Putting together your Wedding Budget

The whole idea of putting together your Wedding Budget can sound daunting, but it’s very important and, if approached in the right mindset, can even be fun (honest!).

Establishing and Agreeing your Budget

When setting your overall Budget, make sure you have included any contributions which might be made by family members or others.

Putting together your wedding budget

Don’t ignore offers of help

Whatever you are spending on your wedding, don’t forget that some elements of ‘DIY’ or the employment of guests’ talents can really help.

Especially if your budget is tight.

If you have a friend who bakes superbly who offers to do your wedding cake, a mate with an amazing car who’d love nothing more than to show it off by driving you to Church, or even a brother who’s a dab hand at carpentry and will build your wedding arch, why not accept?

People love to be asked and these practical contributions mean you can afford that film maker you loved or invite a few more guests.

Putting together your wedding budget

Ensuring you have some Contingency

I have never seen a client’s wedding budget go down.

Increase – often – their decision of course.

Remain as set – naturally – that’s my job.

But never reduce.

That’s why I suggest keeping 5% or so aside as contingency.

Allocating Funds to each Element

I suggest you use a simple spreadsheet and update it as you book suppliers and make purchases.

You can allocate an amount at a high level to Venue, Photography, Attire etc then make alterations as you get actual costs.

To give you an idea, this is an amalgamation of my clients’ budget allocations from the last three years, regardless of their overall budgets, with wedding planner fees removed.

 

Item Average % of Budget
Venue & Catering 50
Photography (& Film) 10
Floristry 7
Entertainment 7
Attire 8
Cake 2
Ceremony 3
Transport 3
Stationery 3
Hair & Make-Up 2
Contingency 5

 

Remember, there may be sections you can allocate zero costs to.

For some this is transport if the wedding is all in one place and many are staying over.

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Image credits: Studio M & Dasa Wharton Photography