Three Wedding Budget Tips

Wedding Budget Tips | 3 Tips To Plan Your Dream Wedding

Planning a wedding can be a really difficult and stressful process for couples. If you have never planned a wedding, you may not even know where to start! While there are a lot of things to consider, when planning your wedding, figuring out your budget is perhaps the most important. According to Cost of Wedding, the average wedding in 2018 came in at just under $25,000; and a single guest can add between $177-$216 to the total cost of your wedding! This is quite a bit of money to budget towards a wedding. No need to stress yourself out just yet! Here are three wedding budget tips that can get you started on planning your dream wedding.

Give Yourself A Lot Of Time To Plan

First and foremost, I would recommend giving yourself as much time to plan your wedding as possible. Planning your wedding should be an enjoyable experience and planning things on short notice will only add to the stress. I recommend setting a wedding date at least 9-12 months out. This should be plenty of time to figure out the type of wedding you want to have. And it will also give you plenty of time to book your most important vendors.

Certain vendors have different policies on deposits and spreading these payments out over time will be much easier to manage than booking everything all at once. Your wedding venue, as well as your Wedding Photographer should be at the top of your list 🙂 Not because I am bias – but because these are the two items on your checklist which may have a limited amount of dates available.

The further out you plan, the more likely that your most wanted vendors will be available. Depending on the venue, they may even include some vendors in their wedding packages – which will save you time and money. For wedding clients, I make the process of paying down their photography invoice over time really easy. I ask for a nominal retainer fee of $250 and couples can make small payments leading up to their wedding day 🙂 I find that this is much more manageable for couples than asking for a substantial deposit up front.

Choose A Bridal Party And Have Them Help Plan A Party!

Deciding on having a bridal party is great for a lot of reasons. Your bridal party can help with a lot of little wedding planning tasks. But they can also help put together something like a bridal shower! Bridal showers are a great way to celebrate your engagement; and it can also help fund some of your wedding budget items. Over the years, one of the coolest things I have seen couples do is to have friends and family help chip in on some of the wedding vendors.

Rather than adding a bunch of kitchen appliances to your wedding registry, I have seen couples add things like their honeymoon or even some of their specific vendors to their registry. For example, people can chip in and put money towards paying for an activity on your honeymoon. Some of the top websites for these are: Zola , Honeyfund and Tendr. Removing some of these items from your wedding budget can free up expenses to be spent elsewhere. Making your wedding registry available on the bridal shower and on the save-the-date invitations can be a BIG help in getting funding for your wedding.

Consider Creative Options On Your Month, Day, and Venue

To really get the most out of your wedding budget, you may also want to consider being flexible on the month, day, and venue of your wedding. While scheduling your wedding on a Saturday during the peak of wedding season may seem like the best plan, scheduling it on off days and/or months can save you money. Most weddings occur between the months of May – September and typically take place on a Saturday or Sunday. Many wedding venues will give substantial discounts for weddings scheduled at the beginning/end of the year. And you can get an even bigger discount if your wedding day falls on a Thursday or Friday 😉 As long as you give your wedding guests plenty of notice in advance, this should not be a problem.

Another thing to look into is a finding a venue where you are allowed to bring in specific vendors. For example, many venues will have restrictions on the caterers, alcohol, and other vendors who are allowed to work a wedding. For example, a winery may only allow their wine to be served at your wedding. But finding a venue which allows you to purchase your own alcohol, catering, etc. can save you a lot of money. And these venues tend to be less expensive overall.

Hopefully these three wedding budget tips have been helpful to get your wedding planning started. Of course, if you are looking to hire a Wedding Photographer, I would LOVE to connect with you. The best way to reach out to me is through the contact form on my website. Thanks!