How To Budget For My Wedding in 2021

Your guest count is the one variable factor that drives your wedding budget up or down! A client spending $100,000 on a 100-guest count will have a more lavish experience than a client spending $100,000 for 300 guests, which is doable by the way. Determining a per person average by dividing your overall budget by the number of your guests will give you an idea of how much each guest would cost you to attend your wedding. EX. $100,000 overall budget / 100 guest count, comes out to $1000 per guest; while, $100,000 overall budget / 300 guest count, comes out to $333 per guest. You can imagine all the additional bells and whistles you will get with the same budget but a lower guest count.

Budgeting for a wedding is not the easiest thing to do. In fact, more than 50% of couples say they don’t have a budget when asked during a consultation. The first thing to do is to set a budget and clear expectations of who will be paying for what. The tradition of having the bride’s parents paying for the wedding is long gone; most couples nowadays bear more than 70% of their wedding expenses.

Never expect any family member or friend to contribute to your wedding expenses without actually getting the funds. People make all sorts of promises that does not come to fruition; so only budget for what you and your fiancé can afford and count every other contribution that comes in during the planning as a blessing and an opportunity to allow you splurge on getting that custom bridal gown designed or fly in your dream photographer that you’ve always wanted.

Alright! Let’s get into the first half of the budget breakdown; one blog content was not enough to list all the items, so I will be sharing the 2nd part next week.

WEDDING PLANNER

I tell every engaged couple I have the chance to speak to that they should budget to hire a wedding planner and must book a planner before securing a venue. You have not idea how many mistakes I’ve had to rectify for clients after booking us that they could have avoided if they booked a planner who could was able to negotiate a better contract term.

Not being biased as a planner, but we generally save you headache and financial loss by effective negotiations and finding the best venues and event professionals that fit your budget. Our preferred vendors offer our clients big concessions that they generally won’t get without booking our planning services.

VENUE

Your venue is the most essential item needed in your wedding planning. This is usually the first thing you need to book before you start to secure other vendors. If you prefer to get married in a church or separate space from the reception; there usually would be an additional rental fee. If you decide to have all of your events in one location, then you typically would be paying one rental fee.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Food and Beverage is another essential part of your wedding. I’m sure you have never been to a wedding where there was no food or drinks. The amount you budget on your food and beverage depends on the variety of options you want to provide to your guest and how simple or lavish you want their dining experience to be. You may choose to have a simple 2 – 3 course meal, or engage your guest in a 5 – 6 course dining experience.

Other factors that could influence your wedding budget is choosing a plated dining option over a buffet dining option. Plated dinners are often more expensive due to the additional staffing and rental needs it requires. Having a open and hosted bar can cost you more than serving beer and wine or a signature cocktail at your wedding as well.

Wedding cake is an essential need for the wedding; however, some clients may opt for a desserts instead of a traditional wedding cake or if they want to splurge on their guests consider both options.

DÉCOR, FLORAL, LINEN & RENTAL ITEMS

Every bride to be has dreamt of having a beautiful wedding and your wedding décor is one of the jaw-dropping experiences you can provide your guest at your wedding. There are a variety of items that fall under this category that could be essential or optional. What a client chooses to spend on their décor budget is subjective to their guest count, their overall budget and their venue type.

Our Full-Service Planning & Design clients always budget for all of the following items as essential: ceremony flowers, reception flowers, centerpieces, staging, sweetheart area décor, custom dance floor, lighting, specialty chairs, specialty tables, table cloths, napkins, charger plates, dinner ware, catering rental items, cake table décor, welcome area décor, draping, pyrotechnics, and clouds.

Optional rental items could vary based on level of production of your events; no matter what your wedding theme is, we can rent any item to execute the level of production.

EVENT STAFF

Most couples underestimate the cost of staff for their wedding. Essential staff needed range from servers, bartenders, valet attendant, security staff, production staff, delivery staff, bathroom attendants, cleaning crew and more. They are a very essential need and having great staff at your wedding could make your wedding day go as planned without any hitch or cause you to have regrets.

A wedding officiant could be considered an essential staff, some of them may charge a fee and some may request an honorarium. Some couples also go to the justice of the peace first and then have a wedding celebration after.

PHOTO & VIDEO

What is the point of spending all this money on your celebration if you do not invest in a great photographer and videographer to capture those beautiful moments and tell your love story in a phenomenal way? I tell my clients never to compromise on the quality of the photographer and videographer they have. If your budget allows, invest in documenting your love story by taking some engagement pictures or bridal portraits, recording a love story video or investing in keep sake albums. These additional items may seem optional but I promise you won’t regret it.

BEAUTY & FASHION

Every bride needs to look like a Queen on her wedding day and needs to be pampered; we are not forgetting our handsome grooms as well. They need to look GQ’d and make their brides to be fall in love all over again as they walk down the aisle to say I do. Most of our couples usually go for a custom bridal gown and Tux because they don’t want to look like any other bride or groom. Going the custom route sometimes is more of an investment than if you purchase in store. Some couples also choose to have multiple outfit changes for their weddings.

Hair and Makeup is a service that is essential to the brides. Some brides choose to pay for their bridesmaids’ hair and makeup if their budget allows. The style of the hair and accessories involved could be a determinant factor on the investment.

There are other personal items/accessories that couple may need to budget for such as under garments, shoes, jewelry etc

This is the first part of the breakdown, I will share the other half of the budget break down next week on the blog. I hope you find this very helpful in your planning, or better yet reach out to purchase our custom budget allocation spreadsheet breakdown or schedule a budget consultation with us to help you navigate your budget.