How to budget when you and your fiancé are just paying!?

The biggest thing to worry about will be your guest list. More people = more food/drinks = bigger venue = more money. My FH and I are also paying for things ourselves, and we sat down and made a rough guest list. After we came up with rough numbers, we budgeted how much we were willing to spend on a venue and catering. That's going to be the biggest expense - we had to factor in catering and the venue set up. Our venue thankfully includes catering and most of the set up, which was included in the cost. But start with your guest list and decide how big or small you want to go. Congrats and good luck!

You and your fiancé should agree on an overall budget, whether it's $1,000, $5,000, $20,000, whatever you deem appropriate to spend in total. Calculate how much both of you can afford to put aside for the wedding per paycheck or per month, and that should give you an approximate time period on when the earliest you can afford your wedding will be. The biggest thing to book in advance would be the venue (thus, likely, the biggest deposit to put down) so that should factor in as well. That will get you started on the right path.

Additionally, PP is definitely correct that the best way to reduce the price you're going to end up paying is to cut down your guest list. The most cost effective weddings have a small number of guests invited.

I had to put aside a huge chunk of my paycheck every month for almost 2 years. But it’s all over now so I can get back to my regular financial goals.

Just start saving. I'd look at your income/bills and how much discretionary cash you have to save. Then come up with a budget based on your savings and go from there. Start putting something away immediately as you will have to put a pretty hefty deposit down on your venue. The other things haven't been too bad for us. Most have been $500 or less up front and the rest is due a month-two weeks out from the wedding. We have all deposits payed as of now and we're just putting money in the savings account until October

Definitely save the money before you book the wedding. If you put down deposits thinking you'll have the money later, and something happens you can be out a lot.

We started wedding planning Feb 2018 for a October 19, 2019 wedding. We put the deposit on the Ceremony first and then put some more with our taxes. Then, put a deposit down on the reception, cabin, photographer and photo booth. Every paycheck we made a payment. We was pretty much done by June/ July 2019. The only thing we added next was the sodas, beer and wine. We put up $660 for that and once that was gone it went into a cash bar we got $300 back because they didn't drink that much, the guest either bought alcoholic drinks or brought theirs in.

My FH and I are paying for everything and we are early teachers, so not bringing home a lot of money. We picked a date, which gave us just shy of 2.5 year engagement, figured out how much we could put aside each month, and that total was our budget. We have the money moving to our savings accounts automatically so it isn't accidentally spent and then transfer money as needed to pay for things. So far working well and under budget!

My FH and I are in the same boat, we're paying for everything. We've had to put most of our deposits on credit cards and then pay those off while we save what we can from every paycheck to make final payments! We've come up with a budget spreadsheet in excel to keep track and plan what to save when and what to pay when, hope this helps!