Wedding budget: building it and tracking it

A wedding budget is built by separating the fixed items (venue, photographer, music) from those that vary with the number of guests (meal, drinks, stationery). You then track three figures per item: planned, signed and paid.

Start from an envelope, not a wish list

First decide the total amount you can commit, including contributions from families. Then split it between the items. The reverse, adding up quotes and then discovering the total, is the leading cause of overspending.

Fixed costs and per-person costs

Venue hire, the photographer or the music cost the same for eighty or a hundred and twenty guests. The meal, drinks, invitations, guest favours and sometimes the furniture are multiplied by the number of guests. That's why the number of guests is the first lever on the total: ten fewer people lighten several lines at once.

The lines people forget

• The suppliers' meals.
• Overtime for the venue or the service staff.
• Corkage if you bring your own drinks.
• Delivery, set-up and collection of the equipment.
• Hair and make-up trials, alterations.
• The brunch the next day.

Keep a reserve for the unexpected: there is always something.

Tracking what is signed and what remains to be paid

For each item, note the planned amount, the amount on the signed quote, the deposits paid and the date the balance is due. Most suppliers ask for the balance in the days before the wedding: several payments fall in the same week, so it is best to know in advance.

The detailed figures and their sources: A wedding budget.