Have you recently got engaged? Congratulations! After enjoying your engagement, you will then need to start thinking about planning your wedding. Planning and budgeting for a wedding can be extremely stressful no matter how big it is and so it is important that you are on top of your finances to ensure your special day is exactly what you had pictured. Carry on reading for more of our top tips on how to plan and budget for your wedding.
Who’s Funding the Wedding
While in the old days it used to be that the bill was footed by the bride’s parents, this is no longer the case and more people tend to now split the funding of the wedding out. However, communication is key here and so you will need to speak with your families to discuss a budget. We would recommend that you find out how much each family is willing to contribute towards the wedding and how much you as a couple can spend and then use this to form your budget or you can ask if they would like to specially cover one aspect of the wedding such as the catering, venue or honeymoon.
How Much Money Should Be Saved for A Wedding?
Of course, how much money is spent on a wedding totally varies from couple to couple, but as soon as you are engaged, we would recommend opening a bank account online and putting away at least 20% of your income every month into this wedding bank account fund. Also, the longer you are engaged, the more money you will be able to put away to go towards your wedding. 20% of your income is a big ask, but look at your monthly budget and see if there are any areas that you can cut back on without seriously affecting your quality of life. For example, instead of going out to the cinema weekly, why not instead rent a film? Or, if you tend to buy a lot of coffees, why not cut back on a few per week and put this money towards your wedding budget. You will be shocked at how quickly this tends to add up!
How Much Money Is Really Needed for a Wedding?
When it comes to planning and budgeting for a wedding, you will need to decide what you are going to prioritise, what you will splurge on and what you will save on. This will allow you to set your expectations accordingly. The average of how much people in the US spend on a wedding is roughly $32,641 so it is important that you take these costs into consideration before your dive in and start planning yours. For example, around 50% of your budget will most likely go towards your reception, while photography is around 10%, entertainment is 10% and wedding rings are around 3% and so on so forth.