When it comes to life, we put our money into the things we find important. We decide what our priorities are and spend accordingly, even if we haven’t necessarily vocalized those priorities yet (I’m lookin at you, coffee shop down the street!!). 

Of course there are things we need (and that aren’t necessarily fun, like rent or car insurance), but other things are simply “wants”, like picking up coffee on the way to work instead of making it at home. A budget can allow for both because a budget simply shows you what your priorities are. Driving a car to work instead of taking transit? A priority for you. A caffeinated treat to start the day? Another priority, no shame!

When it comes to your wedding budget, it’s much the same. There are things you’ve determined you need, things you want, and things that would be nice but not absolutely necessary. I’ve photographed weddings with budgets big and small; it doesn’t matter how much you spend, but it does matter whether you’re spending your money in a way you’re happy with!

Before you get inundated with all the numbers, start with deciding what you want your wedding to be like. Read this post and then come back to get your budget on!

 

Make your list of priorities.

Your wedding day priorities will dictate your budget. For Brandon and I, we wanted to have a beautiful liturgical celebration, a relaxed outdoor reception, treat our guests to dinner & an open bar, and have the whole day documented by someone we trusted.

Not all of those things are big ticket items, but it helped us determine where to put our resources both in time and money. Our priorities were established:

• Wedding mass
• Outdoor venue
• Dinner & open bar
• Photography

 

Again, go read this post that helps you figure out your mutual wedding day priorities if you need help getting on the same page!

 

Research the approximate costs.

That list above helped focus our resources throughout wedding planning. I did my research and determined how much each of those items would cost, ultimately putting time or money into each category. I made a spreadsheet for all the estimated costs we had going into our wedding day (not just the priority items) and then shared that information with Brandon. 

I included everything I could think of, even if we weren’t sure we’d spend money on it. I wanted to make sure I had everything accounted for to decide whether it would be time, money, or potentially neither spent on those items (especially things that were low on our list). Things like getting my hair and makeup done by a professional were included, but ultimately taken out because I wanted the money to go towards higher priority items. And because I knew my sister could do my hair ;) 

We did all of this research as if we were paying for everything. We didn’t assume our parents would contribute, but gladly accepted their offers to help with specific items. If anyone is offering to help pay for your wedding, have a conversation with them about how that money is being offered. Is it a free gift, money that you can spend however you want? Or is it for something specific, like the bar? Make sure everyone knows what the expectations are around any money being spent, especially if it’s not your own.

 

Adjust the budget according to your priorities.

Our priority to have a photographer we loved meant putting money into that before spending anywhere else. The rest of our budget adjusted as we figured out what photography would actually cost, and I’m grateful we decided to spend on what was most important to us before spending anywhere else.

Photography was the biggest item in our budget and non-negotiable in terms of importance. After all is said and done – the programs read, the pizza eaten, my dress hanging in the closet (still covered in dirt from dancing barefoot on the grass) – we knew the only thing we’d have after the wedding were the photos. I can’t imagine planning a wedding without having a photographer I trust to document the day!

We originally had a different place in mind for our reception, but after all the research we did into what it would cost to transform a backyard into a reception for 130 people we decided to find an established venue instead. This adjusted our budget for both money and time spent dramatically, but it was worth it.

Our church is beautiful, so we didn’t put any monetary budget toward decorating it for our wedding mass. Instead we put our time into planning the liturgical details (readings, music, etc) and our money towards detailed programs for our guests. 

To help save on hard costs, we asked some amazing friends to help cater our wedding by making sides & desserts instead of getting us gifts. We ordered pizza after our caterer fell through two weeks before our date, which was a big budget help in the end! Our open bar was a mixture of us supplying drinks while my in-laws gifted us wine.

Everything else was thrifted, gifted, found at my parents’ house, or bought with what was left in our maximum “what we wanted to spend” budget. 

 

At the end of the day…

You get to tell your money what to do. Just like in life, if it’s a high priority you can figure out how to make it work. It might mean sacrifice on other parts of your wedding day, but at the end of it all you’ll know you put your time and/or money into the things you care about the most!

PS. I’ve started using an app called You Need A Budget and the first rule of budgeting they talk about is “give every dollar a job.” Go read their wedding planning & budget advice here.

xoxo