How the Average Wedding Cost Can Help You Budget For Your Big Day

May 2018

I’ll get right to the point…today’s post is about budgets, wedding budgets to be exact. Wedding budgets and how we can use the average wedding cost to help guide the budgeting process.

Why? Well, I’m getting married in T-minus 6 months and I really had no idea how expensive weddings can be! I’m making an assumption but I have a feeling many of you might be in the same boat.

Weddings come in all shapes, sizes, locations, and themes and have all types of budgets.

Do you know that the average wedding cost in 2017 in America was $33,391? And that’s not including the dress, the honeymoon or the engagement ring! I’d like to share some of my experiences with the financial side of planning a wedding.

Budgets in Business

I’ve created budgets for my department at work and as a project manager have also managed project specific budgets. Budgeting is a serious process and helps set the tone for the fiscal year or project lifecycle ahead.

The budgeting process tells you what you have to spend, can predict your projected cash flow is, and what your operating costs and revenues might be. Your budget should be reviewed and revised as your business grows or if you’re planning on expanding etc.

One huge difference between the budgets I’ve previously created/supervised for work and the one I’m currently managing for my own wedding is the fact that its now I’m managing my own money 😁 Its amazing how a little more skin in the game can make you more deliberate, thorough and well, frugal. Staying within budget has taken on a whole new meaning!

Wedding Budgets and Why Knowing the Average Wedding Cost is Important

When planning a wedding, the budget is really where you need to start – well after you’ve found your significant other that is. It’s important to understand your ‘financial parameters’ right from the start.

For all the brides to be – I need you to hear me on this… it’s not always easy, but please level-set your expectations. The plans that Prince Harry and Megan Markle have for their wedding sound tremendous but they are unrealistic for most of the world’s population. Also, their wedding budget was probably not included in the average wedding cost calculation!

Weddings are a big deal for most people and most couples have a vision of what they want for that special day. Before you start planning, here are a few things to consider:

Who will be paying for the wedding?
Are you going the traditional route in which the bride’s family pays?
Are you more progressive and will the bride and grooms families be splitting the wedding costs?
Will you be paying for it yourself? If so, consider eloping! Just kidding… kind-of

There is no right or wrong answer to this but it’s best to have a conversation with your respective families sooner than later.

Understanding the average wedding costs of a few items will help you with some of the decisions needed during planning. According to The Knots 2017 Real Wedding Study, here are some of the average costs for typical wedding items:

Total average wedding cost (excluding the honeymoon): $33,391

Wedding Dress: $1,509

Venue: $15,163

Photographer: $2,630

Wedding/Event Planner: $1,988

Band: $4,019

Catering (price per person): $70

Wedding Cake: $540

This is by no means a comprehensive list but hopefully gives you a taste of typical wedding related items and their associated costs.

My Wedding Budget

I’d also like to share what I’ve come up with thus far for my wedding budget. I started by identifying the items I knew I wanted and came up with estimates for each.

I took into account the average wedding costs listed above but also had to adjust for location-associated costs. We’re having a destination wedding so I’ve included things such as welcome drinks and gifts for our guests.

My budget does not include my dress, our welcome party/rehearsal dinner or farewell brunch but covers the majority of the expenses; or at least we hope!

Because we are roughly 6 months away I’ve already begun spending in the form of deposits. Which actually helps spread the cost out a bit.

How to Use The Wedding Budget Tracker

Below is my wedding budget tracker. I started by identifying the major categories such as Stationary and Venue, Food and Beverage, and then began listing out items I knew I’d be spending money on. The three columns to the right help keep track of the expense.

‘Projected cost’ is either what I was quoted or what I anticipate spending on any given item.

‘Actual cost’ is what the cost of that item ended up being. The ‘Paid’ column helps me keep track of down payments or deposits.

At the very bottom, the ‘Variance’ shows me how much we still owe or the outstanding balance of the items on the list.

Andrew and I have decided to wait a few months before going on our honeymoon. We’re thinking of going on Safari in South Africa and come to think of it, we probably should start budgeting and planning for this ASAP.

Brides (or grooms) to be, here is a downloadable and blank copy of the above budget:

Once You Have the Budget, What’s Next?

Location, location, location. Also location.

The second biggest need to know is where the ceremony and reception will take place. It’s really impossible to start planning any of the details without this vital piece of information.

To share a bit more on my own wedding, we are going to be married in St. Thomas, USVI this fall. Technically, it’s a ‘half destination wedding’ as most of my family and friends still live there. We’ll be married at Plantation Crown and Hawk, a historic estate and botanical garden on the top of a mountain!

Will share pics post-wedding, I promise!

Use It Or Lose It

I cannot stress enough the importance of knowing what’s on or off limits before you start planning. Knowing the average wedding cost shouldn’t be your starting point; its only meant to give you an idea.

I suggest doing the following three things:

1. Meet with your and your significant other’s parents to discuss and finalize your budget

2. Pick a location & venue

3. Start filling out your wedding budget tracker

Wedding planning can be stressful, but if you get some of these things out of the way right in the beginning, it makes the rest of it super fun! I can honestly say that I am having a blast planning what should be an incredible weekend for Andrew and I; and our nearest and dearest.

When to Use It

The focus of today’s post was wedding budgets and the average wedding cost. However, budgeting is applicable to anything you might be planning for that has a financial implication. You can budget for:

Upcoming Trips
Big purchases (i.e. a house, a car, etc.)
Renovations
Your children’s college fund
Retirement savings

Another thing to keep in mind is that while weddings are important and incredibly special, they shouldn’t break the bank. Before you spend your life savings (or asking your family to), consider the idea that buying a house or saving money for your children’s future is a better use of the money in the long run.

OR, go big and have the wedding of your dreams – just hope the guests you invite give good gifts!

Remember the bride is always right and keep priming that pump!

Xoxo Bri

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2 Replies to “How the Average Wedding Cost Can Help You Budget For Your Big Day”

Brianne Neuburger says:

May 10, 2018 at 6:27 am

Thanks for the feedback Dave! It’s certainly been fun thus far and we too have our share of stories – similar to some of yours about picking out dresses/shoes/tuxedos!

And totally agree on the point about luxury and necessity.

Will keep you & our other readers up to date as the big day approaches!
Best, Bri

Reply
Dave Savadge says:

May 8, 2018 at 3:10 pm

Cost estimates and advance planning go a long way to ensuring a successful event. We did something similar in planning for my daughter’s wedding in 2013, and things actually occurred rather smoothly and on schedule (and within estimated costs!). In my opinion, the trick to success consists of two words “combine and scrounge”. Don’t be afraid to take short-cuts. Nobody will ever know. And ask yourself – “is this a necessity or a luxury?” A flyover by the Navy’s Blue Angels is a luxury, a bar is a necessity. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a luxury, posting up signs showing the way to the restrooms is a necessity.

Our selected venue – same location for the ceremony and reception – also provided the dinner, the tables and chairs, and the lighting as a package deal. A friend of ours, a professional photographer, took the pictures. We made the table favors ourselves. Music supplied by a DJ recommended by another friend. My daughter really does not like flowers, so that got limited to bouquets and some decorative fernery at the facility’s entrance, plus I insisted on a small lapel flower for my jacket. Travel costs – nil. No limo. Out of town visitors paid their own way, although we did arrange for a block of rooms at a local hotel, which our guests then rented at a discount.

Be sure to keep track of all the silly things that occur before and during the wedding. And ask your folks if they saw anything and can contribute. Write them down afterwards as sort a start of your joint memories. Here are four from my daughter’s:
– As I mentioned before, selecting the bride and the Mom’s dresses and shoes are a major time impact. However, I got even in my own unique way. When it came time for me to find a tux, my wife and I went to a local rental shop near the tracks here in town. We walked in, explained to the lady working there that I needed to rent a tux. She went to get the books showing the various styles, whilst I moseyed around looking at the mannequin displays. Before the clerk could return, I pointed to a mannequin and said “That one”. Never looked at the books, never tried other rental places. It took less than five minutes to find the right outfit. My wife was pissed, but in a nice way.
– My daughter is not much of a dancer, and really got worried about totally screwing up the first dance. I suggested to her “bring your shoes and let’s practice”. So we did for about ten minutes, in the living room, wearing her heels, with the desired music stored on her phone. When it came time for the ‘real’ dance, she aced it.
– The bride and bridesmaids got dressed at the venue. However, between the dress measurement and initial fitting and the wedding itself, one of the bridesmaids got pregnant, and the dress would not fit around her belly. Well, somebody knew somebody who had a sewing machine, so some brave soul on a Saturday morning took the dress to this emergency seamstress who opened up a seam in the back and added material of a close matching color so the dress would fit. A few weeks later we learned one of the other bridesmaids also was pregnant, but not far along enough to show.
– At the reception when the DJ started playing songs, Mark’s (the groom) three year old niece got out on the dance floor and did her thing, completely prancing around and having fun totally oblivious to anybody else. The photographer captured this, both still and video.

Please remember – weddings are FUN. You are the center of attention so enjoy yourself. And the wedding night is even more Funner, as is the morning after.

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