Congratulations on your engagement! Wishing you all the love the Lord has to give on this day and always! Best wishes to an amazing couple!
At this moment, while you are still immersing in joy and happiness, one of your primary concerns may bring you back to the reality – how to plan a wedding on a budget for your big day?
I believe, as wedding is one of the most important events in your life, you definitely want to have a unique, memorable wedding. That means your wedding budget plan needs to be perfect in details.
Don’t worry! As long as you follow the steps below, you’ll get your ideal budget efficiently.
Let’s begin now!
Table of Contents
1. Have a talk
Having a money conversation with your partner and family is significant before making a budget! Here are some Q&A examples for you.
Image Credit: Theresa Bridget Photography
How much can you comfortably afford?
At the very beginning, you may need to set a total budget, and it is entirely up to you. If you and your bridegroom are leading a well-off living and want to pay for the wedding, then you can just save enough money in your credit card; if not, talk about how much money you expect to save after this wedding. Moreover, if your family is ready to contribute to the pay, ask your family members politely what they can deal with.
What are the important things to you?
Take out a piece of paper and write down the top 3 items respectively with your bridegroom. Compare with each other, eliminate the same things and save the differences. This list enables you to clarify where to spend big money unswervingly and where to cut down.
What is your style preference?
Figure out what kind of wedding style is your love. Maybe you can combine your favorite elements of styles together and make a DIY wedding. You can DIY wedding decorations, stationery, invitations, cakes and nearly everything you want. DIY can save your budget and add more attracting details to your wedding.
Referring to the wedding style, there are certain items that may need to be carefully considered: The wedding season, venue, ritual style and wedding theme etc. For example, if you choose to host a wedding on beach during July-August, you might consider beach wedding dresses with chic sandy ceremony. “Beach”, “Western themed” etc, information like these could give you a support to clear your mind of confusion.
Image Credit: Jswedding Photographysydney
2. Set your breakdown of your wedding budget
When you already have a total budget in mind, it’s time to determine your wedding budget percentages. Here, some listed items are provided as references (mainly focus on your own preference).
| Food and Venue (45%) | Alcohol and Drinks (5%) |
| Flowers and Decoration (10%) | Hair and Makeups (3%) |
| Outfits (10%) | Photography (10%) |
| Music and Entertainment (9%) | Others (8%) |
This worksheet can assist you in allocating the budget on the basis of the potential cost. Besides, this table casts light on the causes of over-expenditure or balance, and then enables you to distribute the money saved from one project to others.
3. Check your guest list
The number of guests does play an important part in your budget. Dear, as you may already be aware, the more people you invite, the more money has to be expensed. Sometimes, less is more. Before the final confirmation list is done, make sure those picked out persons are irreplaceable.
4. Learn from the married friends
Friends who have got married are experienced in dealing with wedding services companies. They know where the traps and the recommending companies (like Cocomelody) are. Talk to them and listen to their views. I think you may benefit a lot from them.
5. Revise your budget as you go
Plans never catch up with changes. To get the best deals, you may consider the hidden expenses or discounts into your budget. For instance, you just come across some fancy discount designer wedding dresses. On this occasion, a high budget setting for the dress can be saved. Or occasionally, you make the acquaintance of a photographer whose cinematographer style suits your taste, but asks for a higher payment. Making a nice budget doesn’t mean it can’t be adjustable. After all, your wedding happens in real life, but not in a script where things are always settled down.
Image Credit: Abbey Armstrong Photography
After reading the article, do you have your own wedding budget design now? Hope it is helpful for you. May you have a satisfactory wedding and an unforgettable memory for life!
