The Budget

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There are few things in life as stressful as money. We all needed it. We all work for it. Money is at the core of living our lives in the way that we deem fit. Your budget should be your starting point when planning a wedding.

Here is where I would like to stress that BEFORE you sit down to work out Wedding Monies, you two NEED to have a frank discussion about your individual finances as a whole and how you want to handle the costs of the wedding together. Money is going to be one of the core pillars upon which your marriage will balance, and it is VITAL that you are both on the same page. From money mistakes and money attitudes to bank accounts and credit cards and scores, if you’re going to be partners for life in all things, you should be able to have a frank dialog and be unafraid to share (conversation-wise) everything. (More on this topic HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.) Now, I'm not a financial adviser, nor a marriage counselor, only a married lady who's been there and done that :)

When planning a wedding budget there are a hundred ways to delegate your funds. Decide together what is most important to you when you envision your special day. For me and my Mr. Million, it was the food and the pictures. We wanted everyone to leave satisfied and stuffed to the brim with delectable goodness and we wanted to walk away with beautiful photos that captured all the wonderful moments of the day. Working this out together will make sure that your day has all the elements that will make it everything you’ve BOTH dreamed of.

Whatever number you come up with, next is to break it down into sections. The typical breakdown looks like this:

4% Fashion	6% Flowers
5% Ceremony	2% Décor
40% Reception	2% Lighting
4% Rentals	2% Hair & Make Up
5% Music	2% Transportation
4% Bakery	5% Extras
5% Stationary	2% Rehearsal Dinner
12% Photography

There are different variations of this breakdown and you’ll want to adjust your numbers so those items that are more important to you have a larger budget. There are many websites out there that offer free budget trackers. Find a few HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Work out how much you can save, or contribute from your current savings, within your engagement period.  You’ll also want to explore any other sources that might also contribute to your wedding fund, such as your parents. For example, if you decide you can tuck away $1000 a month, plus an added contribution of $3000 from all sets of parents, in one year you can count on $15000 to spend on your event. (There is an argument for the use of credit cards here, but that will be explored in a different post.) Once you settle on a number, it’s important to stick to it. Not adhering to your budget is one of the top ways to sabotage your wedding.