Budgeting Your Wedding.

Creating A Budget

Establishing your wedding budget is probably one of the most tricky (but very important) parts of your planning process. This number will influence your decisions on vendors, styling and little things that tend to creep up on you when it comes to the total cost. When trying to figure out your budget, there is no exact answer on how much you should spend, it comes down to each couple and what is important to them. First start with your overhead costs for the venue/food & beverage, which can be anywhere from $160PP-$350PP depending on the venue/caterer. From there, you can allocate a specific amount towards all the extras and how much you think you both can afford.

Once you have your budget established, you can work out how much you want to put towards each item, which will be different for every couple depending on what is more important to you both. If photography is more important to you than flowers, then you add extra money towards the Photography budget.

I have provided a brief guideline below, this may need adjusting which is why speaking to your Wedding Planner is essential for this process:

Venue/Food&Beverage: 31%

Wedding Planner: 15%

Photography/Videography: 15%

Music/Live Performers: 10%

Flowers: 10%

Styling/Professional Stylist: 10%

Attire: 5%

Transportation: 2%

Cake | Favours | Stationary: 2%

For example;

If you are having 150 adult guests (no kids are attending) and your venues Food & Beverage PP cost is $200pp, this would mean your minimum overhead cost is $30,000.00. You would then have $20,700.00 allocated for all other items. It is also best to establish a buffer fund, a buffer fund is an absolute max amount that you can go to. We all know that budgeting is a great idea, but in reality it can be a bit harder and what if a vendor that you absolutely love is slightly over the allocated budget in that category? Are you willing to give up your favourite vendor for a couple extra hundred dollars? That is where the buffer fund comes in, kind of like an emergency fund it will allow you to still have fun selecting your dream suppliers whilst staying within a reason able budget.

Tracking Your Spending

Once you start booking your vendors and finalising details, it is best to track your spending so you know you are on track or if you are blowing out your budget and need to dip into the buffer fund. Creating a spreadsheet or using my free Wedding Budget sheet, will help you keep track of your spending and get back to the fun of creating your dream day.