Wedding budgets can feel confusing. What should you include in your total budget? What should you leave out? This post explores 10 tips to help you make the most of your wedding budget!
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1 Know who鈥檚 paying what.
The first step in figuring out your budget is knowing who鈥檚 contributing funds. Sometimes the bride鈥檚 family will cover the whole cost of the wedding, but more often it鈥檚 a combination of both families, as well as the bride and groom. Discuss with everyone involved how much they鈥檇 like to pay or consider having each family cover a particular part of the wedding, like the flowers or catering.
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2 Keep your wedding funds organized.
Consider putting all your wedding money in a single checking account, so you can easily track your spending without confusing your wedding budget with your daily expenses.
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3 Be honest about your spending limits.
Tell potential vendors your budget upfront, so there are no surprises when you鈥檙e ready to book.
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4 Budget for the small details.听听
Don鈥檛 forget to include the small but essential things in your budget, like stamps for your save-the-dates and invitations and even marriage license fees. None of these items may cost much, but when added up, they can easily put you over budget if you don鈥檛 plan ahead.
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5 Be careful using credit.
Credit cards are a great way to pay for wedding expenses. You can rack up reward points that can help pay for your honeymoon. But be careful not to overdo it with credit and don鈥檛 charge more than you can pay off in the next 30 days.
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6 Be aware of extra costs in your wedding budget.
When booking vendors, ask about any additional costs so you can be sure your budget will cover them.
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7 Prioritize your wants and needs.
Allocate a little extra money for the things that matter most to you, whether that鈥檚 the music, the food, or your gown. Focus your time and money on the parts of your wedding that you care most about.
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8 Skip the high-priced extras to stay within you wedding budget.
There鈥檚 no reason to pay more for upgrades you don鈥檛 need. Don鈥檛 let vendors pressure you into extras you鈥檙e indifferent about. Instead ask yourself, 鈥淚s this item important to me or my fianc茅?鈥 If it鈥檚 not, consider cutting it and saving your money for more important things.
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9 Do your research.
When building your budget, look into the general costs for vendors in your area. You don鈥檛 want to under-budget and then be unable to afford the photographer you want.
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10 Plan to go over your wedding budget.
Add some cushion into your wedding budget. A good strategy is to designate about 5% of your budget for unplanned costs, like replacing a piece of wedding d茅cor that breaks at the last minute.
Check out some of our favorite wedding venues in New York, New Jersey and the Hudson Valley below:
