29
Feb
2012
By Boho
Weddings are amazing! It really is going to be the best day of your life, but when you start planning your wedding it can all seem pretty daunting! Where do you start? What do you need to do first?
Well as boring as it may be setting your budget and doing this realistically is the first and probably THE most important thing you need to do before you start anything! money may not be the thing you want to discuss but doing it now will save heartache and arguments further down the line!
So how do you set a wedding budget? I know so many couples who simply pick a figure out of the sky as that is what they think or are told a wedding should cost. BUT a wedding will cost what you can afford and you really shouldn’t go over this!1)So first of all do some research! Find out how much things like venues, marquees, catering and photography costs, ring up suppliers, ask friends, but DON’T guess! Guessing is the worst thing you can do as you will never get a realistic view point which in turn will make your budget all wrong.
2)Once you know how much things cost sit down as a couple or a family and figure out whom is bringing in what to the wedding budget, will you be paying for it all as a couple? Or will parents or family be contributing? Don’t be afraid to ask, they will be appreciative that you are trying to get your finances in order at such an early stage in the planning. Don’t presume that your Mum and Dad will have some money in a pot for you; you need to know this before you start the planning process. Be realistic about what you have and what you can save. But my biggest bit of advice is DO NOT take out a wedding loan! No one wants to go into their wedding in debt, still paying for it years after!
3)Once you have your budget set and you know how much you have and what things actually cost get yourself an excel spread sheet or budget planner, or just a big list and write down everything that you think you will need for the wedding….and I mean everything from the big things like venue and catering to the smaller things like favours and decoration.
4) Now go through that list and each of you rank from 1 to 5 how important each thing is to you. For example one of you may think that photography is very important and worth investing money in, while the other may think that wedding cars are something you can do without. Once you have this sortedcross reference them and then you will know the most important areas you wish to place your budget. This will save disappointment later on down the line. (and I speak from first hand experience!)
Now you should have everything listed that you need for your wedding in order of importance and a good idea of what each of those things is going to cost. Now you can start gigging things around and see where you can save some money and where you really need to spend it.
It’s so important to do this as a couple at the beginning stage of your planning; otherwise you could end up with a un realistic budget later on down the line as well as quite a few arguments!.
I’d love to hear your stories and any advice you may have for people starting out at the beginning stages of their planning. Do you have any horror stories? Or any success stories? Feel free to chip in below.
Big Boho Love
Kelly xx
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Comments
Laura C All I would say is definately talk about this with your family before you start planning, don’t assume that they will/won’t want to help.
My fiance and I were all set on planning a small, low budget (£5k) wedding, as this is what we could afford. We felt bad asking for any money and thought it was our wedding, so we’d pay for it. My parents were horrified when they heard of our low-budget plans, and very firmly told me that I was their only child, and an only grandchild and that they had been saving for this day since I’d been born. A complete shock to me – but I now understand that the marriage is just us two; the wedding is for our friends and family to celebrate and they want to help us make it a day that the whole family can enjoy.
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