If you need wedding budget ideas to help with your planning, this article is for you.
Are we saying that your budget will be finished by the end of this article? No. Are we saying you will feel better about wedding budget ideas and a sense of relief? Yes.
The challenges with planning your wedding budget are moving parts, unknown costs, and the cost of having a wedding.
Moving Parts
The number of moving parts in a wedding is staggering. You will likely have a different number of guests and possibly even a different budget than you start with.
Unknown Costs
The unknowns in wedding planning are typically what guests will and won’t be able to attend and any unforeseen circumstances that will arise during the process. This is why it’s important to negotiate. Lock in your prices as soon as you can. Ask if you can pay for any services ahead of time for a lower cost.
Wedding Costs
The basic cost of a wedding is high not only because of the actual cost but also because of the number of one-time costs. It’s always worth it, but you should be aware that the costs of a wedding are unusual compared to how you spend otherwise. Because of this, you will want to be even more prepared.
One of the most stressful parts of planning a wedding is planning the budget and coming up with ideas. When a person begins this process, it can be tough to know where to begin. This article provides a few effortless ideas to help get you started in a way that will save you time and effort.
It took me ten years of officiating weddings, participating in more, and finally getting married myself to create Wedistry, a tool to help with wedding planning. Throughout this time, I learned that we don’t need to spend all our time doing everything. If we set up our plan correctly, we will save time, effort, and stress.
The great thing about wedding planning is that it is always why we do it. When we think of wedding budget ideas, it’s more important than just saving money on our wedding. In particular, how we plan this budget sets the standard and tone for our future planning. By being careful in how we spend leading up to the wedding, we also strengthen our skills in communication, decision-making, and making adjustments that will help us throughout our marriage.
Wedding Budget Ideas
Decide on your number.
One of the most important things you can do when thinking about wedding budget ideas is to decide how much you can afford to spend initially. When you have decided on that number, try to reduce that by 10 to 20 percent to get a realistic idea of your goal, but also keep in mind that your actual cost could be 10 to 20 percent higher than your original number. Having a number in mind will help you to negotiate, plan, and communicate precisely what you need for each wedding cost.
Rank your Costs
As much as possible, write down your costs from greatest to least. This will help you tremendously to stay ahead in your planning. That doesn’t mean the most important item will be the most expensive, but it will help you know where to emphasize the budget.
Set your Budget Timeline
Figure out what you need and by when. For example, in other posts, we share that securing your venue and officiant as soon as possible is important. Then, you can move on to your vendors, design, and wedding invitations. Setting this timeline will help you save money because you won’t pay as many last-minute or inflated fees or deposits.
Save and Send your Deposits
Once you know your costs, it’s a good idea to put aside the amount you will need to reserve your venues and vendors. This will also save you money because you will be able to know that you have your venue and plan for the number of guests.
Rather than coming up with every single cost immediately, give yourself some grace and a range to work with. Instead, list the most expensive costs from greatest to least to give yourself an idea of how to plan.
Be Ready for Changes
It might sound simple, but one thing that we know will change during your wedding planning process is the cost of the wedding. This is because of the reasons we mentioned before, such as the moving target and things that affect the costs, such as an unknown number of guests. As much effort as you put into planning, things will likely change.
The best way to handle this is to be prepared by asking your vendors questions like your policy for no-shows or whether you have a range of costs for several guests. Other factors like the weather could change your cost if you were planning to walk for any part of your trip, but now you need to uber.com to your event locations, for example.
These wedding budget ideas are not meant to be a conclusive or exhaustive list, but we hope they help you get started!
The next step is to stop by our other posts and make sure you lock down your favorite venue and a few backups.
Hopefully, you are less stressed and excited to set up your wedding budget now.
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