This is one of the most important wedding planning tools as well as one of the first tasks you should tackle once you are engaged. When you have a budget you are not only telling your money where to go you are also able to prioritize what’s important to the two of you. I would also be remise if I didn’t say one thing here as well…. and that is this is YOUR wedding day so try not to think you need to follow the guidelines you will find in most magazines or blog posts that say 7% of your budget on this or 15% on that. You cannot put a value on your values and don’t sacrifice your dream when in reality saving and budgeting will make it a possibility when it feels like an impossibility… this I know as we begin to plan out our wedding budget. What I value you may not have at the top of your list it may be at the bottom of your list… so this is something you two should decide together as a couple without outside opinions.

Before you go through the list and really start prioritizing things in your budget I want you to do me a favour…

I want you to close your eyes…. now visualize a few years from now you’re enjoying your Sunday morning breakfast together and decide to snuggle up on the couch with a warm cup of coffee and look back through your wedding album… what are the moments, the details, the people in those images that years from now you will be so happy you made room for in your budget. Is it the guest list that of who is there? Is it the album in your hands? Is it the flowers on the tables? Is it the voices you get to hear over again in your video? The dress? The venue? Whatever it is write it down as though a budget isn’t an issue. Now write that down in step 4 and find a way to negotiate other details of the wedding to fit that into your budget.

Here are 5 things to consider when planning your wedding budget:

1. Write out who has committed to helping contribute to the wedding financially and how much.
2. Focus on your savings; what are your monthly incomes, expenses, set a monthly percentage to set aside into the wedding fund. Set up a savings account just for the wedding. Get an account that allows you to round up your purchases and keep that fund as bonus wedding money (you will be surprised at how quick that will grow!)
3. Your guest count. This is going to be the greatest factor on the cost of your wedding as it indicates the size of venue, the food, the drinks, the chairs and linens, etc.
4. What are each of your non-negotiables? What is one thing you each will not sacrifice for a price? Is it the dress? The groomsmen gifts? The photography? The flowers? Do a serious sit down together and make this list. I can tell you our non-negotiable is so important to us we won’t do the wedding until we have the savings set aside for ours.
5. Monitor your expenses. I can tell you that when you commit to look at your savings account consistently and go through what you are spending it makes you more aware and cautious of the extravagant purchases.

Download my free google doc wedding budget to get started on your planning process today!