The 5 Steps to Follow When Creating a Wedding Budget
You’ve heard about it enough and now it’s time to get cracking. Before you start dreaming up ideas for your wedding day, it’s essential to know what you can and are willing to spend.
This isn’t the most exciting part about planning your big day, but it is one of the most essential.
- Review What You Have Available
Start by looking at what you and your partner have in your savings and what portion of both your incomes you can set aside every month for wedding expenses. If either of your families is willing to contribute, now is the time to find out how much they can give you.
- Create an Estimated Budget
Next, you want to create an estimated budget. This will be based on your research and what you can realistically expect to spend on a venue, vendors, and everything else in between. This is your budget before you actually start shopping around for real quotes.
- Budget for Surprises
As much as you would like to spend exactly what you budgeted, this isn’t always the case. It’s essential to set some money aside for surprises. Perhaps you decide closer to the day that you really want a signature cocktail or that you want to provide your guests with transportation to the reception. These are the added extras that could crop up. And if you don’t end up using that money, it can go straight back into your savings.
- Create a Final Budget
Now that you’ve received quotes from all the vendors you want to work with, you can finalize your budget. During this stage, you may find that you need to cut back in places, so start by outlining what’s most important to you and work your way from there. Perhaps you need to ditch the live band or skip those fancy desserts – you know what matters most to you as a couple.
- Stick to Your Budget
As you start planning your wedding, you’re going to see a lot of ideas that you might want to steal, ideas that cost money. To avoid unnecessary stress after your wedding, stick to your budget as best you can and keep any debt to a minimum.
With these tips in mind, you’re one step closer to getting one of your most important wedding tasks out of the way.
