Excited, but can't determine a budget!

That’s hard for us to tell you what your budget should be. So I think what would be the most helpful is getting some quotes for stuff and then you could see the average cost overall of everything. Or if you have an amount you and your spouse are comfortable with.
Mine was $15k and we split it in half so that was something we were comfortable with spending. Initially I had a budget of $10k more preferably but for the guest list we had and kind of wedding we wanted we realized we had to spend more.

Congratulations and happy planning! I think realistically you could spend 50-150 per plate. My food cost is a bit on the higher end, I think. For 24 people food and bar, I am looking at about $3700. Of course we need to pay for DJ, flowers, decorations ect. That’s another $3000 ish. I splurged on my dress and spent $2500 (worth every penny for the comfort alone!) 300-500 on thank you gifts (DW). Still need decorations, accessories and my fiancé’s suit. the venue you choose will play a huge roll on your overall budget.

Your budget is what you & your spouse-to-be can afford (and hopefully save before the wedding).


My hubby & I opened a joint account and each put in the same amount every month... for 15 months before our wedding. That, plus an upfront cash gift from my mom, was our initial budget (we went WAY over due to under-estimating and intentional choices).

You need:

- Church

- Wedding Dress

- Celebrating Location

- Invitations

- Catering

- Decoration

- Flowers

- Wedding Cake

- Wedding favors

- Material Costs

The planning should start about 1 year before Wedding. Make a list with all things you need and want and write down what who will do, what´s left, and what it will cost.

First option is to write down how much money you want to spent the second option is you how write down how your wedding have to be without looking on the numbers.

I would expect with 7000$

If you have the extra funds, I'd get a videographer😊

Our guest list is around 25-30 and so far our budget has stayed just under 10k for everything. Now it’s growing slightly because we are planning an elopement in addition lol.

We started off with ideally what we wanted to afford for each thing, and prioritized what was most important us. We did this and our budget grew based on what things actually cost. I would reach out to specific vendors and find out what the cost is so you have some idea.

For catering, it came to around $35 per plate (some meals are more). Our reception venue does their own catering so they only charge $250-300 to reserve our event space. We were looking at restaurants too with private dining areas, etc. so that could be an option as well for 40 PP. It’s all going to depend on where you live and are having the wedding too. We hired our photographer for 4-5 hours since it is a smaller wedding. The reception is really going to be a dinner party so I’m only concerned about her getting photos of the details and the space as we’re putting a lot of work into that. That’s going to cost a minimum of $1500 with the engagement session included. We’re not having a DJ since it is just a dinner party...we’re going to play a playlist in the background.

I hope that gives you some ideas...and hopefully that helped a little lol

What about you food selection? Besides everything else sounds good. You can do a venue that charges per HR not per person

There are checklists on WW and The Knot that list tons of different things. I would look at what certain services cost in your area to get an idea of the price. Then, think about how much you and your future spouse can realistically save and want to spend for the wedding. Also DIY is not always cheaper. Ann's Bridal Bargain has invitations for 99 cents and save the dates for 89 cents, and they're usually running 20-30% off sales on top of that. Vistaprint, Zazzle, and Shutterfly are also cheap options for that stuff. The biggest expense is the food and drinks. For most people, that takes up a big chunk of their budget.

For us, my FH’s parents told us almost immediately how much they were going to give towards the wedding. My side is a little different because my dad is currently unemployed and has been since before the pandemic and my mom was having a hard time financially because my parents are divorced and both still adjusting to living on their own. So we took the amount my FH’s parents were giving us and decided that we would assume that’s all the help we would get. Then we started getting quotes from venues and I made a spreadsheet of what they included for their price and what we’d have to pay extra for. Once we had a good idea of how much places were charging and what they included in their price, we determined how much we were comfortable spending and things started falling into place. One of the plus sides of this pandemic has been the stimulus checks we received and banked as well as the extra $600 unemployment for me because we are paying our bills and still able to put some money away for our future expenses for the wedding. You just have to figure out what you would be comfortable spending and break down pricing from there.

To keep it as simple as possible. I think the best way you should start off is first determine what date you’d like to get married. At that point think about a realistic goal you and your fiancé can meet each month to save. Can you both put 1000 bucks aside, 1500 aside, 1200 aside? Depending off of that, multiply that by how many months you have up until the date that you’d like to get married. Keep in mind most venues will ask for a final payment the month prior. Based off of the amount that you know you can save, that should determine your budget.



Also, I highly suggest you check out fiftyflowers.com for floral. I am literally obsessed with this site.

Thank you all! We have an idea now on how much approx. we will have to put towards the wedding. Now to make a spreadsheet to keep us organized!

View Quoted Comment Thank you! If you have any other advice I would much apprecitate the advice

View Quoted Comment No problem! I’ll DM you some ideas. Glad to help

Wedding Wire has a cost calculator where you can look up averages for your area for each type of vendor. Still, you should look at your finances and figure out what you're willing to spend. Work all of the things you need into the amount of money that you have. That way, you can get an idea of where you might need to cut back. Also discuss priorities with your future spouse. What are the most important parts of the day for you? If it's photography, for instance, you might want to spend a little more in that area than in something that you don't care about nearly as much.