Wedding Tips: Budget

Photo Credit: Mozingo Photography

If you come from lots and lots of money and you've never heard the world "budget" - this post is not for you.  This post is for the bride and groom likely paying for their wedding themselves, or just not wanting to spend an arm and a leg to have one mean party.

If you are trying not to break the bank - then  the absolute next MOST important thing to having an organized planning timeline and an accurate priorities list when planning a wedding, is your BUDGET!

say it with me - BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET!

Your budget will help you determine if you are having a community center wedding with BBQ, or a Ritz Carlton wedding with filet.  You have to start at the start - how much you want to spend!

Do you know how many times I've asked "What is your budget?" And gotten the answer, "As cheap as possible." - Yes, I can make that happen - but that's not actually a starting place.  HOWEVER most people don't have a clue how much a wedding costs - so we have to start there.

Figuring out your budget starts simply with, "How many people are you inviting?"

Take 80% of the number of people being invited - and use it for your budget. An easy rule of thumb is to multiply $100-$200 by the number of people you expect to come to your wedding.  For example, if you are inviting 100 people, expect 80 to be there, and expect to spend between $8,000- $16,000 on your wedding total.

If you know your budget needs to be closer to the $8,000 range (or maybe even less than that!) - CUT YOUR GUEST LIST.  This is a post all it's on, but the EASIEST way to save money.  Unless you have someone who is donating your food, venue, flowers and/or photographing your wedding for you for free - don't expect to come out spending much less than that.

Don't hire a photographer, don't book a venue, don't pick a menu, DON'T DO ANYTHING until you have a budget.  It will give you a REALISTIC idea of how much you can spend on each thing and you won't find yourself haphazardly spending money on things that you aren't even sure if you can or can't afford. Like, securing a $5,000 photographer when you can only afford a $2,000 photographer.

As simply as I can make it, here is a step-by-step on how to make your budget:
1. Open excel (see, simple)

2. Get your budget - for this example we are saying 100 guests are being invited, so we expect only 80 to attend, making our budget $16,000.

3. Figure out WHAT is going into your budget.  Is your dress coming out of a separate budget?  What about passports for the honeymoon?  Rehearsal dinner?  Rings? You'll see in the example below I included a comprehensive list of things that could be included, but some of those areas are blank as they often come from other budget pools.

4.  Food adds up.  Yes, you can perhaps find a good menu for $25 per person, but you need to factor in who is serving it, cleaning it up, providing the plates, drinking glasses, etc.  I use an approximation of about $50 per person to encompass the entire food/catering cost. $4,000.

4. Booze. Are you going to have a beer and wine only bar, or a full bar?  For this example, let's say beer and wine only and assume it will cost about $1,000. 

5.  The venue cost varies based on what is included.  If it is a venue that includes tables and chairs, then it will cost more and your rental cost will go down.  If it's a hotel and there is no rental price, only a food and beverage minimum, you will compensate that way.  For this example we will say the ceremony and reception are at the same venue, tables and chairs are included. $4,000.

6. Rentals means everything from the table linens, to tables and chairs, to lighting, to couches, to dance floors.  The possibilities are endless!  For this example, we will say $1,000.

7. $3 per person is a good estimate for a cake cost.  Cake vendors may disagree with me - but I advise buying a cake that will feed 75% of the amount of people you plan to attend.  I do this because 1. Not everyone eats cake.  2. It isn't always served at the best time so people miss it. 3. I HATE wasted food and seeing uneaten beautiful delicious wedding cake. I'd rather Aunt Susie not get a piece then there be 28 slices leftover.  Therefore, we will expect 75% of our 80 guests to eat the cake and multiply that by 3, $180 - and we will round up for cushion. $200.

8. When budgeting for Save the Dates and Invitations, don't forget to include the cost of stamps.  For an invitation, you need to remember the return stamp as well as the invitation stamp, which is often a more expensive stamp. Certain websites cost more than local print shops or DIY. This is all on taste.

9. The final and MOST important thing to take away from the budget - is you can mix it up as you go.  Say your venue or food is less than expected, WAHOO you get a little more to spend on flowers or decor.  Say you expected to have to pay your officiate, but your Pastor volunteered WAHOO more money saved for the honeymoon!

A budget is a personal and individualized thing.  This is a very general, as simplified as possible, example.  If you have questions - please feel free to reach out to me directly as I'll do my best to help you.  I LOVE a good excel project. =)

example based on 80 guests

Happy Planning!

xo-Ava