Wedding Budgets

So you got engaged. You've stared at your ring for a few days. Your recently married friend added you to all sorts of wedding facebook groups and you've picked up every wedding magazine Target had. Sound familiar? All right, stop, collaborate and listen. 

MAKE A BUDGET BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE 

Weddings tend to come with a lot of sticker shock for couples. The average wedding in the United States costs around $30,000. That doesn't mean you couldn't do it for cheaper- you absolutely can. If you want to do your big day for $100k you can do that too. Every couple's goal should be to have the wedding they can afford without debt and without losing their sanity. A budget plan for your wedding can save so much stress and heart ache. (Even Meghan Markle had a wedding budget, just sayin')

Here are the steps I suggest for creating and maintaining a wedding budget. 

1) Figure out how much money you + your future spouse have to set aside each month. Do this by adding up bills, adding up your income and subtracting bills from income. That number you have left, figure out how much of THAT you want to set aside for wedding. If that number is smaller than you would like, see what you can cut from your monthly expenses (cable, daily Starbucks, eating out, weekly manis etc etc).

2) Figure out how much from savings you want to contribute to your wedding. Keep in mind, you are getting married aka starting a LIFE with someone, that may mean buying a house, kids, a trip around the world- keep future in mind when taking money from savings. 

3) Parents and other factors- maybe your parents have been saving for your wedding day since you were born and have a generous amount to contribute or maybe they want to contribute to specific aspects- just keep in mind whoever contributes gets a say in your day. If your parents, grandparents, whoever are contributing add that money to your budget once it has been promised or given to you. Do not count on money until you actually have it. 

4) add all of these numbers together based on how long of an engagement you want to have. BAM it's a budget. 

Now, figure out what is most important to you to help you allocate your budget. Maybe you always dreamed of getting married at a particular venue or hiring a certain photographer. You should figure out your specific budget amount for what is most important to you and work yourself down. Keep in mind- no venue, no date, no other vendors can be booked, so try to nail down a venue budget first. 

For my Virginia couples average amounts range a lot but here's a ball park:

Venues: $1000-15000

Photography: $900-7000

Hair: $70-200 per head

Makeup- $50-150 per face

DJ- $450-3000

Videography: $800-7000

Coordinator: $500-2500

Catering, florists, lighting, officiants, decorators and other vendors range A LOT based on your vision.

If you'd like more help planning your day and finding vendors in your budget, consider hiring a coordinator. We have the ability to find ways to make sure you stay on budget and have great vendors. 

tatiana@simplycharmedevents.com