Lauren Goodman
- Apr 22, 2021
- 4 min read

Wedding Budget Fails!

Listen up guys! The wedding budget is one of the biggest problems any couple can face whilst wedding planning and most likely, a lot of it is probably avoidable.

Let me educate you today on budgets so you can find out where you might be going wrong and what we can do to fix it!

This will ultimately help with saving money, keep you calm and sane, and give you more of an enjoyable experience!

'You will be a wedding budget pro!'

5 REASONS YOU'RE NOT STICKING

TO YOUR WEDDING BUDGET

INSTAGRAM / PINTEREST VS REALITY

I've talked about this a few times and even did a whole other blog on how wedding photoshoots can be misleading so check that out as well!

But you will scroll through instagram and pinterest and you may envision having spectacular backdrops, vintage details and beautiful layered tablescapes for example, and don't get me wrong you can have that, it may just take longer to get there, but the reality of an instagram or pinterest wedding vs a real wedding, is budget. And your budget may not allow for the actual costs it takes to produce what you see on social media.

You need to be realistic, you cannot have design plan A, when you only have the budget for design plan B. Don't let yourselves get heartbroken over a false reality that can be social media and learn to compromise that you might not be able to have as many flowers like the inspiration image you've found for example.

NOT SETTING A CLEAR BUDGET FROM THE START

I know it's not exciting but if you don't set a clear budget from the start of the process you are setting yourself up for failure.

Don't let yourselves say 'I don't know' or 'it's roughly xyz' - NO! work it out and just SET it!

If you don't know where to start check out this video to work out your budget! From there you can create a plan in order to save to reach that budget, or you may be luckily enough to already have savings which you want to put towards the wedding or are being gifted some money however you're getting the money just set a budget from the start!

NOT BREAKING DOWN YOUR BUDGET

Once you know you've got, for example, £30k as your wedding budget you then need to learn how to break that down and allocate smaller amounts for all the different sections of the wedding, this will help you to stick to your overall budget and to be a happy, calm bride! (or groom!)

So, I have a FREE wedding planning checklist which you can download here! which will guide you on what percentages of your budget you should allocate to the different sections of your wedding day, whether thats for photography, videography, the venue, flowers, styling, catering, transport, wedding planning... etc using percentages rather than amounts will make it relevant to you and your wedding budget.

If you don't split your budget you will not know exactly how much you have to spend on the venue, to spend on the catering, whether your budget allowance is disproportionate to your guest numbers and whether the cost per head for food works within your budget. You don't want to get six months done the line and realise you haven't allowed enough for food and then either have to make the decision of cutting food or cutting guest numbers!

NOT APPROACHING THE RIGHT SUPPLIERS

Once you've broken your budget down into sections, which is ultimately different suppliers, you can then move on to approaching the right suppliers for your budget.

You may follow some fantastic suppliers on social media and think YES I want them to do my cake or my flowers or my stationary and then get a quote from them and go 'Woah! that's a a lot more that I expected!'...

I don't expect you know how much these suppliers are going to cost and some do not include costs on their websites so by all means contact them and find out but, always ask if they have a minimum spend or average cost per head prices before wasting your time going into so much detail of what you want when you might not be able to afford them.

For example, some florists have a minimum spend of £2k and if you've only got £1k in your budget for flowers then you know not to pursue that company and to try somewhere else.

NOT UPDATING YOUR BUDGET

You need to track and update your budget throughout the entire wedding planning process!

Now if you don't know where to start in even creating a budget on a spreadsheet then I have one for you, find it here! It includes so much more than just a budget template, it includes payment plans and schedules, supplier details page, table plan template, key info for key people at your wedding and much more. So go and download it and you'll be a wedding budget PRO!