CREATING A BUDGET FOR THE BIG DAY

So let’s talk money – it might easily be the most stressful part of wedding planning.

Every. Little. Thing. Adds Up.

It can be extremely overwhelming at first – but start by creating a spreadsheet. Excel will be your best friend & you can keep it very simple.

So, let's break it down.

One of the first things you want to do is find out how much money you are starting out with (maybe you’ve been saving money on the side, money is being provided by parents, etc.) You want to start with a very realistic and honest number.

Next, have a conversation with your partner about the items that are the most important to you – whether that be music, food, décor, outfits, etc.

A BIG part of the budget is the number of people attending. So at this point, you will want to come up with an approximate number of people you expect to attend your wedding.

Then the exciting part!! Start researching by reaching out to vendors for approximate costs. You will be able to get a general cost of each item depending on your location.

Now, you will start filling out your spreadsheet. Fill out all the budget columns with approximate numbers you are receiving from vendors.

Wedding Budget.xlsx

Download XLSX • 26KB

This is the point you can start figuring out what items you want to put more money into and items maybe you can take out that aren't as important to you & your partner.

For example – you could do an evite instead of a paper invitation to save money on stationary.

If your budget is over the amount of money you currently have set aside for the wedding – one of the best things my fiancé and I did was put $X.XX into a joint wedding account so we could reach our budget. It saved us from having that dreaded credit card debt at the end of the wedding!

It's overwhelming at first, but just remember - only you and your partner know what the day is supposed to look like, so if you go with less flowers or get your dress on sale - nobody knows!

Make this fun! Set up a date night with your partner & create the wedding budget over dinner or a few drinks!