“We had the best wedding ever and spent WAAAYYYY less than we thought we would”, said no couple ever! Weddings can be expensive affairs. But with proper preparation, including a wedding budget breakdown, you can stay on budget and still have a ridiculously memorable wedding.
By listing what you would ideally like to spend in each area of your wedding, you are more likely to walk into the sunset together, with more money in your pocket.
Let’s be honest. You’d love a bottomless budget for your wedding. But for most people, this is simply not possible. But don’t worry.
There are ways to prioritise your wedding wish list so that the day reflects both of you, without breaking the bank.
Wedding Budget Breakdown Myths
Jump onto Pinterest and you’ll see spreadsheet after spreadsheet of wedding budget breakdowns with neat percentages besides each wedding day item.
But those wedding costs are likely to vary depending on a range of factors.
Those factors include:
Where you live
Some parts of the country are more expensive than others to host a wedding
What you value
If a lavish wedding reception centre isn’t for you, you might end up spending a lot less than 50% of your budget on this cost.
Your tastes and preferences
Expensive tastes hike your wedding day costs considerably. If shipping in caviar is a must have, you might end up spending a lot more on your food budget than other wedding costs.
What you are willing to compromise on
If your wedding planning process includes the mantra “go big or go home”, your wedding budget is going to blow out.
By identifying each of your priorities early in your wedding planning process, you’ll be well placed to save on your wedding.
The talents of your family and friends
Have you got a super talented friend or family member who can help with anything from wedding day florals to wedding invitations and wedding day signage? You are going to save tons of cash.
Breaking down your wedding day budget
It makes sense to look at your wedding day budget in key categories. The main categories most couples consider include:
- Reception
- Attire
- Rings
- Flowers and Styling
- Music and Entertainment
- Stationery and Signage
- Photography and Videography
- Transport
- Gifts and Favours
- Ceremony
Of course, you might not want or need to spend money in each of these categories.
For example, if you choose a venue where you can have your ceremony and your reception, you are going to save on transport costs.
Wedding Budget planning
Initially it’s best to sit down with your lover and a wedding budget breakdown worksheet. Nut out which broad categories you are likely to spend money in for your wedding day.
Don’t even know where to start when pulling together a wedding budget? There’s a handy, easy to follow wedding budget breakdown worksheet attached at the end of this article.
Next, prioritise your spending a little. Here’s a small exercise to get you started with this process.
- Each of you should write down three non negotiable costs for your wedding day. For you it might be the flowers (you’ve always dreamt of peonies…everywhere!!), live music and bespoke cocktails at your cocktail hour. For your lover it might be live music, a warehouse wedding reception and a planner (no one wants to stress on their big day)
- Compare the two lists and see if there are similarities. If there are, great. If not, list those 6 items down
- Allow a decent spend in each of these areas
- If you are not sure how much those prioritised items might costs, explore costings for each of these 6 items to make sure you list a realistic budget amount against each
- BEFORE you consider spending money on anything else, lock these 6 elements in first
Spending money on the prioritised items for your day might mean you need to spend less in other areas. Compromise is completely legit and necessary for most couples.
Wedding budget breakdown spreadsheet
Here’s a simple wedding budget spreadsheet with a breakdown of the major categories to get you budgeting like a pro:
The wedding budget breakdown has three columns. The first column in your budget for each item.
The second column is for the estimated cost for each item based on vendor estimates provided to you.
And the third column, which is often the most loathed, reflects what you actually spent on each item.
Updating your spreadsheet
Make sure you update your wedding budget breakdown spreadsheet regularly. Perhaps store it somewhere digitally so that you can both access it at all times.
As wedding costs are finalised, you may need to adjust your budget and spend in other categories. But assuming you prioritise your spend on the elements that matter to you both most upfront, you won’t be as concerned if you spend less on other items that don’t mean as much to you both.
Got any other wedding budget planning tips? We’d love to hear about them in the comments section below.
Need more wedding planning tools and templates? Head to our Etsy store where you will find simple, easy to follow printables that will help you plan your wedding day like a pro.