting and passionate moments, you might be wondering: “Right, so what’s next?”.
Figuring out your wedding budget is the most important thing to do before starting organising your wedding.
Why? Because knowing how much you can afford will influence all your decisions regarding venue, decor, stationary etc. And here are a few tips that will help you with this annoying but incredibly necessary task.
What’s important to you?
Let’s start with the basics. Make yourself a drink, grab a pen and paper and sit down with your partner.
Ask yourself: “what are the 5 things about the wedding that I care most about?”
Write them down and then show the list to your partner. Comparing the lists that each one of you has made will tell you what are the areas where you can focus (and spend!) a bit more.
You’ll also know what are the things that you care less about, and cut the costs there.
Figure out your guestlist
Needless to say, the number of guests you want to be part of your special day will hugely affect your budget.
Therefore, having an idea of how many people you’ll invite is an important step.
You can use the guestlist chart inside this free wedding planner workbook to figure out an approximate (and realistic!) number of guests. This will be incredibly helpful when dealing with all the different wedding vendors.
Count the cash
Some people find talking about money a bit uncomfortable, but this step is necessary.
Again, sit down with your partner, take a big breath and check your bank account.
Ideally, you should have set aside about 3 months’ worth of expenses (bills + food + rent/mortgage) in case you unexpectedly lose your job or fall sick. If you do, good on you!
If you have less than that, don’t be desperate and follow these steps: count all the cash you have available, then decide on a sum of money to allocate for an emergency, and set it aside.
Whatever you have left, that’s what you can currently allocate to your wedding budget.
If you have a date in mind, calculate how many weeks there are between the current date and the wedding date. Then multiply how much extra cash you can tip in each week from your wage for the number of weeks missing from your wedding date. So you will know how much you can save in total before the big day!
In some cultures, the bride and the groom’s family can help with some extra cash or even pay for the wedding in full.
As a general rule, don’t expect money from your family, but asking them to help won’t hurt.
Don’t compare your dream
Ok so now you have crunched the numbers and should have a general figure ($$$) in mind.
Let me suggest three simple yet wise words: Keep It Real. Being honest with yourself and your finances is a must, at all times.
Do not fantasise about having the most amazing and luxurious wedding if your budget is relatively small.
Also, comparing your dream with your friends’ wedding doesn’t help either. Especially if you don’t know how much they have spent to put together such an incredible wedding!
In this case, it might be useful to ask them directly how much they spent in total, and also for individual vendors.
Most importantly if there’s a vendor you fell in love with! There’s nothing worse than dreaming about a specific person to then finding out he or she is out of your budget.
Write everything down
Having all the names and quotes from all your chosen vendors in one place is crucial.
Especially for your mental sanity! This is when this free wedding planner workbook comes in handy. It contains a wedding budget worksheet where you can write down your budgeted amount and the quote each vendor provides you with.
So you can always keep track of your budget! When estimating all the different costs, consider a 10/15% extra amount towards unexpected but sure-to-happen surprises.
So when they happen, you’re all good to go.
Pick the right vendors
Jump on Instagram or Pinterest, or ask your mate that got married last year.
In one way or another, look around for the vendors that you like or that have attracted your attention.
It’s much easier to find the vendors you like first and then ask for a quote from at least 2 of the vendors from your list, possibly more.
Keep in mind that a few of them might have an “all-inclusive” package, whereas others might have a lot of hidden adds-on and upsales.
They should always ask you to sign a contract, which you will need to read extremely carefully. The devil is in the details.
A vendor (and your experience with them) can make or break your wedding. As with anything else in life, here you get what you pay for.
So I wouldn’t recommend going cheap on that DJ and then expecting mind-blowing vibes from the dancefloor. \The same goes with your photographer, caterer, florists.. well basically all the vendors. If a vendor is incredibly cheap compared to someone else, have you ever asked yourself why?
A wedding is an amazing yet stressful experience, and hiring the right professionals can help you more than you think. Or make the whole experience a nightmare.
Wedding budget extra tips
Going over budget is common and happens to everyone.
So don’t be too harsh on yourself and instead try to cut down the expenses to bring the total price down.
The easiest way to bring down the cost is to cut down on your guest list. It’s hard, but this will save you big bucks.
If you have splashed a big chunk of money on a vendor, try to save on others that are less important to you. You could even consider getting married in spring or winter when demand for weddings (and vendors!) is less strong.
Lastly, if you are taking on a few DIY projects to save some money here and there, take it easy with creativity.
The last thing you want to do is have to deal with too many projects, which will only make you feel overwhelmed.
Download the free wedding planner workbook
Does this all sound easier said than done? It sure is!
This is why we’ve created this free wedding planner workbook. It’s packed with amazing tools that will help you organise your wedding in a breeze, such as an 18-months wedding timeline, a wedding budget worksheet, a guest list planner, a liquor calculator and much more.
If you have any questions, comments, or simply want to share your tips and trick, just leave us a comment below.
And don’t forget: “Organising is a journey, not a destination”.
