Budgets aren’t the most exciting things in life, but they are critical in planning your wedding. Whether you are planning this by yourself or will hire a wedding planner/ coordinator, your budget is one of the keys to a successful event. That is not to say that unless you have tens of thousands of dollars, you wedding will stink. Albeit, your budget really sets the rules of your wedding. If you plan to have 200 guests, a budget of $2000 will NOT cut it.
I attended a wedding where the bride and groom paid for everything themselves. Their wedding was very cute and reflected them to a tee, however their location was too large for the 50 people in attendance. They had planned for 200 guests on a $500 budget. With proper planning the money spent on the large location could have gone to another location to accommodate a wedding of their size and felt cozier. The end result was the same (They were married and are still happily married, however, years later the bride has a few regrets about the day.) With better planning and mastering their budget, she could have had the wedding of her dreams.
The other thing to consider is WHO is footing the bill. If your parents are paying, your partner’s parents are paying, the two of you are paying or it all falls somewhere in between.
One wedding I planned the bride’s parents and bride paid for everything except the future in-laws paid for the rehearsal dinner. (This is the traditional route.) Everyone agreed on 100 to 150 guests. After crunching numbers the parents offered around five thousand and the bride was grateful for their help and said she would make up the rest. I knew based on the research I had done that some locations cost five thousand just to walk in the door, nothing included.
As an only child, the bride knew there were huge expectations from the rest of the family that her wedding would be a HUGE event. She agreed to disagree with her parents for the time being. The MOB (mother of the bride) came along to several possible locations. After about four, she and the FOB reconsidered and increased their offer. They realized with what they had in mind, five thousand dollars was not going to work.
Be flexible with what you have in mind for your weeding and the amount of money to be spent. A lot will change…things will be cut, while others will be added. Just take a lot of deep breaths and go with the flow. Also note: Anyone who is coughing up some cash will also have an opinion about your wedding.
You’re a budget should include, but not limited to:
CEREMONY Officiant fee, church, synagogue or mosque fee, ceremony accessories, marriage license fee. This should be about 3% of your total budget.
RECEPTION Food and service, beverages and bartender, cake, décor (other than flowers), lighting and site and/or rental fees. This should be around 48% of your total budget.
ATTIRE Gown, veil, shoes, purse, lingerie, jewelry, tux or suit, hair and makeup. This should be 11% of your total budget.
STATIONARY Announcements, save-the-dates, invitations, inserts, programs, thank-you notes, calligraphy, postage. This should be 3% of the total.
FLOWERS Bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, centerpieces, ceremony and site flowers, canopy cake topper.
MUSIC ceremony musicians, cocktail-hour musicians, reception band or DJ, sound system rental. This should be 8% of your budget.
PHOTO Photographer, engagement photos, videographer, wedding cameras, prints, cds, rights, and albums. Should be about 8% of the total.
RINGS his and Hers engraving. Most budgets say this should be 3% of the total and should included in the overall budget. My vote is NO! Keep this cost in mind, but it does not HAVE to be included.
TRANSPORTATION Limo or car rental, guest shuttle, parking. Roughly 1% of your budget.
GIFTS Favors, bridesmaid gifts, groomsmen and usher gifts, parents gifts, amenity and welcome bags or baskets. About 4% of your budget.
EMERENCY FUND Budget about 5% extra for extra that come up. Tips, taxes, etc. Trust me these things will pop up.
CONSULTANT this is normally 10-15% of your budget.
OTHER pre-wedding hotel room, bridal suite, pre- and post-wedding parties (bridesmaid’s luncheon, rehearsal dinner, post-wedding brunch), and honeymoon.
We will discuss each of these items in detail and ways to save for each in a later blog. There are also many
books about wedding budgeting.
You would not believe how easy it is to make your guests feel welcome. There is no better way to do this than welcome bags for out-of-town guests. Find gift bags which match your wedding colors. The inexpensive route.....go to the dollar store. You would be surprised at the great selection of gift bags they have. Next, I suggest going to our local visitor's center and collecting maps and/or points of interest flyers for your area. In most cases they will gladly provide these items for free. After that, fill your bags with useful items. The picture above shows a schedule and water bottle set I created for wedding. While the water bottles may seem pricey, them were not. (Sam club water, lime green paper fabric, purple linen paper and a silver sticker from the dollar store.) 
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