Weddingbee

I’ve seen budgets come up quite a bit recently, so I thought I’d throw in my two cents for those of you who are at the beginning of your planning. Using this method, we were able to stick pretty honestly to our budget so far:

1. Before you set a total “budget” number, decide what will be included in that number.

2. Then get a quote from 2-3 vendors in each category to get an idea of what is to be expected in your area. Our budget categories are as follows:

a) Reception
b) Attire/Beauty
c) Ceremony
d) Flowers/decorations
e) Music
f) Photography
g) Stationery
h) Transportation/Lodging
i) Favors

3. Then set your budget from this information. At this point you’ll want to sit down with both sets of parents (or whoever else is going to help pay) and get an idea of what they will contribute. This will help you determine what (if anything) you and your fiance will have to save.

4. Include tax, tips, delivery/shipping cost in all your budget items, because this is a fast way to blow your budget. I can’t stress this enough! If you have these percentages factored in from the beginning, you’ll be much better off.

5. Put it all in one place (I used excel b/c I heart excel). Once you have an idea for each category — fill in the expenses as you start to make commitments so you can see where you may have to cut back.

I hope this helps some of you who are just starting to plan! If you are successful you might just have enought money left over for this:

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