Wedding Planning – Analyze Your Budget

In most cases, this is your first wedding and you have no idea on how much to budget for various vendors. There will be some services that have a less expensive route and others you will want to consider paying top dollar for in order to ensure everything goes as planned on your big day.

Create A Budget

Once you have decided which services mean the most to you it is time to check the rates for the services. Decide what you are willing to be more flexible on so that your budget will be as accurate as possible. There are different tools that claim to help guide you towards spending the appropriate amount towards each vendor but a lot of times those guidelines are outdated or completely inaccurate and sometimes even created by someone who is not in the industry or directly linked to industry professionals. Take it directly from an industry professional on what to budget towards the various services. Your wedding planner or venue coordinator is a great start!

Divide Your Budget

Based on the average wedding budget it is time to breakdown costs per service to get an idea on how to allocate your funds towards vendors appropriately. If you have been getting ideas from magazines and going on “what’s trendy” when planning your wedding be sure to consider that the national average wedding budget in 2015 was $31,148. Once you have set your personal wedding budget, you may want to do some research to see what the average budget for professional services go for in your area. This will help you make sure you are looking at costs realistically and ensure you get quality over quantity.  Some services may not be as important to you or completely unnecessary so be sure to adjust accordingly! *SEE GRAPH BELOW*

Stick To Your Budget

You are going to want everything under the sun to make your big day truly special but this idea, realistically, may not be possible. Overall remember that your guests’ top memories will be your food and drink selections and the love and happiness being shared between you and your spouse. When selecting your entertainment be sure to choose someone that is going to be a great Master of Ceremonies to evoke the emotions shared with you by your friends and family. Remember, one of your guests’ top memories from your Big Day is your entertainment. Ultimately, the centerpieces and flower arrangements will only be remembered in photos!

Happy Planning!

SOMETHINGS TO TAKE NOTE ON…

All Numbers are Based on the Percentage of the Average Budget for that item.

• Under Photographer “OR” Videographer; That Budget is for one or the other. You will need to have between 11% to 20% budgeted for EACH Service if you are looking to hire a Full-Time Professional.
• For the Entertainment Budget a DJ will be around 10-15% of your budget, but if you choose a band you have to almost DOUBLE or TRIPLE your Entertainment Budget if you want any kind of Quality.
• We used a $30,000 Budget because of National Average Wedding Budget in 2015 was $31,148.00

Here is a Good Reference to analyze costs for Venues:

These numbers usually will include Food & Alcohol.

Firehall – Barn – $40 to $75/per person
Small/Basic Hall – $65 to $100/per person
Hotel/Resort – $110 to $200+/per person

LAST BUT NOT LEAST!!!

We have done Surveys to our past Bride and Grooms over the last 20 years, and asked them, “What are the things you and your friends/family remember the most about your day?”

The TOP THREE RESPONSES where the following:

1. The Reception/Food
2. Drinks & Atmosphere
3. The Entertainment

So Stop, and Double Think before you allocate more of your Budget for your Centerpieces than your Entertainment!