Have you asked yourself, “How can I maximize my wedding budget to work for me, not against me?” Let’s get right to the point: Most brides get engaged unexpectedly so having all your ducks (and his ducks) in one basket is more than likely not already the case. Once you’re engaged, however, you should really have an open line of communication with your soon-to-be husband about who will pay for what and how it will be paid for!
Take for example Samantha and Jared. Samantha works as a receptionist for a local law firm and Jarred is in IT. Their combined annual gross income is about $80,000. They had really never thought about the cost of a wedding, but they decide to have a long engagement so they can sort out a plan of action before taking on such a huge financial burden.
Long engagements are a good idea if you are concerned with your financial outcome. If you’re not worried about money, mainly because a family member is taking care of all or part of the wedding expenses, you should still be considerate of their wallets and household needs. It’s best that you use a wedding-day financial chart to help ensure that everyone understands what to do and how to do it before you pick out a $10,000 Vera Wang ball gown. The best place to start is to have an accurate account of everyone who is participating financially for your wedding. Then decide how many guests you will invite. Once you get that number all parties must agree to stick to that number. Going over your allotted guest count can cost thousands of dollars and cause a big headache!
This simple chart is a great way to figure out what is most important to you as a couple on your wedding day and what may be of non-necessity. Each percentage is the recommended amount per section of a wedding. If followed correctly you’ll have a great wedding and not go over budget.
| Food & Beverage 30% | Flowers & Décor 15% |
| Extra Cushion 3% | Entertainment 5% |
| Venue Rental 10% | Lighting & Sound 5% |
| Tipping 1% | Photo & Video 6% |
| Cake 4% | Printed Materials 2% |
| Transportation 2% | Hair & Makeup 2% |
| Dress 2 % | Accessories 1 % |
| Planning 10% | Misc. 2% |
Now take your budget and multiply it by each item on the list. This will help you decide where to take money from if the photographer you want to hire is more important to the both of you than catering. For example: Your wedding budget is $25,000. Take $25,000 and multiply it by .30. This gives you a budget of $7,500 for total food costs, which is about $50 a person for a guest list of 150 people.
Now you do it!
Budget $ _____________________
Breakdown by Budget Amount:
| $ | Food & Beverage 30% | $ | Flowers & Décor 7% |
| $ | Extra Cushion 3% | $ | Entertainment 5% |
| $ | Venue Rental 10% | $ | Lighting & Sound 5% |
| $ | Tipping 1% | $ | Photo & Video 6% |
| $ | Cake 4% | $ | Printed Materials 4% |
| $ | Transportation 2% | $ | Hair & Makeup 2% |
| $ | Dress & Tuxedo 8 % | $ | Accessories 1 % |
| $ | Planning/ Set & Strike 10% | $ | Misc. 2% |
Just by using this simple chart you can decide and know how much you can spend per wedding item and know what is most important to you. Then you can stop asking yourself, “How can I maximize my budget to work for me, not against me?” Just to stick to the budget sheet and the wedding you’ve always wanted won’t be too far out of reach!