Wedding budgeting!! Maybe not the most glamorous aspect to get you to that big day, but it will determine what kind of wedding you’ll be able to put on for yourself and your guests. When you know your budget you’ll be able to stay organized, prioritize your top vendors, and prevent overspending. Here are a few helpful tips to create a wedding budget so you can start dreaming up your perfect day!

1. Overall Budget

Have a sit down with your fiancé and decide what that final number will be. What can the two of you afford to put aside and will your family be contributing at all? Make sure you both feel comfortable with the final cost.

2. Create a Spreadsheet

You can’t keep stay within your budget if you don’t track your expenses. Use Google Sheets to create an easily shareable spreadsheet to keep track of everything. Create Columns with the estimated cost, actual cost, and notes.

3. Prioritize

What are the most important aspects of your wedding day? Those are the things you want to set aside the most money for! Do you want a fancy wedding dress and wedding rings? Is the venue important to you? Perhaps you’re planning to elope in the mountains or have an intimate gathering at your grandparents’ home? Are you planning to have your wedding documented by a professional photographer? Write a list of the things that are the most important to you and allocate more funds to those things over others.

4. List Everything

Create a list of all of the different things you’d like to incorporate into your wedding and start assigning funds to each one. These might include:

A Venue

Photography

Videography

Photo Booth

Wedding Dress + Veil, Reception Dress, Getaway Dress & Wedding Tux/Suit

Rings

Florals

Catering

Decor

DJ

Transportation

Invitations

Wedding Favors

Marriage License

5. Leave wiggle room for unexpected expenses

It may turn out that, actually you want a larger package from your vendors then you originally thought an you have extra funds to upgrade. It could be that extra costs pop up here and there. The rule of thumb is to set aside 5-10% of your overall budget to those surprise costs.

6. Stick to your budget

Finally, once you’ve created your budget, stick to it! You can breath easy knowing that you have all the details ironed out, and that you’ll be starting your marriage off on the right foot while staying within your means.

While budgeting and planning a wedding can be stressful, the more you prepare, the less anxious you’ll be. And try not to forget, the end result is that you’re marrying the love of your life!! That thought alone will help you from getting bogged down by wedding-planning stress.

Yay! So excited for you!

xoxo,

Katrina