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?