Your wedding budget will be the foundation of your entire wedding planning process so it is crucial that you clearly define your priorities and financial ability up front. Money can be an uncomfortable conversation with family so our hope is that this information can help you navigate that conversation and move through wedding planning with a little less sticker shock!

Before you even begin talking numbers you will want to ask yourself these 4 questions:

1. How much does your family want to contribute?
2. What is most important to you?
3. How much do you want to DIY?
4. Do you want to have a big party or a more intimate gathering?

Allow us to break these down for you a bit further!

(1) In the beginning of wedding planning, as we mentioned previously, it is important to sit down and chat with your families about how much they are willing to contribute to the wedding. This is typically not a matter of them giving you a dollar amount and then sending you off on your own. Many families have specific vendors they want to pay for, certain meetings they want to be a part of and certain decisions they want to make if they are contributing financially. As a young couple, it is sometimes hard to understand why they can’t just trust you to take the money and plan your wedding but the reality is that if they are paying, they will have at least somewhat of a say as to where that money goes. Your best bet is going to be to show them your gratitude and respect from the very beginning. Here are some questions you can discuss when meeting with your families:

1. Are there any parts of the wedding planning process that you really want to be involved in? Such as the cake tasting or dress shopping?
2. Are there any “must haves” that you are excited about? This can be something like having a band over a DJ or hosting the ceremony in a church over a wedding venue.
3. How would you like to handle wedding payments? Do you want us to put your card on file with our vendors or do you want to give us the money and we pay them?
4. Are there any specific vendor meetings that you would like to attend? Or is it ok if we handle those on our own?
5. Can you provide us with guests that you would like to invite to the wedding? We hope that we can have a couple of your friends and relatives you are close to but we are hoping to invite *however many people* max due to our budget.

These questions should give you a good start with your family conversations! We understand that every family is different so there will be different dynamics at play. However, these questions are what we recommend to start off on a good foot. If you want to avoid outside opinions all together, your best bet is to pay for the wedding yourself.

(2) Next, you are going to want to determine your priorities in planning. In reality, you get what you pay for. It is just the truth. Are you looking for lush florals and an eye catching design? You are going to want to invest in a wedding designer, professional florist, a graphic designer and your decor rentals. Are you aiming to create an unforgettable experience for your guests? You will want to spend your dollars on an amazing DJ/Band, delicious food, meaningful wedding favors and something interactive like a photo booth or a live painter. Whatever your priorities are, make sure your budget reflects that. If you say you want amazing flowers but don’t care too much about the desserts then don’t over spend on desserts and DIY your flowers.

(3) To DIY or not to DIY is the big question. Simply put, if you do something yourself it will be cheaper. It won’t be less stressful, it will be more work and it might not be the same quality as hiring a professional….but it will be cheaper. If your priority is saving as much money as you can then the DIY route might just be for you! However, before getting started on a million projects, think about what you and your family/friends are good at. If your aunt is an amazing baker and has offered to help – the dessert table would be a great job for her! If your younger sister is super trendy and has a good eye for design – let her head up the centerpieces. If your maid of honor is a wiz on Canva – ask her to help put together your wedding signage! It can be done. However, if you overload yourself with a ton of projects that you are not skilled at then this will not be a fun experience. Prepare ahead, be measured in what you can actually take on and make it as fun as you possibly can! Oh and make sure that the people you are asking for help actually want to help out.

(4) Lastly, let’s discuss your guest count! Your guest count, hands down, is the biggest contributor to your final budget. Think about it – catering, bar, centerpieces, tables/chairs, favors, desserts…..they all come at a “per head” cost. The more people you invite, the more money you are going to spend. If your top priority is having a huge party with all of your family and friends then we say go for it! It is so special to have all of your loved ones in the room to celebrate you. However, if you are hoping for a smaller and more intimate gathering, do not shy away from that. It can be just as beautiful. Once you know what you are looking for you can adjust your budget to fit that. Either your budget determines your guest count or your guest count determines your budget. It is up to you!

The above information should give you a great place to start before you really have to break down the numbers. From here, you will want to determine your overarching wedding budget. An average wedding budget these days is between $30,000 and $40,000 but you can go up or down from there. A lot of it depends on where you live as well. Once you have your wedding budget determined, you will want to decide what is going to be a part of that budget. See below for our wedding budget check list:

• Wedding Planner
• Venue (Ceremony + Reception)
• Catering
• Bar
• Bakery
• Floral
• Entertainment (band or dj)
• Transportation
• Officiant
• Marriage License
• Hair and Makeup
• Photography
• Videography
• Photo booth
• Decor Rentals
• Save the Dates, Invitations, Signage
• Bride and Groom Travel (if applicable)
• Wedding Dress
• Wedding Dress Alterations
• Suit Purchase or Rental
• Suit alterations
• Wedding Rings
• Other wedding day accessories
• Gifts, favors and/or welcome bags
• Pre-marital counseling
• Rehearsal Dinner
• Post wedding brunch
• Tipping
• Miscellaneous

Many of our wedding planning clients consider certain line items “outside of their wedding budget” such as wedding rings, counseling, apparel, etc. It is up to you whether you want to lump it all into one budget or count certain things outside of the budget. There are also certain vendors on this list that are negotiable based on what your needs are such as guest transportation, favors and a photo booth. Regardless, we think it is important to acknowledge up front how much you are going to be spending on this occasion. This way you don’t get to the end of your wedding and wonder where all of your money went.

If you are interested in seeing how 40k can break down for a wedding budget, see our graph below! This includes every vendor and line item that was in the list above with percentages. Again, we encourage you to think about what your priorities are in the process. You may want to remove transportation and videography so you can increase your wedding venue budget for example. You can adjust the percentages based on your own needs.

Wedding Planning Services	5%	$2,000
Venue	7%	$2,800
Catering	11%	$4,400
Bar Service	7%	$2,800
Bakery	3%	$1,200
Florist	5%	$2,000
Music	5%	$2,000
Transportation	3%	$1,200
Officiant + Marriage License	1%	$400
Hair and Makeup	2%	$800
Photography	5%	$2,000
Videography	4%	$1,600
Photobooth	2%	$800
Rentals	3%	$1,200
Save the Dates, Invitations + Signage	2%	$800
Bride + Groom Travel	1%	$400
Wedding Dress	3%	$1,200
Wedding Dress Alterations	1%	$400
Suit Purchase/Rental	1%	$400
Wedding Rings	3%	$1,200
Other Wedding Day Accessories	1%	$400
Gifts, favors and/or welcome bags	1%	$400
Pre-Marital Counseling	2%	$800
Additional Events (rehearsal dinner, brunch)	9%	$3,600
Tipping	10%	$4,000
Miscellaneous	3%	$1,200
TOTAL:		$40,000