Ballin' on a Budget: Setting Your Wedding Budget

Ballin' on a Budget: Setting Your Wedding Budget

Establishing the budget for the wedding is probably the second most important things (if not the most important) a couple needs to do before the wedding. It is also one of the tedious things about wedding planning, but after it is established you will know where you can splurge and where you will need to cut corners.

Here are some of the most important steps you and your significant other can go over to calculate your wedding budget:

(Photo by Elizabeth Murphy)

Figure Out All Sources of Income

This is an opportunity fir you and your future spouse to communicate and compromise while also making important progress on your wedding. It is essential that you ad your significant other sticks to the budget that you both set. This is also an excellent practice for when you and your spouse will be managing the household's finance as a married couple.

It's important to talk about all of the possible combined sources of income:

• What's your combined income?
• How much can be saved?
• Will anyone else be contributing? (This is not necessary but important to ask)

Crunch the numbers and after you will have an estimate of how much money you can allocate for the wedding--you have your wedding budget!

Congratulations!

Keep Track

It's important to allocate a certain percentage to each of the chosen wedding areas and keep track of the spending, to avoid going over budget.

There are different ways in which you can keep track of the wedding budget.

• Use Excel on Google Docs so you can access it anywhere. Personally, I used a video by Alina Narr--to help you keep track of everything.
• A printable wedding planner or other commercial wedding binders. Some examples from The Knot, Invited Wedding Planner, or wedding websites like Zola.
• Your phone! There are so many apps to help you!

No matter how you keep track of your budget, it's important to have all of the information in one place where you can access it throughout your wedding planning.

(Photo from Max Pixel)

3 Most Important Things

I learned about this step early on in my research and thought it was genius!

It's simple and really helps you as the couple focus on what's really important to both of you.

Basically, you as the future bride and groom each list what three aspects of the wedding are most important to you (or three items that you wouldn't mind spending a little more if it meant better quality).

Here's an example:

3 Most Important Aspects (Individual)
Bride	Groom
1. Photography	1. Photography
2. DJ/Good Music	2. Full Bar
3. Food	3. Food

Now, you and your future spouse discuss and narrow it down to three things as a couple:

3 Most Important Aspects (Couple)

1. Photography

2. Food

3. DJ

In the example above, it works that both wanted to invest in photography and tasty food, but the third one had to be a compromise. After talking, the couple decided on having a good DJ as they both love to dance, and working around having a full bar.

Do Your Research

Research venues, caterers, and rental in your area on websites like The Knot, Airbnb, Google, Instagram, Reddit, and more. 

There are so many options out there. There's an infinite number of pictures, DIYs and links!

Even if it sounds cliche but Pinterest is a great tool (and many of us have had Pinterest wedding boards long before we even had the ring!). It's a great tool to be able to get inspired and know what style you would want.

Once you have a style in mind, research, and then compare the different prices for everything, This way, you will be able to see if it fits within your budget.

Leave Some Room for Change

It's important to keep in mind that depending on your budget and the availability of certain businesses, you will have to make some changes.

It's important to be flexible with your options to ensure a better price. For example, if possible, it costs less to get married on a weekday or on a Sunday than on a Saturday; or maybe having your wedding in the morning and have brunch instead of dinner.

Call in Favors/Alternative Wedding Gifts

One way to also get around the highly ticketed wedding essentials is to ask a family member or a friend to gift you their services for your special day. These could be given as a wedding gift to you or a discount could be arranged.

Just remember to ask them ahead of time, to allow them to look over their schedule for your wedding.

DIY it!

Do It Yourself (DIY) has become so popular, especially with brides who are on a budget, as wedding prices have skyrocketed.

There are thousands of DIY tutorials for weddings on the internet. From YouTube to Pinterest, and blogs. This is a good project for the crafty bride (or a family member or friend) with artsy skills.

It's important to know which things to DIY. You will need to allocate certain hours or days (maybe even weeks, depending on the project and your schedule) to do these projects.

Stick to it!

It's super important to stick to your budget!

I know that there are hundreds of things out there that are so beautiful for weddings, but most of them also come with an expensive price tag. It's always tempting to even just look at them and consider them for your wedding.

It is at this moment that you need to keep your already planned budget in mind and stop yourself from overspending.

The goal is to get married and not get into debt.

Keep the Goal/Focus in Mind

Sometimes amidst all of the wedding planning--especially the budgeting--it's easy to lose sight of what's important about this event. It's important to always remember that this event is a celebration of a loving union and of new beginnings.

Always remember that this event is not about how much money you should spend; "the bigger the better" does not apply here. What should matter is the love you and your fiance have towards one another and those who love and support both of you, your guests.

Please leave comments and questions below & share!