Setting Your Wedding Budget
Most brides are understandably emotional about the way they envisage their wedding day and the idea that it is a "once in a lifetime" day, could lead to overspending. Below are some tips on how to gain control of your wedding budget:
Create a list of priorities. Write down what is most important to you, such as the catering or a designer wedding gown, the flowers, a great photographer. Those categories are going to be where you'll devote a greater part of your available budget, since they are vital parts of your dream wedding. When you find ways to save on other facets of your plans, you can shift some of your extra money to these areas.
Research what things cost. Find out from friends about what they spent, if they had a wedding coordinator, or if they made some bad choices.Their suggestions will help you, and referrals are valuable! There are a wide range of deals and packages available depending on the time of year and the reception venue where the wedding is held. Invest the time and get a feel for what the going rates are.
Use a chart or spreadsheet to create your own personal wedding budget. List all of the elements you'll need, such as catering, bar, wedding cake, photography, and so on. Next to each item, create a code for where they rank on your priority list. It might be 5-stars for your top priorities, and 2-stars for things you want but will get at lower prices, 1-star for things you can do without. You can also download our free wedding cost calculator here.
Next, talk to your parents to decide who is going to pay for what, which you can only discuss realistically when you've done your homework. Parents need to know what they're getting into so that they themselves can budget. Divide up the items on your wedding budget according to who is taking on which costs, and then find ways to get the best product or service for less.
Be flexible. Things are going to cost more than you expect, and there are almost always additional things that will get added to your wedding plans as you go along. Make it a game, not a burden. Your wedding budget may be restrictive, but always look for the positives, and keep your perspective that your wedding day is about joining your lives together forever, not purely about the money. If you have to boost your budget total, finding that your original estimates were just too low and unrealistic, don't consider it a failure. Do your best to keep expenses down, but by nature, weddings are expensive.
Don't count on future wedding gifts. Too many brides and grooms get themselves in trouble when they spend lavishly on their weddings, expecting to make it up through wedding gifts of cash. Never count on future gifts in order to raise your wedding budget. It almost never pans out.
At StoneBridge, we give you a very realistic idea up-front, regarding the total cost of your wedding, saving you time and effort. We will always be open and honest, and we always go the extra mile - that's just what we do!