April 7, 2017

Kelly Strong Events: Building an Event BudgetLet’s face it…for your wedding, your budget is a big deal. You make every decision based on what fits best in your budget. You cut back in certain areas so you can have room in others categories. You decide which categories are the most important to you and adjust accordingly.

When building a budget, approximate percentages are always helpful to be aware of. As a general rule of thumb, the breakdown for a wedding budget looks like this:

  • Reception: 50%
  • Flowers & Decor: 10%
  • Music: 10%
  • Attire: 10%
  • Photo/Video: 10%
  • Stationery: 2%
  • Ceremony: 2%
  • Favors/Gifts: 2%
  • Wedding Rings: 3%
  • Transportation: 1%

Once again, you will make adjustments based on your specific circumstances and what is important to you. If your venue needs a lot of decor, you’ll have to increase that category but maybe that means your reception budget will go down. If you want to have ample transportation for your guests, you might need to increase that percentage and find another to reduce. If you have your heart set on a certain photographer, adjust the categories accordingly to find the space needed. When you have the total amount you wish to spend on your wedding, using excel you will be able to quickly formulate the amount in each category.

Rememeber…

Don’t forget the not so fun stuff – taxes, fees, and gratuity. For a guideline on gratuity, check out this previous post. These add-ons aren’t fun or glamorous but it’s all a part of the process. Make sure you ask each vendor for their taxes or service fees – never assume they’re the same (especially with working with out of state vendors.)

When dealing with any budget, be thorough in understanding exactly what you will get from each vendor. Remember those pesky additional fees and always overestimate! If you take your time with your budget, there won’t be any surprises that put a damper on your big day.

If you have any questions about building a proper budget, send me an email!

Building a Wedding Budget