If you’re engaged, one of the first things you’ll need to do is start planning your wedding budget. This can be a daunting task. However, it’s important to have a realistic idea of what you can afford before you start booking anything. Here are tips for wedding budget planning, including ways to save money and make the entire process go smoothly.
What is a Reasonable Budget for a Wedding?
The average cost of a wedding in Georgia is nearly $20,000 or $290 per guest. However, a “reasonable” wedding budget depends on the type of wedding you want, as a 10-guest micro wedding is significantly less expensive than a 300-person luxury wedding. Destination wedding budgets vary even more, as it depends on the location, dates, number of events, desired vendors, travel fare, and U.S. dollar conversion if your wedding is in another country.
Because of this, wedding budget planning looks different for every couple. Before you start solidifying the details of your wedding, you need to decide how much you have to spend. Then, your wedding planner can help you properly allocate funds to ensure you have the wedding of your dreams within your means.
How Much Does Planning a Wedding Cost?
When you invest in a wedding planner, the cost of planning a wedding decreases significantly. When you work with a wedding planner from the start, they can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars using their industry knowledge to find you the best vendors at the best price, negotiate contracts, and ensure you spend your budget efficiently. While it costs to hire a wedding planner, they can make your budget go even further, making the investment worthwhile.
5 Wedding Budget Planning Tips
As a newly engaged couple, one of the first big wedding planning decisions you’ll make together is solidifying your wedding budget. Here are five wedding budget planning tips to help this process go smoothly.
1. Decide on a Budget
Choosing a wedding budget starts by discussing who is contributing and how much. Often, the couple’s parents offer to pay for aspects of the wedding. While traditionally, the bride’s family pays for the ceremony and reception, nowadays, that isn’t always the case. Rather than assuming one way or another, have a conversation with anyone who has offered to contribute to your budget and clarify how much they are contributing so you know what you have to spend.
2. Set Realistic Expectations for Your Wedding
Once you know who is contributing to your wedding budget and how much you have to spend on your special day, you can start setting realistic expectations for your wedding. Make a list of priorities and essential vendors you definitely want. Then, your wedding planner can help ensure your budget is spent on these priorities.
3. Consider the Timing of Your Wedding and How It Will Affect Costs
If you’re looking for ways to save money on your wedding, consider when you’re getting married. Peak wedding season depends on your location. With Georgia’s mild climate, wedding season is typically March through November, so everything wedding-related will cost more during these months. Similarly, the most popular wedding day is Saturday, so having a weekday wedding during the off-season can often save you money on venue and vendor fees.
4. Determine Who is in Charge of Managing Finances
Your wedding budget covers your venue fee, florist, cake designer, caterer, wedding attire, band, decorations, rentals, and so much more. Effectively managing your budget is essential, as mismanagement could result in too much money spent in one area that takes away from another. Because of this, it’s a good idea to put one person in charge of keeping track of all wedding-related expenses. At Park Avenue Events, we maintain a detailed wedding budget for our couples to ensure everything is accounted for throughout the planning process.
5. Research Well Before Spending Any Money
Regardless of the size of your budget, when wedding budget planning, it’s essential to research venues and vendors before selecting one. You need to get an overall idea of pricing and availability before signing any contracts. When you hire a wedding planner, they do much of this research for you, presenting you with a list of venues and vendors who are available on your wedding date and within your budget. This saves you a lot of time and disappointment of searching for vendors only to find they are out of your price range or unavailable on your desired date.
Wedding Budget Planning is Made Easy with Park Avenue Events
The cost of your wedding will depend on the type of ceremony you are planning. Regardless, most couples agree that they want to have an event with minimal stress and fuss. This is where hiring a wedding planner comes in handy! A full-service wedding planner can help plan your entire day from start to finish by coordinating vendors, guests, food, décor–everything. When you hire someone who does this for a living, they can plan your dream wedding within your realistic budget. If you’re ready to plan a stress-free, luxury wedding within your budget, contact us today to learn more about our wedding planning services.