It is not an easy task to accurately figure out a wedding budget checklist. Weddings themselves aren’t necessarily expensive ceremonies, it’s what you choose to do to honour that ceremony where the pounds add up. After your creative proposal ideas are long forgotten, it can often be a case of designing the most lavish day of your life. Especially you lack the simple tricks to come up with a clear budget.

Developing a precise wedding budget requires you to consider your savings, prepare for emergent costs, and make necessary deductions that may increase the expenses. This article discusses the steps of creating a reasonable budget and checklist for your wedding without reliance on the wedding allowance calculator.

Consider the Cash Available

Here’s the first thing for your wedding budget checklist. The step towards a successful wedding is knowing precisely the amount of money you intend to spend on this event. In most cases, the money to be spent comes from three main sources, including: Savings; the total amount saved up by you and your fiancée while working.

Usually, people have three-month savings for emergencies, besides the retirement fund. Therefore, a part of the savings can be set aside for the upcoming wedding.

Savings from the current income; in most cases, a budget for living expenses and other issues, such as settling debts, loans, and fees for kids. However, a certain percentage of the income must be set aside each month to cater for the wedding. To avoid confusion, you should save this amount in a separate account.

Finally, contributions from family and friends; yet another source of money that you can use to foot wedding bills. Always appreciate the contributions from loved ones, such as parents and close friends. The money contributed goes a long way in covering the expenses before, during, or even after the wedding ceremony.

Photo, BRUNO EMMANUELLE.

Track Your Expenses

From fancy and extravagant dresses to women’s and mens wedding rings, engagement parties to honeymoons, there’s probably a lot of expense already accounted for. And that’s before the big day itself! To create a budget that works for you during the wedding, consider having clearly defined guidelines of your expenses, distinguishing them into three main categories. These could include the actual costs, the modified, and the estimated costs.

You can arrive at the estimated costs by researching the wedding costs, either from the locality or on the internet. The modified expenses are the recommendations, proposals, and suggestions from the chosen vendors. Finally, the actual costs are the amount paid to the vendors in the end.

The estimated expenses are subject to adjustments, especially the value of the setting or venue. Moreover, it is worth finding out whether the vendor estimates include the current tax and make necessary adjustments to avoid shock inflation.

Apart from the three categories above, including the costs for extras or miscellaneous. This stands for the items that you are likely to forget, such as the invitation cards, corkage, finger food, or parking varlets.

Photo, Andreas Rønningen.

Be Ready for Surprises

As we continue this wedding budget checklist, it is worth noting that certain expenses that seem trivial initially may swell in the end, requiring you to dig deeper into your pocket.

Therefore, before buying anything related to the wedding budget, it is vital to read through the vendor’s printed proposal and, where necessary, scrap off or cut down certain expenses, including: Transportation; possibly hiring specific services out of your localities, such as photography or wedding bands in London where things are exceptionally expensive.

This means you have to incur the cost of their transportation, whether it is a van or a jet. Therefore, consider the transportation options on the contract before nodding to the offer.

Setup fees; including the expenses incurred on cleaning and general tidying up of the venue. The planners; remember that a good wedding ceremony requires a professional event designer. In case such a service is costly, you may opt for a day coordinator at lower prices. Therefore, have this as a consideration when budgeting for your wedding.

Photo, Ellie Cooper.

Consider Your Charges

This is the most sensitive area that sees many people go into debts for the case of a fancy wedding. To avoid the same mistake, keep off credit cards. According to financial experts, it is unhealthy to charge for anything that you cannot pay for within 30 days or less.

It is also worth using a 0% purchase APR card to buy items and use the rewards earned during your honeymoon or paying off related debts.

Focus on Saving

This may sound ridiculous because, before or during weddings, people are preoccupied with spending, with little focus on saving. How do you save? Adjust the guest list; work with the least possible number of guests. This reduces extra expenses on transportation, the cake, welcome bag, and other favours.

Work on the venue; to minimise costs incurred on the venue, go for the one you can comfortably afford. You may also choose a space that already has all the necessary items or bring in your own items, depending on which option is cheaper.

Getting off-peak; this option allows you to save a lot by choosing to wed in a more secluded environment. For instance, you may consider a wedding on a Sunday, in Winter.

This type of wedding requires no guests or expensive wines, enabling you to save the extra cash. Limit the number of vendors; to reduce the number of vendors at your wedding, go for those capable of offering more than one service. For instance, go for a DJ that is also an excellent lighting service provider. With this trick, you reduce the expenses incurred on settling bills, saving the extra cash.

Photo, Nick Karvounis.

The Bottom Line

As you have learned from this article, it is easy to develop an effective and friendly wedding budget checklist without relying on the allowance calculator. I have summed up the most basic ways of guiding you through developing a wedding budget. However, just having a budget is not enough, especially when you want your wedding to run smoothly without financial hitches. The paper just guides you through your spending.

Still, you are the one to make supportive decisions in ensuring that the budget works for you and your fiancée. As you follow through these steps, be ready for any last-minute emergencies. Therefore, expand your budget to cover even the unseen expenses to sufficiently cushion yourself from unnecessary borrowing.