When you first get engaged it can be really overwhelming and hard to know where to start. Between choosing the venue, deciding on flowers and buying your dress there is so much to consider. Before any of this you need to decide on your budget. With the average cost of a wedding in the UK being an incredible £25,000 there is a lot to think about!
Is Having A Budget Really That Important?
Creating a budget is so important as it means when you are looking at venues or flowers you know how much you have budgeted for that and so how much you have to spend. No one wants to get into debt because they have got carried away and spent more than they can afford on the venue. Deciding on the budget will also help you narrow down the type of venues you are looking at, as some may be completely out of your price range. The budget can also help you to determine the size of the wedding, so it is important that you decide on it before deciding on your guest list; for example a smaller budget may mean a more intimate affair.
How Can I Decide How Much I Have To Spend?
When putting together the budget it is important to be realistic, and prioritise what is really important to you (where your want to spend your money and where you want to save). It may be really important to you that you have a lot of flowers, or a big cake. Or maybe, having the best food is what you really care about. For everyone it is different, for example I'm really not that interested in spending £400 on a cake, it just doesn't seem worth it to me! But for somebody else, that may not be a place where they want to compromise.
It is also important to look out how much you can afford to pay, so look at how much income is and how much your outgoings are and see how much you are able to put aside. Most people book their weddings two years in advance and so are able to pay for things over time. It's a good idea to set up a savings account when you get engaged and pay in monthly so that when you need to pay for things you are prepared.
Creating The Budget
Most blog planners have a section for a budget but it can also be really helpful to put together an excel spreadsheet. Break the wedding down into all of the different categories and then decide how much you want to spend on each of them. It's a good idea to look up how much the average is for each category so you can set a realistic budget that'll you actually be able to stick to.
I am planning for our wedding to come in at under half of the national average. In order for me to come up with this number I looked at all of the different catergories; where I could cut costs and decided what was important to me.
How I Plan To Save Money
There are many fees that can't be changed, for example the Church fees are set fees that everyone has to pay. There are places meanwhile that I can cut costs, such as the cake, bridesmaid dresses and wedding stationary. I aim do to do all the wedding stationary myself, get the bridesmaid dresses from Asos and the cake from M&S. I also plan to do a lot of it myself, and DIY as much as possible.
There are so many websites that have budget planners so you can keep track of what you are spending and check you're staying on budget.
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