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Transportation $1,000 $500 M-D-Y $500 M-D-Y Caterer $6,000 $3,000 M-D-Y $3,000 M-D-Y Rentals $3,500 $1,750 M-D-Y $1,750 M-D-Y Over/Under Total $37,500 $18,750 $18,750 $2,500

Percentages of how much you should spend per item do not hold as much clout as they did in the past. Remember, the key is to consider what is most important to you and your fiancé. Table 3-5 is designed to serve as a guide, to give you a general idea of how much you should spend on each category. It’s not going to fit you exactly, so if you don’t need an item, allocate that percentage to something important to you. The categories are set up to be very vague so that everything under that category fits within the percentage.

TABLE 3-5 Budget Percentages

Item	Percentage of Budget
Wedding planner	10%
Attire: Dress, tuxes	5%
Ceremony: Officiant, flowers, decor, guest book, etc.	10%
Reception: Venue, catering, bar, entertainment, baker, flowers, decor, rentals	60%
Photo & video	15%

      Resourcing your connections

      Let’s talk about who you know. Is there anyone in your life who provides a service that you need for your wedding? Resourcing your connections can help you save money on your budget. If someone provides a service you need (not a product), you may even eliminate the financial obligation if they donate the service to you for your wedding day.

      In the next chapter, we’ll discuss picking your perfect team. Using your connections can be very valuable in saving money for your wedding. However, sometimes, you get what you pay for. We’ll spend time discussing that soon, but for now, if it’s an important item on your list, make sure you’re using a pro. For an item that isn’t as important, this is an area where you can save.

      

Once you have determined how much you have to spend, if you find yourself over budget, reach out to people you know and see if there is a resource you could use to save some money. Your friends will hopefully be the most honest resource you have in picking good vendors and saving you some money. Social media is also a great resource to see who your friends have booked for their events or if you have any friends who provide a service you need. Additionally, there are several local forums where other couples post what they’re looking for and their budget. If you need to save money in a certain vendor category, resource those forums and ask for referrals.

      Regarding flowers and decor, hit up the local buy-sell trade. After a wedding, couples often sell the items they don’t need anymore. It’s a resource to purchase linens, candles, and table decor. My only caution about this is that you need to make sure it’s worth the savings. If all the candles are already almost burned fully, there’s no need to purchase those. If the linens are stained and in bad shape, then try renting those through your rental company.

      Mostly, be resourceful if you need to save money on your budget. It’s easy to fall in love with a vendor online and then find out there’s no way you can possibly afford them. I don’t want that for you, so determine your budget, figure out what’s most important to you, start plugging in those numbers, and then get resourceful!

      Setting limits

      The biggest budget buster is not setting limits on your guest list and budget. It’s important to make sure you have determined how much you can spend so that you avoid scrambling in the end, trying to come up with money you simply don’t have.

Your budget is often determined by how many guests you’re having at your wedding. Whether you have 50 guests or 200 guests, your budget will have to include everything you need to put on the size of a wedding that you planned. When you tell a vendor you’ll have 100 guests and you end up with 150 guests, that will be a big budget buster.

      When I’m discussing a guest list with a client, I often say to them, “Can you hand each person on this list $200, and say, I want you to come to my wedding?” It’s easy to get caught up in who should and should not be invited. It’s a train that you can’t stop. You invite one person, then you must invite another person, then another, and another, and all of a sudden, you have 50 people on the invite list who really shouldn’t be.

      

I know, we’ve all been there and it’s easy to fall into this never-ending cycle. Therefore, it’s very important to put limits on how many people you invite. The more people you invite, the more budget you’ll need. It’s just that simple. In a wedding there are variable costs and fixed costs. The variable costs are anything that has to do with goods such as your food, bar, or rentals. If you have more people, you need more food, alcohol, or chairs. A variable cost is a service such as a DJ, photographer, or videographer. Those costs will not change based on how many people you invite.

      I always encourage my clients to divide the list between their parents’ friends and their friends. It can be frustrating to feel like you need to invite someone because they’re friends of the family. You don’t really know them but now you must pay for them to come to your wedding. Set those limits early in the planning process. Consider your friends being 50% of the list and then divide the remaining 50% between both sets of parents. Make sure those limits are set and stick to it to avoid additional costs that weren’t originally factored into your budget.

      

Another train easy to get on is the “add-on” train. Here’s how this one goes. You met with a vendor; you locked in what you want included and what you don’t want included. Then here come the add-ons! “Why yes, we would love an extra floral arrangement that we don’t need.”

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