It’s easy to get overwhelmed as soon as you realize just how many expenses there are once you start planning your wedding. It gets even worse when you come to the grim realization that the “best” attire, venues and services are also among the most expensive ones! How can you get the top quality you want and still stay within your budget?  The best way is to set a total budget that you can’t exceed and then prioritize the relative importance of each expense. Everything can’t be equally important. Some things are less vital to the success of your day. Spend less on those things. Allocate more of your budget to those things that you feel are most important to you.

Create a stack of 3 x 5 cards, each with the name of one of your major expenses: wedding gown, venue, food & beverage, photographer, musical entertainment, transportation, rings, honeymoon, flowers, tuxedos, video, officiant, invitations etc.  Next, pick the one that is the most important expenditure of all… the thing you’re not willing to compromise on the quality of.  Mark it as #1.  Decide the next most vital component that is really important to you. Number two. Repeat until the cards are all numbered and in order.  Each expense will become a percentage of the 100% total budget limit you’ve set. If you have a total budget of $20,000, a $500 officiant is 2.5% of your budget.

The real trick is to set a realistic total budget, and then stick to your list of priorities when dividing up that total budget into percentages.