Wedding budgeting can feel stressful, even the ‘budget’ sounds a little scary.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
In fact, having a clear financial plan for your wedding can really help you to make decisions on spending, keep your finances on track and take a lot of stress out of your wedding budgeting 🙂
But first, you need to have this clearly in your mind:
Remember what makes a good wedding!
If you truly don’t want your wedding budget to feel like a burden and become crazily stressful, the most important thing is not to lose sight of the ‘why’ in all of it.
You want to get married that’s for sure. But you don’t need to have a ‘wedding’ (the BIG party).
So why are you doing it?
If I’m reading your mind correctly it must be because you want to have the most wonderful celebration with everyone that matters most to you as you start your journey into married life together?!
Your guests are going to have an amazing day with you regardless of how much you can afford to spend on your wedding. The things that you and your guests will remember most are the people! After all they’re the ones that make your wedding so special.
No one that loves you is going to come away from your wedding thinking ‘that was a bit of a poor show, I wish their flowers were more elaborate’ or ‘their choice or decor totally ruined my day!’
Personally, I’ve found that weddings on a tight budget are just as joyous as those with more wealth behind them. And I’ve never met a couple that wishes; ‘If only we could have spent more money on our wedding, it would have been so much better’. I have only meet those that wished they’d made better arrangements so they could have done more of things more the way they wanted and had more of a relaxed time.
Now on with the tips for stress-free wedding budgeting!
1) Be Realistic
Talk openly with each other about your finances and be realistic about what you can afford and how much you can expect to save for your wedding in the coming months.
Being clear from the outset will save you a lot of stress because you’ll know what you are aiming for and how you’ll get there. It will also help you avoid disappointment later on because you would have weighed-up how much you can spend on each area of your wedding depending on your priorities and where you see value.
2) The good old bank of Mum and Dad
It’s helpful to talk to your parents early in the planning stages to see if they are able to contribute to your wedding budget in any way however small. I know parents and grandparents of couples have gifted them with contributions towards or even offering to paying outright for certain parts of your day! This will help you know what your maximum spend could be in advance and it will help you to budget for your wedding without the stress knowing you need to find all the finances yourselves
But don’t let any ‘gifts’ exercise control over your day. It’s best to turn down an offer (as difficult as it maybe), if it means compromising on your vision for your day. You will feel so much better about your wedding planning for doing it. All too often, one of the biggest regrets couples have is wishing they had the day they truly wanted.
3) Build a buffer
Its so easy to forget to add on all the little details in to your budget for your big day. Nothing is guarantees to make you feel more stressed than realising that you haven’t accounted for small necessities and there’s no funds available. You’ll also be able to handle the unexpected like an extra guest turning up (it can happen).
Things that are really easy to over look include: stamps for postage of invites, thank you cards, more than one hair and makeup trial, hen & stag do costs, stationary, outfit alterations etc.
Build yourself a financial buffer into your budget, so that if something crops up you won’t need to worry about going over your wedding budget because you’ll have it all covered.
4) Be flexible- you are the boss not your budget
Finances are fluid. If you decide you want something because its valuable to you, you have the flexibility to re-jig your budget to free up more cash for a spend that excites you. That’s the great thing about being on top of your budget. You get to decide how to allocate it based on your priorities and they may change over time too so keep an open mind (Also, your budget might also change too!)
So instead of thinking, we can’t ‘afford’ to have this amazingly wonderful supplier work with us on our wedding even thought they’re the prefect fit… Try thinking, could we hire them if we saved on or scrapped (insert list of boring items / things that no one really cares about)?
If you get creative with your spending and you are clear on your priorities, you can afford the things you really want from your wedding day! So, opting for your preferred suppliers doesn’t have to be stress-full and it can fit within your wedding budget.
5) Avoid 3 years of beans on toast – Stay within your means
Getting your marriage off to an incredible start is far more important than your wedding day celebrations that last all of 24 hours.
If you stay within your means by not going way over budget into debt, you’ll save your relationship a lot of stress because you wont be forced to live on beans on toast for the next 3 years!
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