What Is A Good Budget For A Wedding

Most Expensive Wedding Features

The overall cost of a wedding depends on the scale of the ceremony and reception. While the average cost of a wedding in 2020 was $20,300, this cost can quickly rise as the wedding becomes more extravagant. The most expensive parts of most weddings are costs associated with the reception venue, including the cost of renting materials, including tables and chairs, and serving food or alcohol.

1. Reception venue

The reception venue isn’t typically a single, large cost but a series of above-average expenses that add up quickly, especially if the bridal party opts for a package deal from their venue. Taken in sum, the costs of renting a venue, catering the event and providing other related necessaries makes this feature of weddings the most expensive. Common costs associated with a wedding reception venue include:

2. Engagement ring

There may be more variability in price with engagement rings than almost any other wedding-related expense. The cost of an engagement ring averaged $5,204 per wedding, but the cost of a ring depends on the size and type of stone used, the cut, the manufacturer and other factors that could easily catapult the price of a ring into the tens of thousands of dollars, or even higher.

3. Reception band

4. Photographer

5. Florist and decor

Wedding Alcohol Cost And Bar Budget

Almost everyone who plans a wedding has to decide how much of their budget to allocate toward the bar and how many beverages to stock their wedding bar with.

A wedding planner should be equipped to help with this information.

Before you read this article, watch this video for the formula to calculate cost for a 100 person wedding. You can use the same formula for any number of guests.

Now that youve watched the video, read details below.

To start, a good rule of thumb is to assume the average guest will consume two drinks during the first hour and then one drink for each hour thereafter.

Alcohol Budget

The cost of an average open bar at a wedding can account for 10 20% of the wedding budget. And dont forget that tipping the bar tenders at the end of the night can run as much as 20% of the final bar tab.

Lets look at an example to help lets say you have 150 people at your wedding. It is always better to overestimate than to come up short so lets say the average person consumes 6 drinks. That means 900 drinks will be consumed at an average cost of $5 each.

Your open bar budget should be $4500 in this example.

How Many Alcoholic Beverages are Needed

Use this as a rule of thumb these are averages for the number of bottles needed per hour per guest:

Keep in mind the above averages are PER HOUR, so multiply those by each hour your open bar will be available.

The average wedding keeps the bar open for up to 5 hours.

Most Popular Wedding Reception Drinks

Stay Organized And Track Your Wedding Expenses

Do yourself a favor and immediately create a Google Doc spreadsheet to keep track of your wedding budget. Start by breaking down your estimated costs for each category to provide a template as youre contacting vendors. Each time you sign a contract or send a payment, record the actual cost so you always know how close you are to your bottom line. Share the doc with your fiancé and consider sharing it with family members who are helping to pay for the wedding if that will help streamline the process for you.

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Cut Back On Monthly Expenses

Do you belong to a gym, club or subscription service that takes a monthly sum out of your account? Cutting back on these types of expenses can have some of the quickest effects on your account balance. Turning off your cable could save you $100 a month, and ending a gym membership could put an extra $75 in your account each month. You’re not going to give up your cell phone, but you might be able to change the data plans or forgo on-demand movies for a year. You should make a habit of reaching out to your cell phone and cable companies annually and negotiating a better deal. Sometimes, just by asking, you can get a price cut on your bills. Even $20 off a monthly bill can save you $240 over the course of a year. Nowadays, it’s so expensive for a company to acquire a new customer that most will lower their fees just to keep you around. And if your attempts at negotiation fail, consider cutting out nonessential monthly costs. We’re not talking about your health plan or your life insurancethose things are non-negotiable. But for things like cable, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Birchbox and Spotifyanything that debits you on a monthly basisthe time has come to really consider if these are must-haves you truly need, or if you can sacrifice them for a bit in favor of a larger wedding budgetand that fancy cake you have your eye on.

How To Budgeting For Your Perfect Wedding

You and your fiancé probably can’t wait to jump into the fun parts of wedding planning, like getting dressed up and sampling cake. But, before you get to choose between buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache, you’ll have to determine your budget.

Figuring out your wedding budget is the very first step you need to take in the planning process. Your budget will guide every decision you and your fiancé make, from the venue you choose to whether you’ll give guests favors.

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Budget Wedding Food And Drink

45. Get married later in the day

Experts at Slater Menswear say: Getting married later in the day means that youll only have to serve one meal as opposed to two. You can also forgo the traditional wedding breakfast that is usually served the day after the event.

46. Choose a buffet option

Although the idea of serving a meal is more elegant, a buffet-style feast means that people can come and go as they please. And they added plus they often come in a lot cheaper than the sit-down version.

47. Make your own bar

Anna Davison, CEO at the Tiny Wedding Company says: Creating DIY bars is a great way to encourage your guests to help themselves throughout the day. Buy beer barrels from local breweries that tend to offer the pump as a rental. Setting up pimp your own gin and prosecco tables is a lovely added extra too.

48. Create your own food stations

This is a great option if youre having an outdoor wedding, as you dont need a formal setting for dining. Jess Martin, Ginger Rays wedding decoration expert says: Candy stations are a brilliant alternative to a more formal cake, and add yet another element of fun to your garden wedding. There are tonnes of options out there, from donut and pretzel stands, pick n mix, to ice-cream stations.

49. Ditch the desserts

The Average Cost Of A Wedding In 2020

By: Christy Bieber | Published Sept. 2, 2020

Many or all of the products here are from our partners that pay us a commission. Its how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures our experts opinions arent influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page.

Weddings have become more than just a chance for a couple to express their commitment to each other — they’ve become big business.

Couples budget, on average, around $23,000 for their wedding but end up spending around $30,000, with more than half of all couples increasing their projected spending during the planning process according to Wedding Wire’s 2020 Newlywed Report.

With couples spending enough money to buy a car or put a down payment on a home on a one-day event, let’s take a look at where this money goes, where it comes from, and who covers the costs.

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This Is What A $50000 Wedding Budget Looks Like

One of the most frustrating and confusing parts of wedding planning is trying to figure out how much everything costs. There are times when every detail seems to be shrouded in mystery, and before you know it youre knee-deep in trying to guess what your budget should be, and what youll ultimately end up paying for everything from your wedding venue or catering to your wedding invitations and flowers.

Which is why we love hearing how much a wedding costs from the best source you can go tothe wedding planner! They are dealing with wedding vendors ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, which means they are the ultimate person to ask when it comes to figuring out how much youre going to have to pay for what.

We recently spoke with a lovely and experienced wedding planner about the prices shes seeing everywhere from Los Angeles to Seattle. Keep in mind that the prices mentioned below are general ranges, only, and are targeted at budgets of around $50,000 and up . Couples in big cities can easily see catering costs well into the 200s/pp in many cases , while wedding photographers can easily creep towards $8,000 for the creme-de-la-creme in cities like Los Angeles. This is simply meant to give you an average you can expect to pay. And even if your budget is $15,000 and not $50,000, remember that this information can definitely give you a leg up when it comes to figuring out WHERE you can save .

Videographer:

Flowers:

Catering:

Wedding planner:

Time Your Wedding Wisely

The average price per person for a plated meal averages around $71. Avoid the expense of a sit-down meal by scheduling your wedding in the afternoon and planning a reception thats more like an extended cocktail hour with passed hors doeuvres.

Consider day of the week, too. You could pay up to half the price for your venue if you hold your wedding on a Friday or Sunday. Plus, youll have more options for vendorslike bakeries, photographers and DJswhich tend to get booked up pretty quickly on Saturdays.

And keep in mind the time of year. September and October are the most popular months to get married. So youre likely to pay more in the fall when wedding resources are limited.

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Wedding Cost Breakdown: Here’s What The Typical Wedding Budget Looks Like

The data below shows average wedding costs for different spending categories, according to Wedding Wire:

• Venue: $10,500
• Makeup artists wedding party : $70
• Hairstylist wedding party : $70
• Catering : $70

Not all couples will incur all of these expenses, and some will choose to spend far less on certain areas in order to splurge on others.

Let’s take a closer look at variation in costs for some of these major categories.

Average Wedding Budget Vs Actual Wedding Spend

On average, a couple sets aside about $22,500 for their wedding. Seems like a reasonable amount, right? Well, it turns out that the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is closer to $30,000which is a pretty big discrepancy. And remember, that the $30,000 figure is only an average and weddings in your chosen location may cost more or less than this figure. In particular, if you tie the knot in a major metropolitan areaNew York City, for exampleyou’ll likely pay closer to $50k! Destination weddings tend to cost slightly more than hometown events, especially when you factor in travel costs.

Another important factor in your wedding’s cost is your guest list. The more people you invite, the more you’ll spend on your wedding ceremony and reception. If saving money is important to you, your best bet is to plan a small wedding. And that includes your wedding party memberseach bridesmaid, groomsman, groomslady, or bridesman will incur expenses such as bouquets, boutonnieres, gifts, and moreand those certainly can add up!

Recommended Reading: Wedding Budget Google Spreadsheet

Planning A Multicultural Wedding

It used to be that people tended to marry within their own ethnic and religious groups. Now, given a more diverse US population, the number of multicultural marriages is growing.

Cultural differences can strengthen a marriage, but they can also be a struggle. When you can talk about them and face the challenges and choices together, you build a solid foundation that supports a long-lasting love. But you need to start long before exchanging vows.

To make sure that special day goes without a hitch, hire a wedding consultant whos familiar with each of your backgrounds and has successful planning experience in them. This person should already be aware of the biases you may face from others.

Among them could be your own families, who might wish you werent marrying outside your ethnicity. Then again, they may embrace your decision, but want a say in your wedding plans.

Be open and answer their concerns while standing your ground as couple.

The topics you should discuss together include:

A healthy marriage is an interdependent partnership that inspires you to thrive, separately and as a team. You may both come from different cultural territories, but youll tread common ground when you blend your differences, thereby deepening your love for, and commitment to, each other.

How Much Does The Average Wedding Cost Across The Us

Where you live can have a major impact on how much you spend to say “I do” to your beloved.

In fact, weddings cost a whopping $33,700 more in New Jersey — where couples have the honor of hosting the nation’s most expensive weddings at an average price of $53,400 — than in Utah, the cheapest place in the U.S. to get married .

The extra $33,700 that Garden State residents spend would be enough to cover the full cost of an average wedding in 36 states!

Surprisingly, though, there are just three states in the country where the average cost of a wedding comes in at under $20,000 — Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming.

The table below shows the average price throughout the country:

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Pass On Pricey Details

Glamorous details on items you’re indifferent about spike costs without adding any fun to your day. Free yourself of the pressure to upgrade and instead make honest choices based on what you want. As a general rule, before you sign a contract, look through the itemized list of what you’re buying and ask yourself, “Will anyone notice if we don’t do this?”

How Much Does A Wedding Cost The Uk Average Revealed

Curious about how much the average wedding costs? We surveyed over 2,000 couples to find out what couples are spending on and how much you need to save

We have included third party products to help you navigate and enjoy lifes biggest moments. Purchases made through links on this page may earn us a commission.

Ever wondered how much the average wedding costs? Our National Wedding Survey revealed the average cost of a wedding in the UK in 2021, so if you want to know how much you need to start saving, read on!

Our study revealed some fascinating data – as well as how much the average wedding cost in 2021, we can also tell you what the spend breakdown was, how many couples turned to the bank of mum and dad, and how much of the total cost parents contributed to.

Better get ready to make your wedding budget…

Heres our breakdown of the UKs average wedding cost and how youre spending it, based on a survey of 2,060 couples who married in 2021*.

So, here it is – drum roll please! The average wedding in the UK in 2021 cost £17,300. This is 90% up on the average cost of a wedding in 2020, which was £9,100.

Its a huge yearly increase, but it does make sense when you consider the limitations on weddings in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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