How to stretch your wedding budget | Expert wedding planner tips

Published 16 October 2024

Many couples struggle with their wedding finances at some point, trying to afford everything they want for their wedding day, including those with pretty big budgets. The key to getting the most for what you can afford is understanding how to split what you WANT from what you NEED. This needs to happen at the early wedding planning stages.

I don’t mean that you need to give up on your dreams, just prioritise them until you get the fundamentals agreed. Then, you can re-introduce those items that mean the most to you.

How to prioritise your wedding wants

Everyone has different areas of their wedding plans that can be split between needs and wants.  Some things are wants but feel like needs. Ultimately the main wedding NEED is the two of you, someone to marry you and the location. Everything else is up for grabs! Do you really need a confetti pony? Or would that money be better spent on something truly necessary for your big day? You could bring back the confetti pony if you find extra funds.

Getting started

The first thing to do is to sign up for my FREE wedding planner checklist [link to enquiry form] (other wedding checklists are available). This is a great resource to help you start whittling down ideas and identify what you both truly need from your wedding day. Work through it together, agree on what items are not necessities and cross those off. Hey presto – a clearer list appears!

Now, it can start to get tricky! It depends on your budget. I recommend costing this whole list as it stands right now. Based on the average costs involved with a typical wedding day, you’d need a total budget of about £35,000. (Source: Bridebook UK Wedding Industry report) Wow! Magazines like Perfect Wedding and Wedding Ideas often have cost breakdowns from real couples.  You should know at this point what budget you’d be comfortable with spending.

Now comes the FUN part!

You’ve decided what you cannot live without for your wedding: your needs. Now you need to decide where your wedding ‘wants’ sit in the list of priorities. I would suggest food and drink should be right at the top, alongside outfits (unless you’re planning a naturist wedding!). These are fundamental parts of every couple’s big day.

Priorities are completely personal. Maybe awesome wedding photographs are more important to you than a photobooth or magician? Or you’d prefer to hire the right DJ instead of a gorgeous dramatic cake? Score your individual priorities, then compare them with your partner’s choices. Be prepared … agreeing your joint priorities may involve compromise! Then, it’s time to review that budget again.

Don’t forget there are ways to re-purpose some features of your wedding, such as using your:

• bouquets as cake table decorations,
• cake as your dessert, and
• ceremony room decorations could be moved to your reception room, etc.

Bearing this in mind can help you to free up funds for other things (remember that confetti pony?).

At this point, it’s a good idea to decide who will be your bridesmaids or if you are having groomsmen. It can be hugely tempting to ask all your best friends to be involved in your wedding. But then, you must decide if you can afford all the outfits and extras accompanying them. I recommend thinking about your budget before making that decision. You may choose to ask your groomsmen or bridesmaids to help by supplying part of their outfits. It helps if you know this before you approach them. It’s good form to provide the suits if you want your chaps all wearing the same thing and dresses for your girls. However shoes, hair and jewellery could be their choice and purchase.

What’s left to decide?

As you work through your priorities and identify ways to save on some things, you’ll be able to figure out some of the bonus wants on your list. Adding things back in as you go is fun, but you may also need to make changes based on unexpected things that come up, so don’t go crazy. I always suggest having a contingency fund for emergency spending, such as price increases from the venue or caterer in line with unavoidable cost increases. (This is due to minimum wage rises and increased ingredient costs). The key thing is to keep in touch with your budget. Make sure you pay off the bills for your fundamental needs first. If you can’t live without it on your big day, make sure you pay for it first. You don’t want to lose your venue because you splashed out on that confetti pony!

Final thoughts

There is likely to be a variety of ways to achieve your wants, but you’ll need to decide what you can get with the money you have. A fantastic wedding can be achieved whatever the budget!  Once you have your priorities in place you can make better decisions about what to keep and what to lose. Just beware of cutting the wrong corners. Good luck and if you need any help whittling down your wedding checklist get in touch [link to enquiry form] today. And remember – my wedding planning checklist [link to download] is a big help – and it’s free!  X