Today I want to share with you how very important it is to really think about your wedding budget. I know you are probably sick and tired of hearing us all harp on about it but it’s vital that you think about it right at the beginning of your wedding planning. We are nearly at the end of a new year and if your wedding is next year and you are just starting to plan now is the time to sit down and think about what you want to spend.
Over the last few weeks I have been working with new clients who have defined their budgets and decided exactly how much they want to spend. The budgets have been good and when you are thinking about that kind of money you think it will stretch incredibly far!
But when I start to discuss the costs of the various areas of the wedding it is very easy to see that many couples have no idea of what things like venues, photographers or even dresses cost. Why would they? It’s not like you go and organise weddings and parties all the time.
A budget of even £20,000 sounds so much but if not spent wisely it soon gets eaten up. First and foremost the venue and food will account for half of your wedding budget, or very nearly half of it. Of course it is entirely up to you what you want to spend your money on, but please have realistic ideas of what things cost and how many people you can invite with the money you have to allocate. I also ask the question. Have you written down in black and white what you have budgeted for so far? Most of the time the answer is: “no but I have it totted it up in my head”. Well let me tell you when you put it in a spreadsheet and you clearly see the figures it is quite a shock.
If the aim of this blog does nothing more than make you concentrate on the building blocks of your wedding, such as:
I will be happy.
If you don’t have anywhere to hold your wedding, or anything to feed and water your guests and of course you have to look and feel like a bride then have the wonderful day recorded then you truly have to start thinking of your wedding planning all over again. All the lovely bits around the edges such as decor, flowers and entertainment are secondary to the main criteria noted above. Of course this is my opinion, photography for instance, may be low on your list but I can guarantee on your wedding anniversary you will want to look back at your wonderful wedding day. Whether this is in the form of a DVD or album you will certainly want it to capture it.
In short I am saying get a spreadsheet, make one, download one or look at the Wedding Genie Wizard planning tools. If you want to use a notebook then do so but be sure to use something to document your costs and keep them up to date.
Enter the estimated costs against each area and then add the whole lot up. From then on you can see what money you have left and how you want to spend it. Using the national average of what you should spend on a wedding can be a starting point but it is your money so spend it on what you want to make your wedding day the best you can have.
My whole wedding philosophy is work out what is absolutely crucial to both of you and apportion your budget accordingly. You will then be sure that you spend the money on things you really want. It is such an eye opener on what things cost this spreadsheet will focus your attention and keep it focused.
This week I had an enquiry from a lady that is trying to plan a wedding blessing. On their original wedding day they only had two weeks to plan and missed out on getting their families together and wanted to live the day again to experience things I guess they missed the first time around. When she came to looking at costs she was overwhelmed, her words, and quite rightly thought she might be better off getting expert help to make sure her budget was spent wisely. Even if you only talk to someone you know who has got married recently for advice it will be worth it. Get your budget right and the rest will follow.
In the blog next time I will explain how to split your budget into bite size chunks and how to allocate the costs accordingly. It can be really daunting setting your budget but lets make it easy. Pop back for more information.
Until next time, happy planning.
