How to budget for your wedding
Weddings have a terrible reputation for being mega expensive and that's because well, they are, or they can be... but they don't have to be!
You might have your sights set on the gorgeous Manor House that organises the whole event for you, and if you can afford it that's great! However, if you have to be a bit more careful with your money, then you have to get a bit creative!
We have a great way to help you budget for your wedding and still have the day of your dreams. Now, I’m going to be straight with you - this isn’t some crazy, revolutionary idea that no-ones ever done before! But you may not have thought of it yet, and I promise, it does work.
Prioritise your wedding wants
This is how you are going to plan your dream wedding on a budget.
Both you and your partner write a list of the top 3 or 5 things that are most important to you for your wedding. What are the things that you would really regret if you didn't have?
Those elements that make it onto your lists, are the things you agree you won't scrimp on because they are special to you, they will make you happy and create the wedding of your dreams.
The things that don't make the list are clearly not so important to you and your overall experience of your wedding day. However, this method of budgeting does not disregard these things - you don't have to go without - it just simply helps you prioritise.
Let’s break it down further
Here are a couple of examples of parts of a wedding that may be 100% non-negotiable for you, or perhaps, you’re not so bothered?
Invitations - when you receive wedding invitations from your friends, are you in awe of the perfectly crafted stationery or do you not really pay much attention to it? Do you feel having the top of the range invitations makes the event that little more special and you MUST get loads of amazing photos of them with the details? If so, add it to your list. If the invitations don't make it onto either of your lists, don't spend so much money on them - go for a different, perhaps even unique idea that doesn't cost so much. I promise, you won't miss it.
Do you LOVE cake? Perhaps the cake is something that needs to be extra special for you. Remember, if it doesn't make it onto the list, it doesn't mean you won't have a wedding cake at all! It just means you won't spend quite so much on it as the 'average' wedding couple might. If cake is your thing, you might want to splash out on a custom designed, highly decorated sweet treat - go for it! Otherwise, why not see if a friend can bake up a delicious cake, or opt for a slightly more simple design to save some pennies.
Let me give you a real life example.
This is exactly the approach Jason and I took when we were organising our wedding. At the top of the list for Jason was the music and lighting for the evening disco. If the sound quality was terrible, it would literally ruin his day so this had to be prioritised. For me, the chairs for the wedding breakfast were a big deal. I don't know why - I don't have a chair fetish or anything! But the standard ones that came with the venue just didn't cut it for me and I knew if I walked into the room and saw them I would be pretty disappointed - so the chairs went on the list.
Flowers weren’t so important for either of us, and Jason suffers from hay-fever so we didn’t want the church covered in fresh flowers. In the end I had an artificial bouquet and Jason’s buttonhole was also fake. For some of you, this might sound like sacrilege but we don’t regret the decision because for us, the flowers weren’t going to make or break our wedding day.
This might not be the 'normal' budgeting advise for weddings but it worked for us and I know it can work for you. I hope it helps.
Written by Eleth Mageehan, (c) 2021, all rights reserved.
You’re new to planning a wedding so you ask Google what you need to know and there are lists of questions and advice that appear. We get it. Let’s debunk this myth…