Planning a Wedding on a Budget: Prioritizing What Matters
When it comes to planning a wedding, budgeting can be a daunting task. With so many expenses to consider, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But what if you could simplify the process by focusing on what truly matters to you?
The 50% Rule: A Good Starting Point
One popular rule of thumb is to allocate 50% of your total budget to food and drink. This makes sense, as getting a per-person estimate for food and drink is often one of the easiest numbers to find early in the planning process. However, this estimate assumes that you’re including every other category of spending in your wedding budget, from hair to makeup to a dress to invites. If you’re cutting back on some major categories or scaling way back on others, it can skew your numbers.
Our Wedding Budget: A Real-Life Example
When planning our own wedding, we started by agreeing on three key priorities: time with family and friends, a low-stress planning process, and being debt-free at the end of it all. We ended up spending 74.3% of our total budget on our venue, food, and beverages, which was much higher than the recommended 50%. But we didn’t regret it, because it aligned with our top priority: hosting our loved ones for a memorable celebration.
The Importance of Priorities
Having clear priorities makes it easier to make tough decisions when it comes to budgeting. We cut back on decor, skipped paper invites, and went without many traditional elements of a wedding to afford our venue and food. We also got creative with DIY solutions, like having friends gift us their DJ-ing skills and officiating the ceremony. By focusing on what mattered most to us, we were able to stick to our budget and avoid unnecessary expenses.
Spend Money on What Matters
In the end, it’s not about how much you spend, but about what you’re spending it on. By prioritizing what truly matters to you, you can create a wedding that’s both memorable and affordable. So don’t be afraid to cut back on the things that don’t align with your values, and invest in the things that do. Your wallet – and your guests – will thank you.
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