Wedding BudgetI will relay tips here, but there are many budget calculators to be found online. If you haven't already signed up with them, I recommend using the one on: www.theknot.com First things first, the average wedding costs $20,400. How much can you afford to spend? Will you have help or are you paying for the wedding yourself? Even if your amount is much less than that, you can still have a wonderful wedding, so don't despair! You still need to know what you can afford, so figure out a number. And, please don't mortgage your future, for the wedding. It's supposed to be a fun party to celebrate a momentous life occasion, but it's not supposed to put you into enormous debt. Once you have an amount, realize that the bulk of your expenses will be on the following items: the reception, flowers, attire, music, and videography/photography. The reception itself will probably be almost half of the wedding budget - when you consider cost of the location, food, drinks, decorations, etc. that the reception usually entails. And, then there's your honeymoon, which can be a major expense too if you're paying for it yourselves and consider it as part of this same budget. Here is a list of items to consider as you plan a wedding budget. Feel free to add or subtract things. This is just to give you an idea. I recommend setting up an excel spreadsheet to keep track of different budget ideas, even if you use an online calculator: RECEPTION: Here you need to majorly consider the following things - The number of guests, the type of beverages, and the style of your wedding (the day of the week can also have an effect on cost - Saturdays tend to be the most expensive). The less guests, the less kinds of alcoholic beverages, and the less formal your wedding is, the cheaper you can expect this portion to be. On this part of the wedding budget, please break it down into, at the very least the following items: location, food (here the per person count comes in), beverages - alcoholic and non-alcoholic, coffee, cake, music, centerpieces, wedding favors, decorations, guest book, card box, and a tip for your servers. CEREMONY: Location, officiant, marriage license, wedding bands for the Bride and Groom, flowers for the Bride and Bridesmaids, decorations. ATTIRE: Wedding gown, Groom Tuxedo, and all pieces of the Bride and Groom's attire (from their shoes to the Bride's veil, garter, hair, and make-up). VIDEOGRAPHER AND PHOTOGRAPHER: Also consider that you may have to pay more to have pictures printed. INVITATIONS: Save The Dates, Invitations, Thank Yous, and postage. GIFTS: Bridesmaid and Groomsmen gifts, Ring Bearer and Flower Girl gifts, and gifts to parents. OTHER: Limousine, hotel, other travel, and expenses you haven't thought about yet. REHEARSAL DINNER: If nobody is throwing it for you, it is traditional to hold a rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, so you should keep that cost in mind. HONEYMOON: Cost of travel, hotel, food, activities. Then start doing your research! You can set limits on things like the cost of the dress, but things like location will be dependent on the ones you choose. So, do your homework as you enter in amounts. Your hope is that your wedding will follow your budget! Good luck starting your budget! Find a good online calculator and have it help you do the math. Do your research and it's a good idea to plan for at least 5% of your budget to be unexpected costs, so that you don't get too surprised with an added bill. Then, just stick to your budget!
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