Hey there, do you want to know the best way to figure out your wedding budget? In the wedding planning process, creating and sticking to a budget is an absolute must. Not only will your budget keep you from overspending, but also you’ll be able to prioritize your time, energy and money better.
One of the most difficult challenges when it comes to wedding budgets is determining how to create it. You may be asking yourself how much you should account for each event or vendor. If this is what you are hoping to figure out, you’re in luck.
Having just gotten married last year, and having a background in Finance, I am sharing my secret to determining the perfect wedding budget breakdown for any lump sum. I’ve been there, and know how stressful wedding planning can be. By creating a crystal clear budget though, you’ll save yourself so much worry and headache..
After going through this post, you are going to feel so much more confident in your ability to create your own personal wedding budget breakdown. Your wedding is going to be so beautiful, I can’t wait for you! If you stick to this budget rigidly, you’ll have peace of mind. I’ll be going over wedding budget, wedding budget breakdown, wedding budget calculator, wedding budget template, and more!
This post is all about wedding budget breakdowns and how you can create the perfect one for your own as you begin to plan your wedding.
Wedding Budget Breakdown Creation Secret
Create Your Vision
To begin this whole journey of wedding planning and budget creation is to figure out what you want. You’ll have a hard time figuring out your total spend if you don’t have a vision of what your wedding will look like.
The best way to do this is by going on Pinterest and saving whatever you love. Consider creating boards for each part of your wedding vision (think wedding cake, wedding theme, reception decor, etc).
Once you have an idea of how you want your wedding to look, you’re going to be much more prepared to create your total spend breakdown.
Little tip here: have fun with the vision creation! Don’t worry about the cost at this point in the process. It’ll help you to just enjoy and save any inspiration photos that you love.
Determine Your Priorities
Ok, now that you have an idea of how you want your wedding to look, you’re ready for the next step. Determine your priorities! What does that mean, and what does that look like? I’ll tell ya!
You need to know what parts of your wedding are more important to you than others. Where do you want to spend the majority of your time, energy, and/or funds because you care more about it?
Here is an example: You care more about your wedding dress than your stationery. That means that you will dedicate more time, energy, and money on your dress (and finding it) than you will on your stationery. Simple, but ya know, just trying to be crystal clear.
This is super important. Create a list of EVERYTHING that you expect to spend money on. I put this list in my Google Sheet I’d created for my wedding budget. Now, in the next column, list numbers with 1 being most important on down. These will likely be out of order since the list was brain dumped before.
Now sort the number column in descending order so that you can see your prioritized list! Once you’ve done this, you’re ready to move forward to the next step.
Decide Your Total Spend Amount
Before you assign any dollar amount to your various wedding expenses, you will need to come up with your total, all-in, cannot go over this amount, number.
Be realistic with this amount! If you are paying for the wedding yourself, don’t overextend. If you have help to pay for your wedding, have a conversation about how much you will receive.
One thing to keep in mind is that more money does not mean more beautiful, nice, or classy. That is totally false. You can spend tons of money on total garbage.
Don’t go into debt to pay for your wedding. It simply isn’t worth it. You will have other stresses with newlywed life, the last thing you need is debt looming over your head from your wedding.
In my experience, having a dollar limit that feels low will help you to get the best deals that’ll give you the best bang for your buck.
You’re going to want to set this top dollar amount before moving forward. This will help you to stay organized and keep you from overspending.
Realistically Allocate Funds
Now that you have your total budget amount, you can go through your prioritized list and allocate amounts for each item.
Just because one item is prioritized over another, doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll spend more on it. For example, your cake may be prioritized over your photographer, but the average cost of a cake may be lower than the photographer. Knowing this, be realistic about where you splurge and where you save.
Do some research on how much each item will cost in the area where you are getting married. You can even reach out to get quotes from vendors or shoppes you like. This will help give you a realistic idea of how much you can expect to spend.
As you go through each item, write down notes and keep a running total. Be strict with yourself and cut lower prioritized items that don’t fit into your budget.
YOU DID IT! Your wedding budget breakdown has been created!
Below is a link to a budget calculator that will help you see how much you can expect to spend.
*pro-tip: expect a to spend a little bit more on miscellaneous random emergency expenses, give yourself a buffer
*link to budget calculator site
Track Everything and Stay Accountable
You did it!! You created your budget!
Now is the tricky part.. staying organized and accountable to that budget. It’s one thing to write this all out on paper, but when the spending starts, it can be hard to stop.
Be sure to share this budget with someone who can help you stay accountable, and track everything. That means keep all your receipts, record your actual spend, and adjust your budget as needed.
Good luck planning!
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