As one of the top three decisions to make before booking anything for your wedding, creating your budget is the most critical. Your budget serves as permission – allowing you to spend the allocated amount without regret or compromise. In order to get started with building your budget we recommend gathering the following information:

1. Setup Your Planning System
2. Identify A Reliable Tracking Tool
3. Discuss Who Will Contribute
4. Determine Your Overall Budget

Setup Your Planning System

The system you use to support your planning may be more important than the actual planning itself. Staying on top of things like payments, vendors booked, important reminders, and all of the to do’s. Selecting and creating a system that supports you in managing all the to do’s is a critical piece of the puzzle – including building and managing your budget.

If you haven’t yet setup your wedding planning organization system – be sure to grab our tips and tricks for getting your system setup and running efficiently so you can stay on top of all the wedding planning to do’s in the months/weeks ahead! 

Identify A Reliable Tracking Tool

Next you will want to be sure you identified a budget tracking tool that works in the organizational system you setup. You will want this tool to be flexible, fluid and something that helps you track and manage your budget and actual spending. It will need to be easily editable and allow you to make adjustments as you move through the planning process

Discuss Who Will Contribute

You will then want to start to discuss who will be contributing to the event. Schedule a date and time to have this discussion as a couple. And then do the same with your family. These discussions can be hard but having them honestly up front will help significantly with the development of a budget that serves your event planning well.

Determine Your Overall Budget

After you’ve had time to discuss, we recommend identifying a budget range that you feel most comfortable falling within. From the range we then recommend selecting your almost max budget number (giving yourself $5-7K in buffer as wiggle room to account for adjustments as you start the venue and vendor search).

Building your event budget is one of the most important steps in the wedding planning process. We recommend that before you start research venues, vendors, or scheduling tours/consultations – you take time to create your budget.

There are quite a few reasons why this number is critical to almost all the downstream decisions you will encounter during your planning – but the number one reason is that

Your budget gives you permission to spend – without regret.

Your budget gives you a clear picture of your roadmap – so that you are prepared for every purchase because you planned for every purchase.

That being said your budget is simply that budget. It’s meant to guide you and act as a starting and reference point throughout your planning. Our goal is to do our best to give you benchmarks based on industry standards and things we’ve seen. From there we encourage you to adjust based on your preferences.

Ready to make your wedding dreams come true? You don’t have to navigate the planning journey alone! Join our community of smart couples and gain immediate access to our free, exclusive wedding planning guide. It’s your comprehensive roadmap to a stress-free and joyful wedding day, filled with expert tips, insider advice, and essential tools. From “Yes” to “I do,” this guide will help you stay organized, inspired, and in command. Sign up now and let’s start crafting your unforgettable celebration together!