Your budget doesn’t have to be a scary topic. Your vision can come to life on any budget, but knowing where to allocate funds and knowing how to search for vendors is key. Today, I want to give you a general breakdown of your wedding budget.
1. The Venue
Since we have been talking about venues, I mentioned that the venue cost should fall into the 37% range of your overall budget. Keep in mind, that if your venue offers additional services, you can combine the totals/percentages in the provided categories.
Venue usually is 37% of your overall budget.
2. Catering
Catering is the second highest category as this is the calculated price per person when hiring caterers. This category gets about 28% of your budget. Keep a good count of how many children are at your event because caterers can sometimes offer a discounted “kids meal” option.
Don’t be afraid to provide your budget to your prospective caterer either, because they can help navigate you through their menu to provide the best options to meet your budget. You can also negotiate for a free tasting or coffee service add-on as well. Never hurts to ask!
Catering usually is 28% of your overall budget.
3. Music
If you are looking to have live music at your reception, this would be the 3rd highest category coming in at about 12%. If you are looking for a musician just for the ceremony then it would come down to 3%. The other option is to have a DJ who can cover both ceremony and reception which would take up about 5% of your budget and you can allocate the additional 7% from the live music to another category.
Live music usually is 12% of your overall budget versus a DJ at 5%.
3. Wedding Bands and Bridal Party Attire
Now, a category most couples forget to factor in is the wedding bands and the bridal party attire. The groom and bride will need to select wedding bands, if they choose, to be presented at the altar. This category is about 9% of your budget.
Then the couple’s attire is usually allocated about 7% of the budget. Then the bridal party attire is allocated 4% if you choose to pay for this expense. Then hair and makeup should be allocated about 3%.
Wedding bands are usually 9% of your overall budget and attire is 10%.
4. Floral
To enhance the beauty of your venue, floral comes in next at 8% of your budget. When purchasing florals, consider in-season items and ask your florist if there are any money-saving tips like providing your own thrifted vases or what flowers they have in bulk.
A way to save money on floral is to purchase your own bulk floral and for fun, you and your bridesmaids or mother/mother-in-law can take a floral arranging class together. As mentioned above, thrifting vases or garage sales is a great way to save money and give your wedding a more personal feel.
Floral usually is 37% of your overall budget.
So, this marks part one of planning your wedding budget. Let me know if you have any questions because I am happy to help!
Thank you for checking out my blog! Happy planning and I hope you enjoy the planning process of your Sweet Soi·rée!
Cheers,
~ Your Event Extraordinaire Em
