How do I set a wedding budget?
by techdude on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 | 8 Comments
I just got engaged and I am eager to start planning! I know I need to set a budget but I have no idea where to even start figuring out what I should spend and where! I also don’t have anyone close to me getting married besides a friend who has no budget so I need help!
Don’t get married.
First, figure our your total budget – what you can afford to pay for. The average American wedding is about $20,000. My own wedding budget is $8,000 because that’s what my fiance and I could afford to save up.
Then go to theknot.com and click their budget calculator. It will calculate roughly how much you should spend in each category (dress, flowers, photographer, etc). Of course, how much you should spend in each area is subjective and depends on what you feel is most important. For example. my fiance and I are scaling back on some things to make more room in the budget for flowers and centre pieces.
You check out the budget calculator at the Knot. See it on the left, under “planning tools.”
You plug an amount you can comfortably afford into the budget calculator. It will tell you what percentage of your budget should be spent on each item.
Use the wedding checklist too. You may not want or need everything mentioned at the Knot, but it is a good place to start.
Well for starters sit down and write down your vision for the wedding. Try to get him to do it too. Then decide what are the most important thing to you and your fiance. If you have the time do your research, it will save you money. I know that the reception is usually the biggest expense. My fiance and I are kind of doing it backward. We are paying for the wedding and have not saved up for it at all. So I am searching for deals on everything we want and buying stuff a little at a time. I find the bed=st deal i can and then add some to it when I put it in my planning notebook. That way if prices change I am ok and if I am under budget then yeah me.
First you need to find out who all is contributing to the wedding. You should ask your family and your fiance his. Say your family contributes 3,000 and his 1,500. So far the budget is 4,500 and if you two choose to add 2,500 then the grand total is 7,000. I went to theknot.com and they had a page where you put in your total budget and then it broke up how much should be spent where, made it real simple for us. Good luck and congrats.
Hi and congratulations on your recent engagement!
Before you decide WHAT to spend your money on….you need to know HOW MUCH money you have to work with. What are you and your fiance contributing for the wedding? What (if any) are your families willing to contribute? Once you know the TOTAL amount of money you have to work with, then you will be able to decide what kind of wedding and reception you can plan.
If you are on a limited buget (or really ANY type of budget), the easiest thing to do is to make out a spreadsheet with all the “wedding essentials” listed. Such as:
dress, groom’s tux, food and drinks for reception; invites; photographer; cake; flowers; gifts for attendants; rings; DJ; etc., etc.
Write it all down. Then, with your budget in mind, decide exactly how much you will allow for each item.
Hope this helps!
I support Digital Diva’s and Suz123′s answer.
has a budgeter that my fiance and I have been using. It’s been so helpful! We were able to develop a clear picture of how much we should be spending and on what, all based on the total budget we entered. Plus, it includes tools so you can track all of your vendor payments, and the BEST part of all: There’s a checklist that tells you WHAT you have to do each month leading up to the wedding.
And… get this. It’s FREE!
Good luck! And have fun!
Before you can set a budget, you need a general idea of how much things are going to cost. I would go to a site like and get bids from different vendors. Also check out your local bridal shows. Theknot.com also has some good budgeting tips.