Singaporebrides | Weddings 101

July 2024

7 Helpful Tips To Help You Set a Wedding Budget

By Audrie Soh

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Don’t know how you should go about setting a wedding budget? We’ve got 7 helpful tips for you.

Having a wedding budget before you dive into spending for your big day is absolutely crucial to the success of your wedding. From your wedding venue and outfits to styling the space you’ve chosen to say “I do” at and hiring someone to document this once-in-a-lifetime celebration, there will be plenty of essentials and not-so-essentials that you’ll need to pay for.

Unless you have an elastic budget, you’ll definitely need a solid wedding budget to guide your expenditures along the way to make sure you’ll live happily debt free after the wedding is over. Not sure how to go about setting a wedding budget? Well, we’ve got 7 helpful tips you can follow to aid you in creating a wedding budget for your big day.

1. Get clear on the basics – who’s paying, how much you’re willing to pay, and how much weddings cost on average

Before you even begin drawing up a number for your wedding budget, you should sit down with your partner to discuss about your expectations for the wedding. Talk about who’s paying for the wedding and how much you’re both willing and able to fork out for your big day.

To help you get a better idea of how much weddings typically cost, you could speak to family and friends who’ve recently gotten married for a ballpark figure, or you could visit wedding fairs for a better understanding of the packages available. With a rough idea of how much weddings usually cost, you and your partner are in a better position to determine your budget for the type of wedding you’re aiming towards.

2. Decide what you want for your wedding

Once the basics are out of the way, you should talk about the type of wedding you’d like to have. Is your dream wedding a grand one held in a luxurious hotel ballroom, or do you prefer something more cosy and private in a chic restaurant somewhere in town? Or, perhaps you’ve envisioned yourself exchanging vows on a beach or on top of a cliff in a destination wedding?

The type of wedding and where you want to have it will determine how conservative or generous you need to be with your wedding budget. It will also help you decide on the size of your guest list.

3. Be realistic about your quest list and financial capabilities

Financing your guest list will be the costliest part of your wedding expenses so before you jump in and set a figure for your wedding budget, there are two questions you need to answer honestly: how much are you able and willing to pay for the wedding, and how many guests are you planning to invite?

Since the size of your guest list correlates with how conservative or generous your wedding budget needs to be, you need to be realistic with both your financial capabilities and your guest list. Start with deciding how much you and your partner are able and willing to fork out for the wedding, and from there, you will have a sense of how big your wedding can be, and start planning your guest list.

The venue you choose to celebrate at and the time of the week and year will also affect how many guests you can invite to your wedding. The more central and upscale your venue, the more expensive it is going to cost to host a wedding, and tying the knot during peak seasons such as the start and end of the year, or just before the Hungry Ghost Festival, and weekends, will also cost more than non-peak seasons and days. So, do factor these in as well when you are setting a wedding budget.

4. Rank your priorities

You can achieve your dream wedding with proper planning of your wedding budget; you just need to know and get your priorities right. To help you effectively spend your wedding budget in the most efficient way, discuss with your partner and start a list of items you want in your wedding and rank them, starting from the most important at the top of your list (must-have) and work your way down to the least important (good-to-have).

Since your venue and food are non-negotiable and the two biggest expenditures of your wedding, they sit right at the top of your list. A wedding photographer and videographer are necessary to document your once-in-a-lifetime, so they would be next on the list, followed by your bridal outfits and a hair and makeup artist to ensure you look your best as you walk down the aisle. Then, you need a florist or stylist to help you decorate your wedding venue, especially if your venue package does not come with any styling or floral services.

For most couples, a wedding planner sits slightly further down the list of priorities as it a good-to-have, not a necessity. Other miscellaneous items such as wedding stationery, music and entertainment, reception activities and so on are right at the bottom of the list, as they do no affect the turn-out or the celebration in any important way.

Once you are done with ranking the items, remember to stick to it and allocate your spending according to how they are ranked.

5. Always set aside a contingency fund

After you’ve discussed with your partner on how much you are able and willing to spend for the wedding, do not go ahead and set that figure as the absolute amount you’ll be spending on your big day. Despite the best planning and budgeting, most couples tend to overspend the budget they set when they spend more than they planned to on certain areas of the wedding, or when they bump into unexpected spending like tips for service staff or GST charges.

Instead, set aside at least 20% of what you’re capable of forking out as a contingency fund for unplanned or unexpected spending, and let the remaining 80% be the absolute figure you stick to for your wedding spending. This allows you to buffer for any unforeseen costs such as a sudden increase in head count or having to pay for extra food without experiencing additional stress and worry over the cost.

6. Always track your spending as you go along

To help you manage your budget effectively, create a spreadsheet with three expense columns: Estimated, Modified, and Actual. List the costs of various vendors you’ve gathered during your research under the Estimated column, and key in proposed amounts from your shortlisted vendors under the Modified column. Once you’ve completed the necessary negotiations and have come to an understanding, enter the actual amount you pay your selected vendor under the Actual column.

At the start, use the Estimated and Modified columns to help you plan your spending. Remember to check with your shortlisted vendors to find out if their package prices include GST or not, so the figures in your spreadsheet are as accurate as possible, reducing any possibility of overspending due to hidden costs such as service charges. Once you’ve started paying your chosen vendors, list down the actual figure you paid to help you keep track of how much there is left of your wedding budget to spend on the remaining items on your wedding list.

7. Keep your expectations in check

At the end of the day, setting up and sticking to a budget is not difficult if you keep your expectations in check. The first step to doing so, is to be honest about your financial capabilities and expectations, and whether your expectations meet your reality. The next step is to stick to the budget and plan you’ve created, no matter what. Lastly, remember that your wedding is not the endgame; the life awaiting you after all the celebration is over is the ultimate goal here. So, don’t go all in on your wedding day and end up in debt and miserable on your first day of being Mr and Mrs.

Credits: Feature image from Eunice and Daniel’s Intimate Pre-Wedding Shoot in the Romantic and Magical Wilderness by Hey Stranger

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