Nothing kills the ‘planning-our-dream-wedding’ mood faster than the B word: Budget. Amiright?
On average, a couple will enlist 14(1) vendors on their wedding day; including photographers, videographers, cake makers, florists, wedding planners, DJs, hair stylists, makeup artists, and event stylists. That’s a lot of vendors to manage! And that doesn’t even include the venue or celebrant.
But surprisingly it’s not the number of vendors that kills most couple’s budget. The biggest mistake couples make is setting a rough budget prior to researching their vendors properly and therefore underestimating the true cost of products and services.
A recent study by Easy Weddings(2) found that on average, couples expected to pay $21,000 on their wedding day, but ended up spending closer to 31,000. This is one of the main reasons couples decide to hire a wedding planner; we know where to expect hidden, additional, un-forecasted costs.
Here’s a list of five wedding expenses to make sure you budget for.
1) Beauty treatments
You’re a smart cookie so you’ve already budgeted for your hair, makeup and spray tan for the big day. However, it’s important to budget for your trial sessions with your chosen suppliers. Spending a bit of extra cash for your trial hair and makeup is absolutely worth it – there would be nothing worse than not feeling your best on the big day. Remove the risk and pay for a trial session with one, maybe two, hair and makeup options and you’ll sleep soundly the night before your wedding knowing the next day you’ll be looking more like Rosie Huntington-Whitely and not Beetlejuice.
2) Bridal party
Asking your nearest and dearest to be a part of your bridal party is a privilege and extremely exciting. But one thing that couples need to ensure is that they’ve set out a clear budget for whatever it is you choose to pay for for your party members. It’s absolutely ok to pay for as much or as little as you like, but setting this out very clearly for both you and them will save a lot of dollars and potentially, friendships. Dresses, shoes, suits, makeup, gifts, accommodation, jewellery – it all adds up. If you’re all on the same page, there’ll be no surprises for anyone at the end.
3) Back up plan
At the risk of sounding blindingly obvious, a wedding is an event and should therefore be treated like one. It requires a run sheet, a budget, and contingency plans. If your wedding is outdoors, it’s a no brainer you’re going to need a wet weather plan. What does that plan look like? Have you factored it into the budget? Having an “incase” budget is wise for candles if there’s a blackout, you need something sent in the post urgently, or (and you’d be surprised how often this happens) you need to pay for an extra head at a table. Always, always have a back up plan budget.
4) Pre and Post Wedding To-Dos
For many couples the wedding day is just one of the days in a string of celebratory events. Some couples hold a pre-wedding dinner the night before, or a brunch the day after. These still need to be budgeted for. Furthermore, incorporating some finer details like Thank You stationery, postage, taxis and couriers also need to be accounted for.
5) Day of Coordinator
We love DIY wedding couples! We love their enthusiasm and go-get-em attitude. However sometimes the running of a wedding on the day can become all too much for the wedding couple. Not because they’re incapable, but because they simply can’t be in three places at once. Think managing florists, late DJs, lost photographers, missing cake knives, wrong centrepieces. All of these little things add up, and trust me, you don’t want to be dealing with these mishaps when you’re meant to be sipping champagne with your new wifey or husband. That’s why we’re here! Plus, we’ve seen it and done it all before, so chances are we have a spare extension chord, a bag full of emergency bobby-pins or double sided tape, a kitten for crying babies and a wand for perfect weather.
Our advice? Save yourself sanity, stress and cents (thousands of them!) and prepare, delegate and watch the details. If you’re planning a wedding and have questions, remember we’re just an email away. We’d love to hear from you.
K x
Source:
Wedding Wire, 2019, https://go.weddingwire.com/newlywed-report
Easy Weddings, 2018, https://www.easyweddings.com.au/business/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/04/Easy-Weddings-2018-Survey.pdf
