Budget Setting!!

I would say a good place to start is looking at what things cost on average for your area (WeddingWire has a pretty good thorough guide) and decide how your expectations match up. You deserve to have an amazing and special day, but it is only one day after all - consider what's most realistic and reasonable for you as a couple given your income, debts, and financial goals. Personally I'm trying to do mine on a moderate budget, splurging on a few things that are important to us and saving money where we can, and I think it's going to be lovely Best of luck!

View Quoted Comment Thank you! This is a great starting point☺️

Agreed with above. And over estimated just a little for unexpected expenses. Often times things come up that you didn’t expect or consider (: good luck! And happy planning!!!(:

I just started looking. venues/travel/food/etc. then I talked to my family to see what they would be willing to help with. It’s actually coming along pretty naturally. I am charging a lot of the deposits so I get points and then setting up a budget so we go into our big day debt free !

View Quoted Comment I wouldn’t have even thought of that! Thanks so much!

Our parents offered to cover a few of the vendors for us, so once we had that all written down, we figured out how much we could save each month leading up to the wedding. That was pretty much our budget. From each paycheck, we figured how much we could comfortably put away for the wedding after we took care of bills, gas, groceries, and still having some emergency money too (which we needed, a few times).

Never spend more than you can afford! We were not comfortable taking out a loan (shouldn't start marriage with more debt anyhow) and we had the wedding we could afford based on what we could save!

Also make sure you account for tips for all of the vendors! We didn't consider this until the wedding was almost here and that was quite a bit of money we forgot about and had to fork out!

Don't look at anything until you know what you can afford. This keeps expectations realistic and keeps you from falling in love with things you cannot pay for, like expensive dresses, expensive venues, etc. Budget will also help you determine how many people you can afford to invite.

View Quoted Comment I would have never thought about tips! Thank you so much 🙏🏻

First we decided how much we were comfortable spending out of our current savings. Then we figured out how much we could realistically save each month and multiplied it by the number of months until the wedding.

I feel like I put out an arbitrary number in terms of this is what I'm willing to spend ahaha and then when we made a guest list and went venue hunting that's when we raised the budget. Things will cost more than you expect sometimes

Our initial budget was an upfront cash gift from my mom + what my hubby & I could comfortably save each month for 15 months (time til our wedding month). We opened a joint checking account just for our wedding.

We created a spreadsheet of major costs (site fee, F&B, photographer, decor) and estimated costs for each based on The Knot’s U.S. budget breakdown but adjusted for our budget. Once we knew actual costs, we’d update that line item in our spreadsheet.

Wedding planning forces you to get creative! Everything costs more than you think!!! We way under-estimated wedding venue fees & F&B costs in Napa; the only way we could get that location to work was by having it off-season, on a weekday—saved over 50% on fees! Good luck. 🍀

We started out by pricing the cost of exactly what we wanted-down to the cent. We then figured out what we were willing to spend and just cut from there.

Congratulations to you and your fiancé Savannah! (I love that name btw lol) my fiancé and I thought about when we'd like to get married first, and then looked at our everyday budgets and what we would be able to save by that time (deadline is one or two months before the wedding when final deposits are due). Being Christian, it was important to us that we got married as soon as we could, so how much we realistically could save in that time frame helped steer our budget decision. We also looked at money we had coming in from parents and other family members (we're very blessed!) to round things out. We are having a moderately priced wedding ($20k for just under 200 guests) which, in the Chicago area, is a feat in and of itself. My fiancé and I decided what was important to us and looked for things within that budget. We are honest with ourselves in what we can and can't afford, and having a long engagement or going into debt for the wedding were not things we wanted to do. As far as what's included besides the ceremony and reception, attire & beauty, transportation, rehearsal dinner, welcome bags, etc. we also included our wedding rings and honeymoon flights. The rest of the honeymoon we are funding separately. Best of everything to you and future hubby!

What I did was made a list of all monthly expenses for FH and I. I also accounted for emergency money and spending money for both of us. I then took what was left and multiplied that by how many months I had left until my wedding (not counting the month of my wedding). That was my budget lol

Our parents gave us a set amount, and we went off of that. The most important thing is that you don’t go into debt and don’t overspend. Weddings are wonderful, but in my opinion there is no reason to go into debt over one day.

I used the wedding wire app, and looked through what venues and vendors charged in my area. Then we decided what was a must have for our wedding and what we could do without. From there, we had a general idea of what we will be spending.

Our budget keeps dropping...started at 5K, then went to 3k...and not it's just 1,500. Food takes up about 450 of that...then drinks...his tux...goes fast. I'd say you two should sit down and figure out the things that matter most to you to have

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much!
we are a military family so we move around a lot so I think our biggest fear is going to be finding a location that is centrally located so family and friends can attend!!

We asked both sets of parents how much, if any, they would be willing to contribute. Once mine and FH's parents told us how much they would give us, we started researching the average cost of venues and vendors to see what we would realistically be looking at spending for the type of wedding we wanted to have. Then we made a plan to set aside and/or save money to pay the difference.

View Quoted Comment I keep forgetting about asking our parents, I have no idea how I can eve start that conversation!

View Quoted Comment

I went to my parents and basically asked if they would be willing to help. They said yes and asked how much I needed. I honestly had no idea what to say because I had not really done much research at that time. So I would suggest maybe doing research before speaking with them. That way, if they want an estimate of how much things cost, you will be able to tell them. My parents and my future in laws ended up going in half. So we are very lucky with that. So I would definitely ask because you never know!