Sticking To Your Wedding Budget

All couples planning their wedding have a budget. This is completely normal. You usually get what you pay for… but obviously, you can’t stick to a budget and also have the very best of every category or vendor you need to hire.   How do you stick to your budget, yet still have an awesome wedding?

Rather than approaching all vendors with “how much do you charge?” try this first.  Set your maximum budget.  This is the total amount of money you can spend on all the vendors, services and related wedding expenses for your special day.   Next, sit down and discuss what is most important to you both on your wedding day.  Maybe the most important thing is keeping all of your guests dancing and having fun with great music or having journalistic photos that capture all the beautiful moments of your day. Maybe it’s great food and drink and an outdoor location that top your priority list.  Perhaps you have your heart set on a photo booth and romantic “candlelight” amber uplighting.  Make a vendor/services list in numbered order of your highest to lowest priorities.
    
Now it is time to plan your budget so that the highest priorities are allotted a higher percentage of the total budget.  Be realistic and don’t let amateurs who quote low-ball prices cloud the reality of what a top-rated service or vendor will actually cost.  You’ll still be able to afford the best vendors for those services that are the most important to you.  The key to staying “on budget” is very simple… don’t increase your total budget to get a better caliber vendor, get the better vendors for stuff at the top of your list and decrease your budget for those things that are a lesser of a priority for you both. Best of luck!