Wedding Budget Tips

With less than a week to my wedding, I've been compulsively checking my wedding spreadsheets to make sure we're on track. We're actually under budget! I've been going on a lot of wedding forums and I feel like so many couples go needlessly over budget. Sometimes you can't avoid it, but at least you can reduce the amount you'll be over budget.

Here are my top wedding budget tips:

• EMERGENCY FUND

Include an emergency fund in your budget. You never know if a vendor will fall through or if a decor item breaks and you have to replace it. The exact amount of this fund depends on your overall budget. For us, I budgeted $500. Luckily, we haven't needed to use it so it'll be a nice addition to our honeymoon fund.

• GUEST COUNT

Try to budget for the number of ACTUAL invited guests and not the amount you think will come. I read somewhere that 20% of guests invited decline, but what if they all decide to come? With an average of $100-$150 per guest cost and an average wedding having 100 guests, that's a lot of money unaccounted for!

• VENDOR PRICES

Contact vendors before you decide on a budget and date of the wedding. I had the ridiculous idea that I could plan our wedding for around $10,000 because I read all those articles about budget weddings. You know what? Most of those weddings are heavily dependant on family favours or personal connections (ex. your friend is a baker/photographer/day of coordinator and can lend their services for free). 

Weddings CAN be done for less than 10k, but the aesthetic I was going for just wasn't possible on that budget and in the city we live in. I had a better idea on how much we should really be budgeting after contacting the vendors that usually take up most of the budget (ex. venues, florists, photographers). If you get married in the off-season (generally September to April), it's generally cheaper and easier to book the date you want. Our venue is one of the most popular in the city so we had to book over 1 year in advance.

• WEDDING DRESSES

DO NOT LOOK at wedding dresses that are over your budget! You'll just make yourself feel terrible that you couldn't get that dream dress and you might feel worse if you do get it and it ends up eating your budget. There's a reason bridal boutiques won't let you try on the dress in the window or some of the ones on the rack. They're just trying to save you the heartache!