Here's how much you should spend on your wedding

Majority E but our parents will be paying for our wedding

Majority E we are lucky our parents and grandparents will be paying for our wedding

Majority of A, under 5K

D. I shouldn’t have been in charge of budget 😬 our budget was 25. And now we’re at 31. I’ve been trying to cut things out that just aren’t that important to cut our costs!
I never thought about tips and gratuity when I picked my vendors so I suggest brides to keep that in mind when picking big vendors like catering and venue!

This budget aligns with the budget we gave ourselves.

Majority is B and a little bit of C

I only juuuust had more B's to make it the right category that fits my budget

I am aiming to be less than $12000 all in. Hopefully I can find my dream dress at one of the pop up sales... fingers crossed of course.And hopefully we can find something at a suitable price for venue. We view a place on Friday that will total about 5200 (with officiant), and food for our guests. Another place on Saturday, that will be about 4800. And we have to set up another tour for somewhere else!

I've been using the budget tool and we're sitting around $5000 for everything all together.

Hey Larissa

I know what you mean! There are definitely a lot of extras adding on in the end. It's super important to ask our vendors about those. Did you end up hiring that photographer in the end?

I'm so happy to hear your parents are helping you out! You should check out this discussion by Nelly:

What I learned: Wedding is a family affair

Would you say that your situation has been similar?

We are using the my budget tool it was really just the photographer and my knowledge of not knowing the price and then our super affordable. Amazing photographer moving across the country that put us way over budget. And the fact that it's all this little extras that when I talked to people originally the price has gone up.our parents are paying for the wedding just because the last year was really a tough one. Though I do have money put away.

Hey Donna

I totally agree with Melissa. In the end your wedding is supposed to be your big day to celebrate your love together and share with the people you love most!

It's important to make a first approximate budget and see how much you can actually spend on your wedding to later break it down into the different services you will hire. You'll see that the tools on this website can be really useful for that!

My Budget

And don't forget, this shouldn't be a stressful moment and shouldn't have too much impact on how you choose to live your every day during your preparations. So make a list of must haves like Melissa once suggested and I think you'll find it very useful

Calling all budget minded brides!

Must haves and must not haves

You should also have a look at this discussion, many brides exchanged very useful ideas in here:

How are you paying for your wedding?

What step are you at in your preparations? Are you staying within your budget so far?

Hi Eartha

It's totally normal to dream big! You should keep doing so, in this case it really helps to have a list of must haves to make sure you have what you want, but also to let go on things that are not so essential.

Melissa does have some really good tips too! I like her suggestion and you should have a look at her discussions to see more of her ideas!

Must haves and must not haves

Calling all budget minded brides!

And have you had a look at the My Budget tool? You could find it really useful to plan and follow your costs. I also made this budget breakdown, which you could get a few ideas from in planning your budget:

Does you wedding budget breakdown look like this?

How are your preparations going? What have you been up to lately?

Hey Larissa!

In that case I think you're making a good choice to go for a few DIYs. You should also watch out for the great deals around you and also plan well how much everything is going to cost! Are you using the My Budget tool? I think you'll find it really useful!

You should have a look at these discussions to find out more tips from other brides:

How are you paying for your wedding?

Calling all budget minded brides!

Does you wedding budget breakdown look like this?

What venue did you choose for your wedding? Have you been staying within your budget so far?

Yikes! Majority of C's and some D's and my original budget was $6000

I'm sure you could find creative ways to keep you costs down to create a "buffer" between your lower budget and top end, this this makes you nervous.

What kind of plans have you made already? Have you booked with some vendors?

My answers were mostly D

It is still within budget but that is more towards to the top of our budget

Try to remember- its not about the money you spend, just the special day you create! Don't let the pressure to spend a fortune get to you! The wedding industry makes a lot of brides feel like they need to over spend to keep up with everyone else; don't fall for this!

I had to take a step back this week and remind myself of this. Wedding is about your love and commitment! Not about how much you can impress people by getting into debt!

Majority of C's. I knew it will come to this but I am a little scared haha

All Bs and Cs - which is right around our budget. We are being careful to give and take to ensure we don't exceed what we can reasonably spend

I really like this test and I believe most answers were in C. That does fall within our budget range as we are being very mindful not go over budget.