So you’re engaged and ready to hit the ground running? Wedding planning is fun and exciting but can quickly become stressful and burdensome if proper budgeting isn’t done in the beginning steps. Before you start planning you must establish a budget!
No matter what kind of surplus of money you may have, you still need to establish a budget. The reality is that your money does have a limit and therefore you do have a budget of some sorts. For some of us we have a number that is firmly the maximum we can spend, we use that number to set the budget. For others who have more flexibility, consider setting a financial comfort zone rather than a hard stopping point. Start your budgeting by establishing where your maximum spending is, make sure this matches what you are actually able to spend.
How do you determine what you are actually able to spend? You must consider your saved money, any gifted funds you have been given, and your expendable future income.
Savings Funds
Your savings funds include the money you have put aside or saved for this wedding. However, we wouldn’t advise you to drain your whole savings account, be sure to have an emergency fund set aside. The amount of saved funds you should spend on the wedding is the difference between your savings total and the sum of your emergency fund.
Gifted Funds
Your gifted funds include all money that has been gifted to you from friends or family for your wedding. Oftentimes the bride’s family, and even the groom’s family will contribute a sum of money to the couple’s big day. Add these gifts together.
Expendable Income Funds
Your expendable income funds include your future expendable income. Weddings don’t get planned overnight, you need to consider the income you will make during the wedding planning process. The difference between your future income and your future expenses is your expendable income.
Add your savings funds, gifted funds and expendable income funds to create your total budget!
Budget Next Steps
Once you establish an overall budget you and your partner need to establish what is the most important part of the wedding for you. Is good food your top priority?Alcohol and entertainment for a good party? Is it the visual aesthetic? Deciding on what is most important to you will determine where you spend a little more and what area’s you are more conservative in.
Allocate money to each category. You should have a budget for each aspect of your wedding. Spend more in the areas you care the most about, and less in the areas that aren’t important to you. A planner will be able to help you determine how much you will need to spend in every area and can keep you on budget- it’s an expense that will actually help save you money (contact us here) ! Once all the budgeting for the wedding is determined, you can dive into the more exciting aspects of planning a wedding!
