Budgeting

Starting to think about your wedding budget is a confusing and at first, daunting task. From favours to dresses, flowers to photography, everything single thing you spend on your wedding counts towards your wedding budget. Therefore it's important that you start well and continue in that manner.

Where to start
Before filling in your wedding budget, start to think about what how you want your wedding to look. It's important to discuss your ideas with your fiancé as you may find that you have differing opinions. You may want a romantic style wedding, but your husband to be had something a little more modern in mind.

So, sit down with your partner and think about how you want the wedding to look. Talk about the things that have always featured in your dream wedding and make sure you agree on a theme or look and feel that you're both happy with.

How much money do you have to spend?

Next, work out how much money you have to spend. Dare I say it, but the best place to start is your parents. Find out if they'd like to contribute to your wedding, or if there are any specific things they'd like to pay for. Make a note of this along with any savings you have put aside for your big day and this will form your wedding budget.

Fix it there. Don't try and add to this amount with loans or extra credit as this will only add undue stress on the run up to your wedding and at the beginning of your married life.

It might be a good idea to open a "wedding bank account" or get a "wedding credit card" as these will help you keep track of all your payments. This way each month, you'll know exactly how much you've spent on your wedding. (If you do get a credit card, ensure it is one with a 0% introductory rate and that it gets paid off each month. The interest charges shouldn't add to your budget!).

Find talented friends and family

Now, think about if you have any talented friends or relatives for things like photography, toast-master, chauffeur with beautiful car, stationery designer, dress maker, beautician etc.

You'd be surprised how many of your friends and family will want to help you on your big day and it's a special honour for them to be involved. It will also make your wedding a lot more personal for you as well as help your wedding budget.

How many guests?

The next task is to work out rough numbers of guests. This can be quite hard as it's easy for the numbers to creep up, especially if you have to invite Great Aunt Maud, who you haven't seen since you were five.

You'll need to be quite ruthless here. Some ideas for keeping control of your numbers are:
- invite friends, but not work colleagues
- include relatives up to and including first cousins only
- no children

This is a difficult one, and again, you might want to include your parents on this discussion as I can guarantee they'll give you a few surprise invites that you hadn't thought of.

Think about major costs

Once you have a rough idea of the number of guests and all your helpers in place, start to think about some of the major costs such as venues, drinks, catering and place rough costs in your budget planner.

First, give your preferred suppliers a quick call and establish if they're free on your day and the likely costs for your numbers. You'll be able to quickly rule out if they're within your budget or not. If you're happy with the rough quote, ask for a more accurate, written quote.

Start putting rough costs in your budget

Now you've decided on your suppliers for the more costly items, you can start to fill in your spreadsheet. Don't forget to keep updating it with the most accurate figures!

Costs a little too high?

Having done all the ground work, are your costs still way over your budget? You may want to consider if the four layer cake or the twelve piece band really is that important? This is a good time to think about prioritising what's really important for your big day.

You could splash on one area and save on others. Perhaps that designer dress is a must, but you're happy to design and make your own stationery? Discussing those little extras and prioritising with your fiancé is crucial to making sure you stay on budget and out of debt.

Alternatively, put the wedding date back and have a longer engagement to ensure you'll have enough money to pay for all those little extras.

The last word

Most brides think that it's the big stuff that puts them over budget. Of course, if you splash out a little on one of the more costly items, it can send you thousands over budget. However, it's the smaller stuff that will really start to make your budget creep up. Spending an extra £20 here or there soon mounts up.

So watch out, and don't forget to keep all receipts and update your wedding budget regularly.