How to budget for your wedding.

Where to begin, how to price out each vendor, and when to know when to splurge.

Your wallet & sanity will thank you!

Before I get into all the goodies about a wedding budget, let me introduce myself. My name is Maria B Lung. I am a fine art wedding photographer based in New York. I mainly photograph weddings, elopements, and engagements, but before starting my own business, I was a bride-to-be myself.

The number one thing that stressed me and my now husband out while wedding planning was spending too much money, and not having enough money for all the things we dreamed of having at our wedding. The genius that my husband is got out our smart phones and created a wedding budget, which was by far the best thing we could have done for both our wallets and for my sanity.

Make a list of vendors you want & need

Like with any party planning, you need to decide what are the essentials and what are the secondary vendors you might want.

A lot of people opt out on videographers (I didn’t for my wedding and I’m so glad I didn’t), but I understand not everyones budgets can afford a videographer, photo booth, live band…etc. It is important to be on the same page when it comes to these decisions but also might take some compromises. If you have always dreamed of having a live band at your wedding/event but cannot afford it, consider a hybrid! There are some performers out there that work with DJs.

The list below includes some of the most popular event vendors to consider for hire:

Venue / Wedding Planner
Catering & Cake
Photographer/ Videographer
Band/ DJ
Attire
Flowers/Deco
Favors & Gifts
Stationary
Transportation

*most photographers include engagement sessions in their wedding packages*

*when reviewing your guest list, remove people who didn’t congratulate you, or haven’t talked to/ seen in person for 2 years or more*

Create a realistic budget for each vendor

I say realistic because you shouldn’t budget out $1,000 for a photographer when you know most photographers in your area start at $2,000+. Go online and research each vendor type in your area, and articles about “Wedding cost in your state here”. This site is extremely helpful for calculating costs of weddings in your area, and if you’re curious what it’s like in other states, check out this article posted by Insider.

Although you may think it’s awkward, I absolutely suggest you ask friends and family for recommendations. You could be pleasantly surprised with how much they spent on their vendors.

Lastly, don’t forget to budget in tips for hair & makeup, band/DJ, waiters/ reception staff, valets. These small things add up and can bring last-minute stress when not accounted for in your wedding budget.

Treat yourself, but stay balanced.

Don’t be afraid to spend a little more on things you know you’ve always wanted, like tropical flower bouquets or travel for a vendor you love but lives a few hours or states away. You will always find the things you are willing to go over budget for and it will help you realize what is really important to you and your fiancé. The key is to stay balanced. When you decide to go over budget on one thing you have to take away from another category so that you are not over spending on everything and defeating the whole purpose of having a budget.

When booking our band we were obsessed with one of the singers, but to add him to our list it made us go over budget. It was easy to say f*** it, we want him, let’s do it. But once we signed the contract we had to look at our other vendor categories and had to make adjustments. We ended up lowering our budget for flowers/decorations. And yes, in the end the singer was worth every penny!

*Engaged couples tip: A great way to make yourself stay in budget is to make a deal that any extra money you save on the wedding will go toward your honeymoon. Trust me, you’ll want to go all out for that!*

Work with vendors that will work with you

Choose vendors that will ask and work with your budget.
Most vendors will have you fill out a contact form and ask for all that information, so that way right from the start they can work with you.

I found this tip extremely helpful with our florist. Remember how I said we took money out of our floral category? This made staying in budget really important and I so appreciated when my florist did so while sticking to the style I wanted. My florist was able to get their option on flowers that were in bloom that time of year.

Keep in mind, if you’re inquiring about a vendor and you know their starting price is $6,000, don’t ask them to do work for $2,000. That’s just embarrassing. Only hire vendors that are in your price range – you can even ask that vendor you really love that is out of budget if they know anyone that is in your price range with a similar look.

Buy items that could be reused.

Florists might suggest renting items such as candles or vases, which can add up quickly. One great alternative option is deciding to buy that stuff on your own online. Not only do you save money, but you get to bring everything home with you once the wedding is over or can even re-sell them to make some return money.

Some items that I bought on my own were votive candles, cocktail vases, an envelope box that turned into our wedding photo box. All of these items are all over my house as decorations, and its nice because they are little reminders of my wedding.

Add your own creative flair!

One bride I know took this to another level and made her own bouquet with silk flowers. It was absolutely stunning, super elegant and didn’t look like fake flowers, which is always huge. These type of bouquets can be preserved and passed on too.

Like I say to all of my clients, wedding planning is the most exciting yet the most stressful time of your life. Creating little things like a budget gets rid of the constant question “can we afford this?” because it is laid out prior to even searching for vendors. Follow these tips and I promise you will feel more confident in the wedding planning process.

HAPPY PLANNING!