While there are a lot of guidelines out there about setting a budget for the engagement ring (e.g., 2 months' salary), there isn't enough guidance for my liking on what to set as a wedding budget! There are formulas and charts galore describing what percentage of your wedding budget should be devoted to what items (i.e. attire, food, photography, etc.) but my fiance and I are having a super hard time deciding on a target budget! We've seen a few reception halls in what we think is our price range, but really -- how do you know?? With so many options out there you can always spend less or you can always spend more... but I need help in determining the 'right' amount to spend. We live in the NYC area so things here are pricier in general and a lot of the websites that provide estimated costs of weddings just don't seem realistic to me. I'm one of those girls who has never bought anything full price and I consider myself a bargain shopper. Weddings are a whole different ballgame though! Any advice on this from brides in metro areas that are facing sticker shock but still want a 'nice' wedding? How do you get comfortable with choosing your budget, and in turn, your reception venue?
michesq
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Re: Setting a Wedding Budget?
i had a ballpark number we could afford comfortably that we could save for and not use any other money we had set aside for vacation or retirement.
luckily the RH was well w/i budget then - added the max # of guests into the budget (so over budgeted) then kept everything else reasonable
Kristina2009
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Re: Setting a Wedding Budget?
Are you set to a particular time of year or night of the week - if so, I would factor that in when budgeting.
FH and I booked our RH before really coming up with a budget. Our hall and our food where key for us so we booked that first and splurged - then we worked out a budget for the remaining stuff.
I think my suggestion would be to try and keep your hall at around 50% of your total budget. Others may disagree
ronnysbride
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Re: Setting a Wedding Budget?
My advice to you is, figure out what you and your fiance are willing to spend comfortably. When you are coming up with this number, do not consider the 'gifts' you think you'll be getting back. Also find out if any of your family members are planning on helping you. If they say yes, have them give you and estimate of how much they are giving you. Take those numbers, add them together and that's your budget.
Please don't go into debt planning your wedding. There is nothing worse than waking up the next day married and in debt.
sparklycat
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Re: Setting a Wedding Budget?
Posted by ronnysbride
My advice to you is, figure out what you and your fiance are willing to spend comfortably. When you are coming up with this number, do not consider the 'gifts' you think you'll be getting back. Also find out if any of your family members are planning on helping you. If they say yes, have them give you and estimate of how much they are giving you. Take those numbers, add them together and that's your budget.
Please don't go into debt planning your wedding. There is nothing worse than waking up the next day married and in debt.
this is excellent advice! Figure out the max you can spend and then plug in numbers. I used the knots budgeter, but I think there's one on this site too, and you can play with all the numbers.
Also, search for threads that talk about RH costs-- they will help you figure out what's normal and what good deals are. These boards have helped me figure out great prices for everything
siffleuse319
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Re: Setting a Wedding Budget?
Immediately after we got engaged, FH and I looked at our existing savings. We started with a lump sum from there and opened up a high yield savings account. Then we figured what we could each put in every month. Multiply that by the number of months left before the wedding and there was our total wedding budget. Nothing more...nothing less. It was more of a matter of 'What CAN we do' as opposed to what things cost. Because we stuck to our very stringent savings plan, We're having a beautiful wedding and honeymoon. You have to look at your personal finances and let them determine your wedding budget. Oh, and if you're fortunate enough to have help from family members, remember to add that in too. I have been using The Knot's budget analyzer and it's been the most valuable tool. I continue updating it with each vendor payment I make...we're right on track because of it. Good Luck.
MAY24BRIDE
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Re: Setting a Wedding Budget?
We asked a few couples who got married recently (like fbil and sil) what their budget was....and asked them to break it down for us for each vendor. Then FH & I sat down and figured out how much we could put aside each month and decided if the budget we were hearing from others was doable for us. Then, after seeing a few RH's, we were able to figure out what the 'norm' price range was for what we were looking for......put that into our budget with a higher than expected # of guests and adjusted everything else accordingly to make sure it still stayed in our total overall budget.
Then, when we went to see all our other vendors...we kept in mind what our budget was for each vendor and tried to stick as close to it as possible. And we're actually doing pretty well with our budget.
Make sure you include things like stamps and thank you card for the engagement party & shower....the little things add up too!
