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An important foundational step of wedding planning is setting your budget. We know budgeting can be an overwhelming task, which is why we have a free downloadable to walk you through the steps. We are by no means financial advisors, however, we have over thirty years of combined experience on our team plus we’ve executed over 570 weddings. We are sharing what we’ve seen work well for couples time and time again. Setting a budget is of paramount importance in the wedding planning process. It helps you stay on track, helps you stay organized, and helps you make value driven decisions based on your unique priorities. Your wedding is not the time to go into credit card debt, nor is it the time to dip into your emergency fund or retirement accounts. Setting an intentional, objective, factual budget will set you up for success from day one.
Before diving into setting your own budget, let’s take a look at the statistics. According to The Knot and other reliable sources, the national cost for a wedding in 2023 was between $35,000-$40,000. The average spend in Chicago and the Chicago suburbs was $60,000. These statistics aren't here to scare you or to imply that this is the price range you will have or should have for your wedding. This is simply here as food for thought and as a starting point. We’ve seen floral budgets that have been larger than some of our entire wedding budgets. It is a spectrum, there is no such thing as “too high” or “too low”.
Our potentially controversial opinion: these stats are sort of worthless. Why do we hold this belief? The national average does not represent your unique situation, your preferences or priorities. These stats don’t fully represent the hyperlocal market that is wedding planning. This cost will vary from person to person, vendor to vendor and city to city. These are simply averages. Regardless of your feelings towards these statistics, they are an interesting starting space. Knowing these stats can take away some of that sticker shock you may experience once you get to vendors and venues.
A stat that we find to be most meaningful and practical is that roughly 50% of your budget will be spent on “the bones” of your wedding reception. This includes the physical space, catering, bar, tables, chairs, linens, table settings and all other essentials. This is valuable to know once you start your venue search. It will provide you insight as to approximately how much you can spend comfortably on a venue.
If all of this money talk makes your heart palpitate like mine, feel grounded in this: all you need for your wedding is a legal document and the love you share with your partner. Your day will be meaningful and memorable regardless of the budget you set for the day. As you’re starting to get into the nitty gritty of planning and budgeting, make this commitment to one another– “our love is more important than X”. Our love is more important than a chocolate fountain. Our love is more important than a party bus. Stay anchored in the priorities you have set for yourselves and remember above all else, this day is about your love for each other, it is the reason for the celebration!
Now that we’ve eased some of that sticker shock, it’s time to set your budget. Set aside two or three hours of uninterrupted time to work through this conversation. Your goal here is to set a budget that is objective and factual. We mean the facts as they exist today, not what you “hope will be” or “what may be”, but what they are right now. You will likely need to pull up bank statements, credit cards statements, pay stubs and your monthly budget if you have one. We highly encourage you to listen to this episode of 52 ‘Til I Do on Spotify or Apple Podcasts as you are doing this exercise. Be sure to grab our free downloadable too!
Perhaps you’ve been storing away some dollars for a down payment, a vehicle, house renovations, or a trip. Examine if this money is tied up for a specific purpose or if it is money that can be reallocated. To be perfectly clear, do not spend your emergency fund or your retirement fund. These funds are tied up for specific purposes and that is not the point of this exercise. If you’ve determined there is money set aside in the form of savings that you’d like to put toward the wedding, you can do this in one of two ways. First, you can allocate a specific dollar figure, or you can choose to use a specific percentage and get your dollar figure this way. Either way, record that number in the third box of our free downloadable.
Ask yourselves, “is there room in our monthly budget for additional contributions?” If that answer is yes, determine how much you can and want to contribute monthly. If you are in a salaried position, this can be a bit easier to figure out because you know how much money to expect every set amount of days. If you are a gig worker, an hourly worker or a commission based worker, this can be a bit tricker to land on a number here. Consider how much can be contributed monthly to reach our goals here without spreading yourselves too thin. If you are skipping trips, date nights, starbucks, repeatedly for the duration of your engagement- you will burn yourself out! Once you’ve landed on a comfortable number, take the dollar figure you want to contribute monthly and put it into our spreadsheet along with the intended length of your engagement. If you are using your own tools, multiply that dollar figure by the targeted duration of your engagement.
Many couples pay for their wedding completely on their own. Some couples may have people in their lives who offer to contribute. Their contribution may be money or it may be certain items such as attire, cake or invitations. If you have any hesitations that this money won’t materialize, don’t put their contribution on your budgeting spreadsheet. In addition, we encourage you to set clear expectations with the person offering and receive their expectations before you say yes or no to the contribution. If you are sure they will follow through and give you that particular dollar figure or provide that specific item, be sure to note it in your spreadsheet.
What if the overall budget number you come up with does not meet your expectations? Perhaps you’re looking at it and thinking you’d never want to spend that much on a wedding. Perhaps you were hoping to set a higher budget for your wedding day. Remember, this is a personal preference and there are no right or wrong answers! You can go back through the steps again and see if there is an opportunity to move funds around in your savings or contribute a bit more monthly. Alternatively, you may also want to consider extending your targeted engagement duration to give yourselves more time to save. Whatever you choose, there is no wrong answer!
You’ve almost completed all the activities to build a strong wedding planning foundation. Listen along with us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you love to stream!
Photo Credit to JNA Visuals
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