Where to start with your budget
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It is so overwhelming knowing where to even start! Trust me I get it. When someone says ‘oh it’ll be expensive’ does that mean $1k, $10k or $30k+…. same thing as when they say it won’t cost that much. What is ‘not much?’ It all means something different to each person. I’ve done up 4 easy tips to follow that will help your bottomline and get you the day you want. Some of these actually apply to everything in life too.
So here’s some of the best advice I can give.
Work out how you want your wedding to FEEL. By this I mean do you want an intimate dinner and dancing with your closest people or do you want every family member and friend you’ve come across over the years there. It’s so easy to get trapped into feeling you NEED to invite certain people. You don’t. If you want a smaller wedding make sure you cull that list! This allows you to either save money or redirect it towards having exactly what you want without the compromise. Some of the best weddings we’ve seen are those with guest lists well under 50 but most people somehow end up with 120-220 and don’t feel like they have a choice. You do! But it starts here.
2. Once you know how you want it to feel you can really nut out where your guest list is at. This is important! Your guest numbers affect everything-particularly your budget. Every guest means another set of cutlery, another chair, more table centrepieces because you have extra tables, more food, more drink…. it goes on and on! And it blows out really quick!!
3. Work out your 4 main things you love or mean the most to you. This will be where you focus your budget. For example you love flowers and all the styling aspects so you know to have incredible flowers on the day you’ll spend a large chuck of money there. But if flowers aren’t your thing but amazing food and cocktails is then you will have less flowers if any (remember you don’t NEED to do anything!!) and instead you’ll have an incredible caterer and a bar menu that would knock your socks off.
4. Don’t start booking things or buying things you think you like until you have a very clear idea of how you want your day to look and feel. I can’t stress this enough. There is no hurry, I promise. Book the main things (photographer, venue etc but stop there until you work out the rest). The amount of people I have seen buy little bits and bobs and then not use them at all or suddenly need 20 of those $20 things (which is now $400 of crap you don’t need). Just take a breath and wait. It only takes a few of these to really start adding up and that takes money away from where you can create the biggest impact. And if you end up really loving certain things and they add to your day by all means go back and buy or book them, but don’t feel the need to rush into anything
And there you have it. Four really basic tips to kick start your wedding planning whist also making sure your budget doesn’t start blowing out without you even realising it! By following these tips you will also be well on your way to creating the day that truly suits you.