How Much Wedding Can You Afford?
October 26, 2008
Your budget is one of the most important influencing factors in your wedding planning process. Long gone are the days when the bride’s parents would pay for everything without complaint. Today, it is much more likely that the bride and groom will share the majority of the costs of the wedding. If you are luck, your parents may be able to share some of the costs, but mature couples should not count on it.
Before you do anything else you must set your budget. Unless you know how much and what you can afford, you can’t begin your wedding planning. Without a budget, you’ll end up estimating and that can be risky. If you are estimating how much money you have to spend, you may be surprised somewhere along your wedding planning project. Instead of estimating you may be underestimating how much everything will cost.
Be realistic. If money is no object, you have it made. If money is tight you may have to be more creative, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. You may need to ask your parents to help paying for your wedding, but don’t expect them to take on a second mortgage to pay for your dream wedding. You don’t want your dream wedding to turn into your parents’ financial nightmare. If your parents give you a figure as to how much they can afford to spend, don’t ask for more.
If you don’t want or can’t ask for financial help from your parents, don’t worry. Take an honest look at your financial situation and set your budget accordingly. If you have a limited budget, decide on what is and isn’t important. Make a list of the essentials and work your way down. If you want to have a big crowd, perhaps you need to think about decreasing the per guest cost. You may need to make some compromises, but you can still have fun. Use a wedding budget worksheet to plan out what you have to pay for, and how much you should budget for on each thing. Wedding budgets are essential; they allow you to make a decision on the total amount you can afford to spend.
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9 Responses to “How Much Wedding Can You Afford?”
How much does an average wedding cost?
I just got engaged and I want to start planning my wedding. I cant afford a wedding planner and I dont even know where to start! I just want to know how much an average wedding would cost. Not too big but not a small backyard wedding either.
By ?MaMaLicioUs? on Oct 26, 2008
You Base it on your available budget, what does your budget allow you? and go from there. figure out what you want, most places have a payment plan and needs to be paid by the day of.
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By Beautiful Bee on Oct 26, 2008
i did everything for 7000. we had our reception at the american legion (my father in law is a marine so we got it half off) i bought my dress during davids bridals $99 days. We drove a mustang from a family member-no limo. We basically cut out stuff no one would remember. We did plastic table cloths and simple cdenterpieces-no one remembers that stuff! We also used gerber daises instead of roses and they made for wonderful pictures-so bright!
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By lovinbeinmarried! on Oct 26, 2008
http://www.theknot.com is a great website…Also if your on a budget…try looking up bed and breakfest weddings in your area. They have package deals where you just bascially order what you want including food, cake, photos and its all in one place and you just show up. You get the entire bed and breakfest with rooms for the entire weekend. They have lovely lake and garden settings. Packages start about $5,000 and can go up depending on how many people you are inviting.
Good Luck!
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By Joycee on Oct 26, 2008
that is a question that we cant answer here, it depends on what you want….base your wedding on what you can afford and work from there. make a list of what you want and start shopping and looking……..trust me, easier to give yourselfa budget.
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By jelly_bean_19_69 on Oct 26, 2008
Average national cost of a wedding is 30k
Your wedding can cost $100 bucks for a JP ceremony and potluck reception or it can cost a billion. It depends on how much you can afford and how much you are willing to spend. Whatever you do don't go into debt for it.
From what you are saying I would estimate about 5k. Look at locations as well, sometimes locations can cost less than backyard weddings because you have to rent the tent, tables, chairs, silverware and plates, everything. With a location the basics like that are usually included.
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By pspoptart on Oct 26, 2008
They say 20,000.00 is the average price. BUT a nice wedding can be put together if you plan right for under 5,000.00
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By sissybug on Oct 26, 2008
About $10 K, I believe…
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By CBT Princess on Oct 26, 2008
It can cost whatever you want it to – literally. Depends on your area, etc. It's best for you and your guy to figure out how much the two of you can afford to spend, and how much you will be saving before the wedding. Then, once you have a ballpark figure, you work on the guest list – and move on from there.
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By Lydia on Oct 26, 2008