Setting a Wedding Budget: Part Three

So, you’ve determined your overall budget, found your vendors, and figured out how much of that budget you can allocate to each. Now you need to start putting down deposits, tracking payments, and managing to those budgets you set!

Tracking your spending through the wedding planning process is the key to keeping your sanity in check. It may not come naturally to you to be this meticulous about where your money goes, to the dollar, but doing due diligence here actually allows you flexibility in the long run.

The first step is to create a spreadsheet workbook that lists all your vendors down a column. Then, you’ll add rows for Budget, Actual Proposed / Contract Cost, Deposit, Payment 2, Final Payment etc. and Payment Dates (Due Dates and Actual Paid Dates). You can even add columns for Who Paid and Payment Method, in case you’re splitting these costs with others or paying with combination of checks and credit cards.

When you sign a contract with a vendor, you’ll put down a deposit right away. This ensures you have locked down the date with the vendor, and also the specifics outlined in your contract. It also acts as a safeguard for the vendor so that if you cancel after they’ve put in work and reserved that date for you, they aren’t completely at a loss, financially.

Next payments vary by vendor. With a caterer, you may put down a second payment, and then a final payment on your wedding day. With others, you may just have the deposit and then the final payment. However it plays out, make sure you have logged the due dates for these payments, and add them to your calendar.

You may find that when all is said and done, the final amount you pay a vendor may be more or less than what you originally thought from your contract. This is where staying flexible comes in. When you’re tracking your payments, you know how much above or below your budget you are at any given time. This allows you to, if necessary, add an extra hour to your musician contract or invite an extra 20 people to your wedding later on. If you know exactly where things stand, financially, you’ll know just what you can or cannot afford.

Once your big day has past, you can refer back to this document one last time to shore up any remaining payments due that didn’t get taken care of the day of. You’ll also be able to see how much leftover you have in your budget… and maybe apply that to some fruity honeymoon cocktails?

Embellished Shoes

These shoe options are anything but simple. Gorgeous, intricate embellishments make an unforgettable statement:

Source: neimanmarcus.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Source: modaoperandi.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Source: bergdorfgoodman.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Sometimes more is actually more!

Setting a Wedding Budget: Part Two

Once you have your big-picture budget figure in mind for your wedding, it's important that you break down how much you want to spend in each category. Unless you're intimately familiar with the wedding planning industry or have been married before, it's hard to begin to know what different things cost and how much you should plan to spend on them within your overall budget figure.


Below is a starting point of the percent of your total budget you can expect to spend on these major vendor categories. It's a starting point because ultimately how you manage your total budget is up to you and based on YOUR priorities. If you're a foodie, and having stellar food offerings at your reception is a number one priority for you, you may choose to spend more in this category and cut back in others. So, the first question to ask yourself is "what's most important to me?". You can then adjust from there.

Percent of Budget by Vendors


Caterer: 40-50%
Food and Beverage is by far the biggest expense for your wedding.


Venue: 10-15%


Floral: 4-7%


Photography: 4-7%


Music: 7-10%


Of course, there are many other categories that will take up smaller percentages of your budget: paper/stationery, wedding planning/design, your dress and accessories, the cake, etc. Again, depending on what's important to you, and what you are planning to include on your big day, you'll want to get a starting number in mind for each as you begin to request proposals from vendors.


Being Realistic


Since most brides do not know what to expect about vendor costs going into wedding planning, it's common to not understand why certain things cost as much as they do. Let's take catering, for an example. How does the cost of a wedding caterer break down? Here's a hint: it's not just the cost of food you're paying for!

• Food and Beverage: This is usually at a cost per person.
• Equipment: Anything the caterer needs to prep and serve.
• Staff: The people - from cooks to coordinators - that need to be on hand to execute.
• Delivery Charge: Covers the cost of getting everything to your event venue.

Obviously, a good vendor is going to try to work within your budget parameters. However, it's important to remember that different vendors offer different levels of service, and you really do get what you pay for. There's only so much cost cutting you can try to do with a vendor before you're going to be in a situation where the quality of service might be compromised. They can't work like that, and you wouldn't want that anyway!

Next Up: Part 3: Keeping Track of Expenses & Being Flexible


Missed Part 1? Read it here.

Muted Floral

I love the soft, hazy romanticism of these bouquets. The subtle, slightly muted palate of blush, ivory, light blue and sage tones has such an ethereal feel:

Nancy Krause Floral Design

Fleur

Setting a Wedding Budget: Part One

Congratulations – you’re getting married! Now is the time to get down to business actually planning this wedding thing, right? Unfortunately, there has to be a practical side to tying the knot, and most of the planning process revolves around one nasty word: budget.

Whether you’re someone who thrives on financial planning in your everyday life or not, having a wedding budget determined in advance of planning is essential. There are multiple components of this budget as well – it’s not just a big lump sum figure. You can start out that way, but then you’re going to have to drill down into different categories and determine just how much you’re willing to spend on each. It can certainly be overwhelming.

So, as our inaugural post here on the Revelry Alliance blog, we’ll kick things off with Part 1 of setting your wedding budget. In the coming weeks we’ll follow up with more parts covering specifics of the budget and how to manage your wedding costs throughout the planning process.

First up? The overall budget figure and how you’ll fund the biggest day of your life so far!

source: bridalbuds

So, how much will you spend on your wedding?

The average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is over $27,000. This figure can be higher (or much higher) in big cities, so if you live in a place like Chicago or New York, that’s important to keep in mind. However, more important than averages and statistics is what you can afford.

The first question to ask is who will be contributing, financially, to your wedding. Is it just you and your groom-to-be? Will your parents be picking up the tab? His parents? A combination of you and them? If there are any other people involved between you and your future spouse, this is a discussion you must have upfront before even beginning to day-dream about locations and dresses.

Once you know who else will be contributing, and how much, you can determine what you’ll be paying, if anything, out of your own pocket. The amount from others may be sufficient, or you may want to supplement with your own funds. Either way, combine the two figures to understand what your total lump sum is, and then go from there.

An important thing to keep in mind when accepting money from others is how you’ll manage payments to vendors under this scenario. As the bride, you’ll likely be doing the majority of the interaction with vendors. Will you pay them and get reimbursed from your parents or whomever? Or will you have them write checks or provide credit card info when appropriate?

Finally, if your parents (or others) are contributing, be sure to find out how much they want to be involved in the planning process. Unfortunately, when you have someone else paying for part or all of your wedding, you have to be ready to negotiate and listen to their opinions. It’s your day, but it’s also their money, so be sure to include them and be open to respectful discussions.

Next Up: Part 2: Budgets by Vendors – Your Priorities and Being Realistic