The first start to forming your budget is to determine where the money is coming from. Are you parents helping or are you paying for it all from your pocket?
From there, you should begin to formulate a guest list. Start with anyone and everyone you and your fiance would possibly want to attend. From there, if it seems to be too much, one idea to cut folks is based on the one year rule. If you haven’t spoken to them in the last year, do they really need to be invited? Once you have an idea of how many guests you’re working with, this will help with venue selection and budgeting.
From there, prioritize vendors. If videography, florals, and a photo booth are the top three important things to you, then work those into your budget first. If cake isn’t as important, you can plan to work on those toward the end of booking vendors. Prioritizing the budget with what is most important to you and your fiance down to things that don’t matter as much will help you stick to budget on the big things.
Added tip: try to keep 5-10% of your budget for miscellaneous things you haven’t thought of like postage for invitations. Those do come up when planning and purchasing decor and if it’s already been worked into the budget, it’s easier to take it from there than try to come up with the funds elsewhere.
If managing your budget sounds overwhelming, consider hiring an event planner! With special relationships with preferred vendors and general industry knowledge, a seasoned event planner can help you navigate your budget. Contact Abby today to learn more.