What Really Goes Into a Wedding Budget!
Congratulations, you’re engaged! Immediately following the flurry of congratulations and requests to see the ring will come the question: “When’s the big day?” With all of the adrenaline and excitement, you probably want to dive right into the planning process, get to the cake tastings, and say yes to your dream dress…and yes, wedding planning is totally as fun as it seems. But before you dive head first into perusing wedding blogs, creating Pinterest inspo boards, and ripping out pages from your favorite magazine, you’ll need to answer one, less glamorous but critical, question first: ‘What’s your wedding budget?’
Why is this important? Well, we want you to go into the planning process excited and prepared, which means not falling in love with options that blow your budget.
By knowing your budget up front, you can start honing in on your values and allows you to create the wedding of your dreams, while also leaving you feeling comfortable financially!
An important part of accomplishing this is avoiding getting your heart set on anything unrealistic. The budget really becomes your guiding light when choosing everything – from the location to the type of wedding planning service to the number of guests you invite and beyond! – as you go through this process.
Your budget can actually be your best friend in the planning process. It will help you narrow down your options, define your priorities, and prevent decision fatigue (there are so. many. options.). Once you know the total number you’re comfortable spending, you can then break your budget down into categories, following the suggested percentages below. That might sound overwhelming, but don’t worry – we’ll walk you through the process.
Got your total number in mind? Great! Next, we’ll take a look at market segments and what that means for you…
Market Segments
There are different market segments, and different vendors specialize in each segment. These market tiers are not the same for every location – and what makes up these makers is largely related to demand, experience, and overall budget of weddings they service. We’ll talk more about location in a bit. The market segments follow: economical, average, high end, luxury, and ultra luxury. Weddings in New England typically start around $40k for a economical wedding and go upwards of $200-300k for an ultra luxury wedding. There is a LOT of confusion on markets and it isn’t easily laid out of couples planning so we find that can often add to the stress of forming a budget. Our best recommendation for combating this is to first determine your realistic budget then find a vendor who specializes in that segment. You do that by asking the vendor about their typical wedding client looks like and the average budget that they work with!
Budget Variables
A wedding budget is loaded with variables because your plans and vision evolve over time throughout the process! Let’s look at some of the biggest variables that affect how much a wedding costs:
Guest Count
The number of people you have in attendance not only determines the size of the venue you need to book, but it also directly affects the price of pretty much every other budget item. The more guests you have, the more mouths to feed, the more tables to set and decorate, the more invitations to send, the more drinks to provide, and the list goes on.
For those of you who want a huge bash, including a large family and all your friends – we say, the more, the merrier! Your next step will be to determine the exact number of people you plan to invite, so we can strategically choose everything with this number in mind.
Or, if you have a really specific vision and a list of dream vendors but are working with a concrete budget, one way to accomplish this is to keep your guest list on the smaller side. This will give you more money to spend per person.
Whether you want to plan an epic event for 200, an intimate elevated soirée for 50, or anything in between, we guarantee – it will be beautiful and meaningful because ultimately, it’s the celebration of you and the love of your life.
Location
The next big variable with wedding budgets is location. Depending on where you choose to get married, the prices and venues can vary dramatically. Do some Googling and reach out to a few venues in your dream wedding location to find out the average venue price and price per head for catering.
Are you happy with the quality of venue and catering that you can find in that area based on your budget? If not, start thinking of some alternate locations to look into.
Your location will also factor into the other vendors you hire. A luxury photographer based in a major city will look and be different than one in a small town. Same thing with your wedding planner options, your florist options, your entertainment options, your videographer options, etc.
Priorities
This category is completely personal – and there are no right or wrong answers! Narrow down the three to five ares that will make the biggest impact to you and your partner.
If you two are total foodies, the catering and bar service will be your priority. Work in the fashion industry? Splurging on the gown, tux, and accessories makes absolute sense. When you think about your wedding day, do you immediately think about wanting your guests to have the best time possible and imagine yourself dancing with your pals long into the night? Prioritize the music and entertainment!
Figuring out your priorities as a couple will make the day uniquely your own and will clarify any deal breakers. You can then focus more of your budget to those priority areas and find cost effective routes for the details you’re less concerned over.
Event PLanning
Wedding planners and designers probably vary the most from all categories in terms of service offerings and price points. Typically, you will find planners provide service at a few different levels:
Full Service Planning, Design, and Coordination:
A full service planner begins from the very start, either before the venue search or just after you find the location — or even after you’ve hired a few vendors. They can assist with location scouting and venue research, plus every detail after.
Another thing to keep in mind is that every planner is different, and the full-service planning process can look different for each planner. Some may offer a more robust design experience, which is great for large, production-style weddings with several elements involved.
You will find many true, full service planners only offer this level of service and take on a select number of clients per year in order to focus and to provide the attention to detail the process requires. You can expect a full service planner to charge a fee equal to anywhere from 12-20% of the overall wedding budget and depending on the planner and market they serve, it could be charged at a flat rate or a percentage based pricing model.
Partial Planning:
You will see a mix of pricing structures for this option. A partial planner might charge a percentage of the wedding budget (typically 10-12%), a flat rate, or some sort of hybrid option.
This level of service usually begins mid way through planning the wedding. Perhaps you’ve hired several great vendors, but you’re stuck on where to go from there and who to hire for the rest. Or you might need help curating a cohesive design. Maybe your schedule got crazy, and you need someone to help guide you through the rest of the planning process and keep you on track! If so, this is the tier of service for you.
Event Management:
I am deeming this the new term for “Day of Coordination” because, to be honest, day of coordination does not or should not exist! It is extremely hard for someone to come onsite the day of the wedding without knowing the details or having a hand in the final coordination of logistics. Event Management may also be known as “Month Of”.
Again, planners offer different styles with this method, but generally, a planner with this level would begin working with you one to three months out from the wedding date to dive into the last logistics, coordinate vendor arrivals, create a master timeline, organize the event documents, and take the stress off you so you can enjoy those last few weeks of being engaged.
This service is crucial so you can relax, be present during the days leading up to your wedding, and truly live in the moment the day of. Please, at least hire a planner at this level. It makes a huge difference in your wedding weekend experience! An event manager will cost around 5-7% of the overall budget.
And no, your venue and catering coordinator does not do what a professionally hired wedding planner or event manager does! While both are crucial to the success of an event, the roles and responsibilities look different.
Budget Categories
Take a moment to pour yourself a drink, because you’ve just done some serious work! By this point, you have determined your overall budget. You’ve chatted with your fiancé about your top three priority categories for your big day. You’ve determined a rough guest count. You’ve picked a location – or at least, narrowed it down to a few options. And you’ve decided what level of event planning is the right fit for you.
Now we’ll get into the nitty gritty, breaking down your budget into percentages by category. Remember, these are just averages. For the areas that you deemed as priorities, you’ll want to be on the high end of the range – or slightly over. For areas that aren’t as important to you, you’ll want to be on the low end of the range.
Please also note that the wedding planner is a separate fee as referenced above, and not broken down in these percentages.
Ready? Let’s get to it.
Ceremony Venue:
If the ceremony space is separate from your reception venue, plan on spending around 2-5% of your budget here.
Reception Venue Rental:
Reception venue rentals will start at around 7-10% of your overall budget, but you’ll find museums and properties that do not offer in house catering will cost more, up to 20% of your budget. This rental fee is separate to your F&B costs.
Food and Beverage:
This category varies from 25-40% depending on if you are looking into an off-premise caterer or in-house caterer at a venue, and it will also largely be determined by your guest count, the style of wedding (plated vs buffet), venue type and location.
Cake and Dessert:
The price is determined by the intricacies of the cake. Designs that include fondant, sugar florals, and other fine art elements tend to lean on the higher side, but overall, the cake and dessert table should be less than 2% of your total budget.
Photography:
Photography packages will vary based on the experience of the photographer, travel, number of hours needed, if a second or third shooter is required, if you’re purchasing wedding albums for yourself or your parents (highly recommended!), and if you’re ordering fine art prints. Plan a good portion of your budget for this category – 10-20%.
Cinematography:
Again, the experience level of the cinematographer will largely determine the cost. Also decide if you want a highlight film (around 5-7% of your budget) or a full film (around 10-20% of your budget), and if there are any additional requests you have, such as drone coverage or compressed raw files.
Floral Design:
The quantity of arrangements, type of florals, and style all factor in here. Areas that can add up quickly are personal florals, special installations such as a ceremony arch, the escort card display, hanging installations, and high centerpieces. Plan around 10-15% of your budget for florals. Pro tip: A budget breaker is choosing blooms that aren’t in season in the location where you’re getting married. That means no peonies in Delaware in February, sadly!
Officiant:
You’ll need to hire a Justice of the Peace for a fee. Many religious officiants will perform the wedding for free, but giving them a monetary thank you gift is customary, as well as footing any travel expenses. If a family member or friend is marrying you, you’ll want to check the town and state you are getting married in to confirm the process and fees of obtaining a one day marriage designation or look into the process of getting ordained. Overall, all of this should still cost less than 1% of your total budget.
Fashion and Accessories:
If the wedding involves a bride or brides, the wedding dress(es) will take up the bulk of this budget. You’ll also need to factor in the alterations, a veil or headpiece, undergarments, shoes, jewelry, and garter.
If the wedding involves a groom or grooms, the budget can vary considerably depending upon if he or they choose(s) to rent or purchase the tux(es) or suit(s). Other items include alterations, cuff links, neck accessory (think bowtie or tie), shoes, socks, and watch.
Plan anywhere from 5-8% total for both partners’ fashion and accessories.
Beauty:
This percentage will largely depend upon if you’re providing hair and makeup just for yourselves or for the entire wedding party. You might also consider providing extras such as a nail artist, waxing, facials, a barber for clean ups, etc. You can typically expect to spend less than 2-5% of your total budget on beauty.
Music and Entertainment:
You might want to hire a pianist, a string quartet, or a love performer for your ceremony music! In addition, you’ll also want a DJ or musician at cocktail hour, and a DJ or a band for the reception. A DJ will fall around 7-10% – and a band at the higher end – around 10-20%.
Stationery:
This category includes save the dates, invitations, RSVP cards, ceremony programs, menus, escort and place cards, thank you cards, and stamps. Also consider stationery extras that you might want, such as custom maps, itinerary inserts, calligraphy, wax seals, envelope liners, etc.
In addition to the number of stationery items you require, you will spend anywhere between 5-7% of your budget if you choose an “off the rack” option versus a custom designer, which can range between 7-10%. The printing process (digital, foiling, embossing, etc.) will also make a significant impact on the price. This is an area that can often sneak up on couples — but is so important in setting the tone of your wedding!
Favors and Gifts:
At times, couples provide welcome gifts to all guests who had to travel for the wedding weekend. This will be on the higher side if your have a destination wedding (around 3-5%), as all guests will require welcome gifts, and on the lower side if you choose a local wedding venue (2% or less of the total budget).
In addition to welcome gifts, it’s customary to give each member of your bridal party a gift, such as something to wear the day of the event, to show your gratitude for their participation in your big day. Many couples also give each other a surprise the morning of the wedding – this could be an investment piece like a watch or something more sentimental, like a homemade scrapbook. You also might consider giving your parents, especially if they contributed to paying for the wedding, a token of appreciation as well.
Finally, you’ll need to factor in a favor for every guest attending the reception.
Transportation:
You and your bridal party need a way to get from your hotel or getting ready location to the venue itself, and between the ceremony and reception venues, if necessary. You might also choose to rent a getaway vehicle, like a beautiful vintage car or limo. Set aside 3-7% of your budget for transportation depending how many guests will need transported.
Rentals:
If you get married at a hotel ballroom, the venue might have tables, chairs, linens, dinnerware, and serving ware all included. But if you’re using an outdoor or non-traditional venue, all of these items will need to be rented. If the latter is your situation, budget 5-10% for rentals.
Cushion Fund:
There are always unexpected expenses that come up. Plan ahead by setting aside 5-7% of your budget to account for any surprises.
Equipped with this list, you’ll be ready to plan the day of your dreams, and to assemble the team to make that happen! Take your time to walk through this first part of the planning process! While it may be a lot of research and hard work upfront, we promise it will set you up for a fun and seamless planning experience for the rest of the process!
And if all these numbers are making your head swim, then perhaps prioritize having a wedding planner join your team, because that’s what planners are here for! We love piecing the puzzle together and taking the stress away by managing your budget and steering you in the right direction, so you can focus on all of the most enjoyable parts of planning your wedding, like that cake tasting we we’re talking about earlier…
Happy budgeting and happy planning! xo