Wedding Budgets are always a difficult conversation to have. In recent months, suppliers have seen a slight shift in spending patterns.
Long engagements, saving for the perfect day is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Bridal shops are reporting more brides getting married within a year of the engagement, purchasing samples or preloved dresses. Other suppliers have also noticed a rise in short notice enquiries.
Why the change? Suggestions have been made that couples who got engaged during covid are now picking up their planners.
Since Covid, there has been a rise in more intimate weddings, a smaller wedding generally ties in with a smaller budget. Some quert if it is due to rise in cost of living. With some businesses unable to keep afloat, couples are opting for a shorter planning period that is less likely to be affected by businesses closing.
The obvious shift in spending will have an impact on budgets. With the average wedding still costing over £25k, will the trend of smaller weddings and shorter engagements bring the average wedding budget down?
How to budget your wedding?
I hate to state the obvious, but you should be starting with what you have, or are willing to spend on your wedding day and work backwards from there (we will come to why your budget is most important in just a second). It is your wedding and you can do it any way you want. You can be as traditional or as unconventional as you wish there really aren’t any rules.
The biggest proportion of your budget will go towards the venue, followed by catering, photographer, videographer, entertainment, flowers and decorations, attire, ceremony, stationary, rings and favours and gifts, cake and transportation. However, my advice would be to prioritise these things in terms of importance to you. You may wish to cut back in some areas to create a larger budget elsewhere. Your budget plan isn’t set in stone, it’s a guide.
Ideally, you should be breaking down your budget like this:
Venue and catering – 45%
Photographer/ videographer – 12%
Entertainment – 10%
Flowers and Decorations – 10%
Attire – 9%
Ceremony – 3%
Stationary – 3%
Rings – 2%
Favours and gifts – 2%
Cake – 2%
Transportation – 2%
But why is your budget more important than the guest list? If you have 10k as a budget, having 100 guests for a traditional sit down wedding isn’t going to be enough. You either need to reduce the number of guests or be open to a less traditional vibe for your day or up your budget.
With 10k as your budget, you could consider venues with catering for around £4500. Some venues allow for exclusive use with package deals and others you can build yourself.
Top tip. Ask about linens, chair and table hire. Some venues require you to hire these things which will affect your budget.
Earlier, I mentioned prioritising your budget. Remember that the above are only a guide. You can ditch areas and steal the odd percent here and there to make it fit, but the moment you go over 100%, you start going over budget.
Let’s keep using 10k as the budget for this exercise. Not everything on the wedding planning list will be as important to the next person. Literally reiterating above, You may wish to splash out on other arrears and forgo others. For example you may not need transportation as you are staying in the hotel you are getting married in the night before the wedding, or a friend may offer to drive you because they have a nice car. You may decide that £200 on a wedding cake is not enough for the cake of your dreams and therefore steal a bit of your transportation budget to cover it. Now you have £400 towards a pretty spectacular wedding cake.
Wedding websites and invitation emails are becoming more and more popular. With apps like Canva, invitations and save the dates can be produced for free and sent for free (free sounds good doesn’t it). However, dont forget the stationary budget also refers to place setting and table plan. Alternatively you may really want to have invitations. It is your wedding and you should be planning the day how you want it not how you feel it should.
By prioritising your budget you will be able to see where you can cut or compromise.
£1200 would get you a pretty good photographer to cover most of your day but that wouldn’t leave you any room for a videographer. This may be perfect for some but others may wish to reduce the photography package to be able to afford both.
There are things to factor in. There is no cutting back on the basics and regardless of your budget. Fees to register your marriage and legally get wed are set fees. If you get married outside of the district you live you will also have to pay fees to the district you get married. 3% of your budget for the ceremony may not be realistic if you have a small budget to begin with.
