Wedding Costs: 4 Important Pieces of Your Wedding Budget

This is probably not news to anyone, but weddings are not cheap. Average weddings cost $25,000 in the United States. Your wedding is something that you have dreamed about since you were a kid. You may have even played “wedding day” with your neighbor friends when you were in elementary school! Who would you be lucky enough to get married to, how would they propose, and what would your wedding day look like? Weddings are so much fun and exciting, except for the part of figuring out that pesky wedding budget.

 

1. Figure Out Your Budget and Who Is Contributing

Having a budget doesn’t mean your wedding is cheap, it means understanding all of the costs involved and planning around that. Before you start on the fun stuff, like contacting wedding vendors and designing your day, you need to sit down with your fiancé and any other contributing parties to plan out your budget. As we said before, weddings are not cheap, but they are not cheap for a few different reasons. Find an amount that you are comfortable spending and that won’t break the bank and put you in debt. Maybe your fiancé’s parents are willing to pay for your luncheon/breakfast, and the suits for the guys, and your grandma may have always wanted to pay for your wedding dress! These are the kinds of things you don’t know until you sit down to discuss it.

2. What Are Your Priorities?

After you have your wedding budget set, you and your fiancé need to determine what your priorities are. These are the things that you care about the most and that you want the majority of your budget to go towards. For us, our wedding photography and videography were the most important and so that is where we put most of our wedding budget. We knew that the photos and the video would be the two things that lasted the longest after the wedding day. Those were the two things that could capture us, our personalities, and our memories with family and friends.

When you are figuring out your wedding budget here are some of the main wedding vendors you need to budget for:

– Venue
– Photographer
– Videographer
– Florist
– Cake Artist
– Rentals (decor, tables, chairs, etc.)
– Hair and Makeup Artist
– Entertainment

3. Ways to Trim Your Costs

Here are a few ways that you can cut some costs and prioritize when it comes to your wedding budget:

1. Have your guests contribute to a honeymoon fund if you already have enough items for your home together. Even if you would like traditional wedding presents, it’s a great idea to have some kind of piggy bank or box at the wedding that is for a honeymoon fund. You never know who may contribute something.
2. Down-size your bridal party to a manageable number of most important people. Weddings with 10 or more bridesmaids and groomsmen are great, but also very expensive when you consider the extra flowers, etc. that they will require.
3. Make your own wedding favors. Some of the cutest and most unique wedding favors we’ve seen have been created by friends and family! This is one of the easiest ways to save on wedding costs.
4. Travel for your honeymoon at an ideal time of year. If you are getting married in the summer, chances are it is prime tourist season wherever you want to go. If possible, wait and take your honeymoon trip in the fall or winter when school is in session! You’ll get the best rates and the smallest crowds. We did this and we cannot recommend it enough!
5. Have a breakfast or brunch instead of a luncheon. It’s usually cheaper than a luncheon or dinner!

 

4. Weddings Are a Lot of Work!

One of the biggest reasons that weddings are more expensive is because they are a lot of work! Remember that when you meet with and consider the vendors that you want to hire for your wedding day. Do your research, and meet with each of your vendors before you book them. You want a team of people that you “click” with and that you trust. Also remember, that vendor’s prices are what they are for a reason. Wedding vendors have experience and education in their field, and if you do your research and find the right vendors, you will get what you pay for.

 

Budgeting for your wedding isn’t the most glamorous part of the wedding planning process, but it is one of the most important! Use these tips to help you as you plan your wedding, and watch for more budgeting blog posts in the future! To see more wedding planning posts, click here!

Are you getting married soon? We’d love to have you join our Wedding Planning Community on Facebook! It’s a place where you can ask for help and advice planning your wedding and get answers from us, trusted wedding professionals, and also our past brides and grooms!