Wedding Budget

Wedding Budget

Money Money Money MoneyMONEY!!! Lets discuss the wedding budget. As I scour the internet looking at fabulous weddings, Im starting to think about how much these weddings cost. It would be so helpful if all the items I see and want also had a price tag, OK.

Fiancé and I are both clueless when it comes to how much are wedding is going to cost. When I asked him how much money he thinks we are going to spend his answer was I dont know, he couldnt even give me an estimate. Through a quick Google search I found this site, http://www.costofwedding.com/. Please feel free to check it out. According to them the average cost of a wedding in the US is a little over 24, 000. I actually wasnt shocked when I saw this and neither was fiancée. You can type in the zip code and see what the average couple is spending on weddings in your area. In the area we are getting married in the average couple spends roughly between $19,000 and $31, 000. Seeing these figures are not surprising or shocking.

So whats our budget? We have no budget. Im the type of shopper that when I see something I want, I buy. And this same principal will apply to our wedding. Im not saying we have an unlimited budget, well probably end up spending somewhere between the cost bracket for our area (heck, we might end up spending less), but we are not associating a dollar amount to our wedding. We will buy things that fall in our personal price range and create our vision for the wedding. We are also very fortunate to have our parents assisting us with wedding expenses. No wedding purchases have been made yet, so if anything changes regarding our budget I will definitely let you ladies know. Do you have a budget?

Yes, we do have a budget and intend to stay within our budget, because FH and I both believe you still have to live after the wedding and we don't want to be in debt

We sure do. And it's not anywhere near the national average. In fact it's about a third of it.
Sparky and I live together. Our finances are combined. We have three children.We're not going to put ourselves out on a limb for one day.
But I like you, shop. If we see something we want we're gonna get it. And the same goes for our wedding. I'm keeping us in check by DIYing a TON of the oooooooo I want one of those's, baking our desserts and not having an open bar.

im kind of in the same boat as you, we did some research into how much things were going to cost and figured out roughly what we would be willing to spend on each area of the wedding. we've managed to stay within that too. so we sort of have a budget.

we have 'personal price ranges' for things too, and when items that we wanted fit within that, we get them. shopping online and doing a lot of DIY helps with that. and often it's much nicer!

We have a budget but I've a sinking feeling we're going to go over...In saying that, our budget is pretty average imo... we're both very much of the thought that we plan on doing this once and if something costs a little more than expected so be in.. in saying that I've gotten some things very cheap/DIY and others we're just not willing to compromise on.. our reception is probably 60% of the budget which is waaay over 'expected percentages' but my flowers are working out super cheap (making them myself with ribbons!) ... We both really want a day to remember and are paying for as much as possible in advance so we're not stuck with a TON of bills the month of the wedding lol! xXx

Yes. That average is exactly right. I'm in Central Florida, and last October, we had a gorgeous wedding at church and reception at a local country club. We did 95% of the work ourselves, and had very few flowers. I made the 2 altar arrangements and my bouquet and then had an Etsy vendor make the 3 bridesmaids' bouquets. We had 80 guests, a 5-hour reception including an open bar all night (we negotiated this flat per person price of $73) and a sit-down dinner w/2 meal choices - and the total we spent, including the honeymoon cruise, was $19,200. I could have easily spent more. Our budget started out at $5K, but after I started calling venues and getting prices, we knew there was no way we were going to be able to have the kind of wedding we wanted for that small amount. We set our date 2 years down the road & had everything paid for when it was time to walk down the aisle. I urge all couples, though, if you don't have it - don't spend it. Don't do something crazy like getting a 2nd mortgage to pay for your wedding. Because it really does go by very quickly - almost in a flash. And then it's over, but if it's not paid for, you've still got to shell out all the money for years ahead. Good luck to you and your fiance!

I just posted something along the lines of this the other day. I found myself in the same prediciment. I know we don't have a set amount we can spend, however I refuse to put us into debt over it. My policy has become...if I can't pay cash/debit for it, then I don't need it. Luckily all of the major things have come out of savings(thank you uncle sam..hehe taxes) We actually set up a seperate bank fund for the wedding. That way, any purchases and deposits all pull from that account. I didn't want the wedding bills and such messing with out house hold account. Besides, you never know when the vendor will actually process it, so it seemed easier to keep track of that way. :)

yes, we have a budget...im getting married at a golf course, open bar,3 meal choices and we have managed to stay under 12k all because we are getting married at what they call an slow month

I really think it's important to have some type of budget, it could be a general budget like $20-$25k. Everything with wedding planning is so expensive, our original budget was $25k but we went over that already, because we went over budget when we got the Videographer. I really wasn't expecting so many little costs in the wedding planning, ie: attendant gifts,favors. & If you don't have at least a base budget I can see how things can easily get out of hand.

They call me the Budget Diva bc I'm so adamant about my budget. Fi is paying for the entire wedding himself...in cash...no help...no debt. MY HERO!!! LOL. Out of respect to him, I'm doing this as classy and glamorous as possible w out breaking the bank. But I'm like that on general. I ~NEVER~ pay full price for anything. I'm going to blog about how little we spent and break down the budgeting after the wedding.

We are paying for the wedding ourselves too in cash, no help. Its definatly not an easy task!

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