Looking For Help With Your Wedding Budget Planning?
What To Include and Where to Start....
Wedding Budget Planning
The Hungry Plaice • June 9, 2020
How to Put Together Your Wedding Budget In Six Steps
Your Wedding Budget does not need to overwhelm you, here at The Hungry Plaice we want to help you so we have devised our simple 6 Step Guide to Wedding Budgeting.
If you are happy planing alone you could whizz this together quite quickly or if you and your partner are planning together you might want to share out some aspects between you once you have agreed the foundations.
There is also a Blog we have put together that includes Wedding Budget Templates, click here for more information
Click Here For The Hungry Plaice Wedding Budget Templates Blog
1. How Much Do You Have To Spend?
First things first, before you get carried away thinking about that designer dress or extravagant honeymoon that is going to cost more than your car think about your budget.
If you are incredibly lucky and money isn't an object then I guess you won't be reading this, if you need to have some kind of a budget then you should already have something in mind.
Your budget might include some savings you have put aside, you may wish to pay for things as you going along or perhaps you have a kind friend or relative who is helping you meet the costs of your special day.
The size of your Wedding day you have in mind might be the driving factor for your budget, there is a difference between a small intimate wedding at the Registry Office followed by a meal at the Village Hall with 20 guests compared to a large scale event with 250 guests in a the gorgeous Boutique Wedding Hall with Fine Dining.
Remember when you put a budget together it might be worth considering to include some kind of buffer to cover those things you didn't originally think about.
2. Compile Your List Of Essential Wedding Budget Items
The list of Wedding Budget Essentials should include what you and the wedding party will wear, your flowers and decorations, how you will get to your venue, the reception venue, food and drinks and then the evening party afterwards.
You might have your heart set on your wedding venue or your dress so everything else is budgeted from the remaining balance once you've added these items in.
3. Add Your List of Wish List Wedding Budget Items
Once you have the essentials covered put together your Wish List, remember this is your special day and you should have many of the things you have dreamed about!
It might be a good idea to try and prioritise these items so you can work out which ones would be most important to you.
You may have some slack in your original budget to cover some of these straight away or you might wish to reduce the spend on some of the Essential items if you come across a good deal or find another of making savings.
4. Add In Some Estimated Costs
Put together some costs for each item on your list, you might have a cost in mind about how much you want to spend on each part and for others you will have to do some research.
Take into account that certain Wedding Suppliers may be able to take only certain types of payment this might affect you if you are using Credit Cards for example.
5. Total Up and Move Costs Round
Once you have put together your costs have a look and see if you want to move anything around, it might be that your Food Costs are lower than you expected and you have more to spend on your Wedding Rings, you might have found a good deal on some Bridesmaid dresses which allows for a bit more money to be spent on your Honeymoon.
6. Final Budget
Once you have done some moving around, take a good look and see how the budget looks. You might need some final tweaking if you have found some more funds or you have forgotten anything.
Remember to include some kind of a buffer and don't worry if your budget moves a little once you get going you can always make changes along the way....
Wedding Budget Items To Include
To help you getting started with your Wedding Budget Planning we have put together some popular cost types below that you might want to include for your Special Day.
This is just a start, you might have these covered but we may come up with a few that you haven't considered.
1. Wedding Ceremony Venue
Thinking about your Wedding Venue you should put in your budget your Wedding Ceremony Venue and where you will hold your Wedding Reception and Wedding Evening Party.
When getting married in a hotel where they hold a Wedding License your whole day will be spent in the same place.
On the other hand you could be looking at getting married in a Church and holding your celebrations on a farm with a marquee on site.
Research what your venue includes in their prices, there might be hidden extras you hadn't considered and restrictions on what you can have on site.
Costs to Consider
* Registrar Fees
* Venue Hire
* Decorations
2. Wedding Reception Venue
If you are hiring your Wedding Venue for the full day you can skip over this part.
Your Wedding Reception Venue may be a Village Hall, Club, Hotel or Converted Barn.
There will be hire fees for he venue itself and then extras for equipment and additional services.
Research is key again here, see what your venue offers in their packages to see what fits with your plans, remember some venues like hotels will be quite restrictive on what they will allow you to have on site and have preferred supplier lists and could charge a damage deposit from you in the case of problems occuring from outside suppliers.
Costs to Consider
* Wedding Venue Hire
* Decorations
* Accommodation Costs
* Teepee/Marquee Hire and Equipment Costs
* Outdoor Hire Costs like Toilets and Food Vans
* Damage Deposits
3. Day and Evening Wedding Food And Drink
Wedding Catering can make up a significant part of your day and as everyone likes eating this is such and important part to get right so that your guests will have a memorable day.
Your Wedding Venue may be supplying both your Reception Food and your Evening Food or just one part of the day. Have a look at the Venue Wedding Food and Drink packages and consider that you may be restricted on the menu and choices.
There may be other options you would like to have as part of your day such as Sweet Carts, Food Vans or Food Stations. Some of these may replace the Food Servings or in addition to these.
Remember here that Wedding Venues may have preferred supplier lists which might restrict the options that you can have and you can give yourself more flexbility holding your Wedding somewhere where you can have whatever suppliers on site that you want!
Go through your plan for drinks, you may wish to have use of the onsite bar, provide your own drinks or hire your own outside bar, you may wish to have bottles of wine on tables so don't forget about any Corkage fees.
Costs to Consider
* Reception Food
* Evening Buffet
* Additional Food Ideas
* Corkage Fees
* Plate and Cutlery Hire
* Serving Staff Costs
4. Wedding Decorations and Wedding Flowers
The Wedding Venue may already have standard decor that you are happy with and there is no need to spend money on decorations or you may wish to change things around if you are allowed to do so.
You may be hiring a Wedding Stylist who will include the costs of all the decorations hired in for your Wedding Cerermony Venue and Wedding Reception Venue or only provide part of these within their service.
If you have a blank canvas and are going for DIY Wedding Decorations you may be looking to hire or buy some decor items, think about the rooms you will be filling and what needs to be included for the ceiling, the walls, the floors and in the corners!
Teepees are normally already filled with a themed decor and should be included in the Wedding Hire cost but there may be things you want to incldue in your package.
Have a think about your Wedding Flowers and get some ideas from Florists about what the costs of these will be, this should cover Bouquets, Table and Standing Displays as well as button holes if appropriate.
Costs to Consider
* Decoration Hire
* Wedding Stylist
* Wedding Flowers
5. Wedding Photographer/Videographer
If you are going down the route of a Simple Wedding you might not be looking to employ a Photographer for the day but if you do make sure you do a great of deal of research before you make your choice of photographer.
Every photographer will offer a package of their service, this may cover a number of hours and number of photos which may be presented in an album or provided on a USB stick.
Should you wish to include a Videographer you'll need to research prices of thes to include in your Wedding Budget.
Consider that you may also be expected to feed your Photograper during the day.
Costs to Consider
* Photograph Hire
* Videographer Hire
* Album, DVD or USB Costs
* Food Costs
6. Wedding Entertainment
Your Wedding Entertainment Budget might cover DJs, Bands, Wedding Singers, Hired Professionals like Balloon Artists, Children's Entertainers or Magicians or hired items such as Lawn Games and Photobooths.
There may be restrictions on what your Wedding Venue will allow on site and you may have to stick to their Preferred Supplier List, they may be inclined to ask for a damage deposit to cover the eventuality that one of your suppliers leaves a mess behind or damages anything whilst on site.
Again you may be expected to supply any hired professionals with food during their time spent at your Wedding.
Costs to Consider
* Supplier Hire
* Hire Equipment Charges
* Damage Deposits
* Food Costs for Suppliers
7. Wedding Transport
Wedding Transport covers getting to and from the Wedding Venue for the Wedding Party and the Wedding Guests.
There will be hire charge for this service and this may cover a set amount of time, you may be charged more if you wanted to extend the time of hire.
Further charges may apply for waiting time, additional staff and inclusion of provision of drinks or having permission to have photos taken in or around the vehicle.
Some suppliers may require damage deposits if their vehicles are rare or vintage.
Costs to Consider
* Transport Hire Charges
* Waiting Time Hire Charges
* Damage Deposits
8. Wedding Stationary
Your Wedding Stationary Budget should cover Save the Dates, Invitations, Table Plans, Menus and Thank You Notes.
As we are becoming more dependant on technology these days the budget may go towards online Wedding Apps where all stationary is emailed to guests or for physical stationary sent directly to guests.
Think about whether you would all these items to follow a theme, you may wish to employ the services of a Professional Stationer or this may be something you put together yourself or buy as part or your Simple DIY Wedding you have planned.
Costs to Consider
* Online App Costs
* Professional Stationer Package Costs
* Stationary Purchase costs
* Printing Costs
9. Wedding Apparel & Hair/Makeup Providers
Wedding Apparel needs to cover everything needed to dress and style the Wedding Party on the day.
This will include all the Wedding Party clothes, shoes, jewellery, accessories. It may be that you will be paying for all these yourself or each individual will be meeting the cost of their own outfit for the day. Some of these items will be purchased and others might be hired for the duration.
Don't forget about any alteration costs needed and any hire costs and whether you will need to budget for damage deposits and cleaning before hired items are returned.
You will then have to think about the costs of Beauticians, Make Up Artists and Hairdressers on the day itself.
Costs to Consider
* Wedding Party Apparel Purchase or Hire Costs
* Fitting or Alteration Costs
* Damage Deposits and Cleaning
* Hairdresser Hire
* Beautician Hire
10. Honeymoon
You will probably have decided where you will go on Honeymoon before you have booked your Wedding date!
Treat your Honeymoon like any other holiday when putting together your Honeymoon Budget and think through everything you need from start to finish.
Costs to Consider
* Holiday Cost
* Clothes Purchases For Holiday
* Holiday Insurance Costs
11. Other Wedding Costs - Gifts, Hotel Rooms, Hen and Stag Parties
There will be things missed off from the main list above that you will need to include in your Wedding Budget.
Here I would consider any Wedding Gifts you are planning on giving to your Wedding Party, Accomodation Costs for Guests and any Pre or Post Wedding Celebrations.
You might also be considering having Guest Thank You Bags and putting together baskets of toileties to leave in the toilets for use by guests.
Go through the day step by step to see if there are any more items that you need to add to your Wedding Budget.
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