Working Out Your Wedding Budget
As most people have budgetary constraints, the challenge is planning a beautiful wedding and getting the most for your money…
The best way to start managing your wedding budget and controlling your expenses is to prioritise your needs and preferences. Work out together what is most important to you and your family (particularly if they are helping with some of the expenses) and allocate more funds to those ‘special’ items.
If making a spectacular entrance is important to you then you may like to allocate more of your wedding budget to your wedding attire and the Bentley. Or, if capturing exquisite wedding memories is important to you, then allow more money for a great wedding photographer and videographer. The savvy bride can always save money in other areas…
When preparing your wedding budget, it is always a good idea to add an extra 10% for miscellaneous items – it’s very likely you will need it for those unexpected expenses that always pop up.
The following list provides a general breakdown of the major wedding budget items:
| Wedding Expense | % |
| Reception (venue & catering) | 40 |
| Attire & Accessories | 10 |
| Photography / Video | 10 |
| Flowers | 10 |
| Ceremony | 5 |
| Rings | 5 |
| Entertainment | 4 |
| Cake | 2 |
| Invitations | 2 |
| Transportation | 2 |
| Miscellaneous | 10 |
| Total % | 100 |
To split up your total wedding budget amongst the major items, use the percentages above or assign your own percentages based on your priorities and preferences (just make sure they total 100 %). Then, translate those percentages into dollars as follows:
For example, a wedding budget of $20,000 and the percentages above translates into:
| Wedding Expense | Calculation | Amount $ |
| Reception (venue & catering) | $20000 x .40 = | 8,000 |
| Attire & accessories | $20000 x .10 = | 2,000 |
| Photography / Video | $20000 x .10 = | 2,000 |
| Flowers | $20000 x .10 = | 2,000 |
| Ceremony | $20000 x .05 = | 1,000 |
| Rings | $20000 x .05 = | 1,000 |
| Entertainment | $20000 x .04 = | 800 |
| Cake | $20000 x .02 = | 400 |
| Invitations | $20000 x .02 = | 400 |
| Transportation | $20000 x .02 = | 400 |
| Miscellaneous | $20000 x .10 = | 2,000 |
| Budget Total $ | 20,000 |
If you find your florist can do your wedding flowers for $1500.00, then you can easily see that you have an extra $500 to spend on other items such as the wedding cake or entertainment.
Tip
Consider purchasing wedding insurance to cover your wedding items prior to and on your wedding day.
